“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half closed after.” Benjamin Franklin
“Perhaps, if you weren’t so busy regarding my shortcomings, you’d find that I do possess redeeming qualities, discreet as they may be. I notice when the sky is blue. I smile down at children. I laugh at any innocent attempt at humor. I quietly carry the burdens of others as though they were my own. And I say ‘I’m sorry’ when you don’t. I am not without fault, but I am not without goodness either.” Richelle E. Goodrich
“As a matter of fact, we are none of us above criticism; so let us bear with each other’s faults.” L. Frank Baum
“Because he has never forgiven himself any fault, he can forgive no one else’s.” Linda Berdoll
Nobody agrees with us one hundred percent of the time.
The hardest thing to come to terms with is the fact that nobody always agrees with us one hundred percent of the time. There are many times throughout the day when our closest family members sell us out or disappoint us. Of course, the ideas quickly depart from our minds because we just can’t handle the disappointment we feel. Spouses, children’s parent’s siblings, friends, co-workers, and bosses are all included.
Checking this out takes courage. When we walk or run away from the hurt, we return when things have calmed down, and we perceive the person is now within their right minds. We never consider that perhaps it is the other way around, and the true colors were revealed if only for a brief moment. The war between family members is not what I am searching for, nor do I believe we don’t love and care for each other. I think that we all worry about our state of mind and body and if called upon to work hard for another, we manage it but not without a few scars in the process
Finding the truth is confusing
As important as it is to care for ourselves, we make some time for those we love and come to their support. Of course, at times, they are still frustrated because we have maybe not jumped as quickly as they had wanted. The more we feel justified in our reactions, the more they might feel wronged. At times finding the truth and meaning behind all of it is confusing.
What went wrong
What went wrong is everyone’s thought. In all of our relationships, we have the ups and downs, and if we believe we can only keep it to the ups, we will be hugely frustrated. Perhaps that is why our marriages and relationships of all kinds fall apart. It honestly has nothing to do with the truth but everything to do with perceptions. Likely our discernments regarding our favorite people are slanted because of our high regard for them. In our eyes, they are perfect, and any kind of a let down is disheartening to us. We give them no rope.
They require space to grow, make mistakes, and learn from them, as well as bad days when their self-esteem is perhaps not what it usually is. I know I don’t go around the world professing my ego is in the bucket at the moment, so please refrain from all criticisms. I do the opposite and hide my sensitivity on that particular day.
I don’t have to hide my feelings
My thinking and statements may not be as precise or as kind because my mood and emotions are at an all-time low for the moment. It doesn’t make any difference who approaches me on that day. I will freely dish out my anger in frustrating ways. I might even be meaner to those I love because I believe I don’t have to hide my feelings. They perhaps are taking the brunt of my unsettling mood. I don’t always sense any feelings of regret when it is all over because likely I deserved a day off, especially when I have always been there for these people. I deduce that I deserved a day of compensation, and they should understand that.
If I see this from the receiver’s end, I get the saddened mood these people experience as well as the disillusionment of who I am. All of the high expectations they had of me are currently dashed, and after perhaps years of caring consoling and being there for them, I have transformed into some hideous monster that they are steering clear. They might even profess never to trust me again. If I do resolve any issues I had with them, likely the wheels on the track are still a bit shaky, and they are nervous about having faith in me again.
Maybe we are looking for perfection
This has happened to just about all of us. So now, the consideration is why we see the tiny negative situation against the huge number of positive times they were right by our side. Maybe we are looking for perfection in others yet willingly admit we are not perfect. We so readily cancel out family members and friends who have hurt us to move on towards others who dissatisfy and upset us even more. Perhaps we have faith that we will find the right person eventually, who will make everything faultless.
Can’t maintain perfection forever
Siblings cut their connections; friends find new friends, parents and children live in distrust of each other, and couples split up in search of the flawless person. Of course, we all find picture-perfect people at the beginning of any new relationship. The problem is we can’t maintain perfection forever for very long.
What does that leave us with, and where do we venture from here we might ask ourselves. I think the stronger the relationships are, the quicker they weather through situations by confronting the truth in the connections to others. The more we are willing to confront our issues, the more willing we are to release another’s imperfections to the wind.
Forgive others
Never would I want serious pain and injury to my mind-body or soul, especially from someone I loved. I can, however, forgive others as I do want them to forgive me. If I only view their imperfections, then they perhaps improve while I remain the same because I refuse to look at any flaws in myself. Likewise, if we transform ourselves as we find and view our shortcomings, but our partner refuses to face their defects, then our bonds may be doomed anyway.
I might also add that compromising does not mean we compare each other’s oversights and blemishes. Transforming our relationships is working on our defects and not needing to assess who has more or less. It is never about blame but about improvement. We can’t ask for more than that. Steps in the right direction are better than no steps or false steps. Of course, one must forgive and refuse to bring it up again. The other must work on ways to improve negative traits. Any forward movement is praiseworthy.
“The earlier you admit to your mistakes, the more time you would have to learn and grow from them.” Edmond Mbiaka
“When you say the word ‘sorry’ make sure you understand that an apology has 3 parts. “I’m sorry”, “It’s my fault and I won’t do it again” and “How can I make things better”. The last part is the most important.” Manasa Rao Saarloos
“The desire to criticise becomes less and less as the character is developed. It is the mark of a fine character never to be critical and to mention but rarely the faults of others. A strong character does not resist evil, but uses their strength in building the good. They know that when the light is made strong, the darkness will disappear of itself.” Christian Larson
“We only care about our faults when we realize them.” Daniel Melgaco
