Five things I need to get off my chest 

Sometimes you have thoughts that boil underneath the surface. You think about them and you push them back, but they keep coming up in your thoughts. Sometimes they’re about important issues that touch everyone, sometimes it’s about silly stuff that affects only a few people in your life.

Anyway, I feel like I keep having this happen to me. Here’s five things that I need to get off my chest:

—We undervalue our wins, but overanalyze our tiniest missteps. Some of us do this a lot, some of us do this a little, but my own unscientific opinion is that we all do this too much. We don’t realize how good we really are. I’m fascinated by the phenomenon. I see friends, acquaintances, and strangers do this too much. Heck, I saw it in a convenience store this weekend. A mom and little girl were picking up a few things. While they waited in line, a grandfatherly type praised the mom for how well-behaved the girl was. The mom turned around and thanked him, but told him matter-of-factly that her daughter was behaving because she wanted a candy bar. The little girl even shook her head dramatically up and down to put an exclamation point on it. All three of them laughed, but I I didn’t see the humor. The girl was doing a great job. Life is challenging enough — instead of downgrading our successes — let’s celebrate them.

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—For every overnight success, we forget to look underneath the iceberg to see all the work and practice that went into it. Most overnight successes spent years honing their craft.

—I find anymore that when people talk politics or Israel and the Gaza or stilly things like asking the kid next door what his plans are when he graduates high school, it’s too easy to give a lecture and to judge, it’s better to listen. We think we know all the details, but we rarely do.

—When I was a kid, being 30 years-old sounded so old. When I hit 40, I was so focused on our kids and what they were doing, the decade raced by me. When I turned 50, I wanted to slow things down and improve my presence. Over the years, I still have a long way to go, but I see improvements. I’m much more comfortable in my own skin. I’m calmer. I’m happier. 

Image by Alexander Suhorucov by Pexels.

—I heard US House Representative Matthew Gaetz talk the other day about the state of politics. Now, I admit up front that I’m not a Gaetz fan and I try to steer clear of politics, it’s now what I like to write about, but I heard him do something that I’ve heard others from both sides do that bothers me to no end. He talked about people who disagree with him like they’re the devil reincarnated. I’ve never understood that. I may have issues with the other side, but when did politics become about hatred for fellow citizens. I don’t get it.

Whew, that feels better. Yes, it’s better to get it out and get things off my chest.