LOWERING MY HIGH STANDARDS FOR YOU

[The following is a reprint (reworked) of my blog of August 19, 2011.]

I have a set of suggestions, practical and spiritual in nature, that I try to follow. One is, "When wrong promptly admit it." I particularly love, and lean on, the word "when." Not if. When. To me, that is simply God's word that failures will happen to and for everybody. The entire population of the entire universe is going to experience failure.

I personally don’t think a whole lot about the entire population but I am intensely aware of your failure, particularly when it impacts me. I am sometimes amazed at how high my standards are for you. And again I realize that freedom from self is simply letting you off the hook when I choose to believe that you have failed me.

I am reminded of a situation a couple of years ago. I had a big celebration coming up which was to take place four weeks before my knee replacement surgery. I needed a haircut and decided to get a light trim to look my best for my celebration, and then right before surgery, I'd get a shorter than usual haircut to last through my recuperation period.

Great plan, but my I-hate-a-hassle-what’s-most-convenient thinking stepped in and made a crucial decision for me. Rather than get my light trim from my really great beautician, who is a half-hour drive away, I went to the closest salon (five minutes)…which I knew from personal experience to be a tish sloppy in their haircutting.

I walked out of that closest salon with a haircut that would qualify for boot camp at Parris Island…a bad haircut at Parris Island.

Here's the amazing news...I was able to let the beautician off the hook and be satisfied (really!) by saying to my friends (who looked aghast upon seeing The Haircut) that she misunderstood and gave me my pre-surgery haircut.

I felt utterly free by saying that...plus each of my friends got a cheap shot of gratitude that it wasn't their haircut. I knew without a doubt, if I chose my poor, pitiful, put-upon-me rant, I would feel the victim all through my celebration and even longer. Victim leaves neither quietly nor quickly. 

The punchline: I got to laugh every time I looked in the mirror...admittedly, I didn't look in the mirror a lot.

Thank you.