A kind friend sent me a comic strip from the series “Pearls Before Swine,” by Stephan Pastis. We see a goat and a rat sitting at a bar, drinking—I know, who hasn’t seen that?
The rat says, “Every single relationship I have with anyone else in my life ends in bitterness, anger, and resentment. Every single one, and when that happens, a guy has to say to himself, ‘It’s gotta be me, right?’”
“Right,” says the goat.
“Wrong,” says the rat. “It’s all the idiots around me. Here’s hoping the rest of the world pulls its head out of its @#@.”
“And for a second,” says the goat, “I thought we were having a moment of growth.”
We can’t help but smile at this interchange, but most of us live according to the beliefs of the rat. Many times every day we express our displeasure at how some other person has caused our fears, disappointment, or anger. It’s never true, and as long as we wait for “all the idiots” around us to change, happiness will remain forever elusive.
Replace your anger and confusion with peace and happiness.
READ OR LISTEN TO:
That was precious. I have gone through life thinking everyone else is wrong; partially via parental training. Now I can be wrong. Even when I am not wrong I don’t have to be right. It is a more peaceful way to live. Blessings.
Finding more peaceful ways to live is truly miraculous. Nice work! You might have to practice a little, to get comfortable with being wrong, being at fault, having made a mistake. Those are phrases you can repeat in front of a mirror until you have no negative feelings about them. It’s worth getting good at.