Will the Letdown Let Up?

Disappointment popped up everywhere during the last few weeks. How I attracted these letdowns into my life as of late mystifies me, but my quota stands full. A friend spoke some words of wisdom to my weary heart, “You have high expectations for yourself and hold yourself to a high standard. Other people aren’t like that. You need to accept this and take them for where they are at.”

She makes a valid point. I need to increase my acceptance level of humanity and remember that people will be people and, though I may try, I cannot change one of them. Instead of deciding to become a hermit and stay in my apartment forever (which I elect on a weekly basis), I must accept others at face value and not ask them to shoulder more than they can carry.

However, I ought to reserve that for humankind and not for myself. That’s not to say that I shouldn’t allow myself to make mistakes and grow. But, I feel that one of the biggest problems in society remains our willingness to let ourselves off the hook.

A study group posed the question, “Do you make a To-Do list and then feel shame when you can’t complete it?” My answer is, “No,” because I typically put in a solid effort to get done what I commit to. Even if I can’t finish, I attempt to start tasks, honoring my word in a small way.

Am I perfect? No. Do I miss things each week? Yes. But, I make a conscious effort to always try to accomplish the list. I rarely make the list and then let it slide.  Why throw my power out the window and put my dreams in a lock box?

I watched a TED talk recently on what makes successful people successful. After studying multiple people in various scenarios, the conclusion they arrived at was grit. People with grit acquired more success. Why? They don’t view failure as an end but as a part of growth; they keep their commitments for no other reason than that they keep their commitments.

So, I intend to heed the words of my friend and practice more acceptance, while trying to remain as true to my word as possible. Wait, actually, let me put that on my To-Do list.