I’ve always had a minor talent at turning a pithy phrase, and here’s what I came up with this morning:
Most of the pain in our lives is built upon a foundation of “should haves.”
I probably don’t need to illustrate this, but I’m feeling particularly emotionally grim today so I’m going to do it nonetheless. Let’s see… I should have realized right away that I have no business being married, let alone in a strictly monogamous relationship. I should have been a lot more patient and understanding with those noisy, demanding little creatures I helped to create. I should have done my homework back in school. I should have told the truth, about a lot of things. I should have stayed out of some disputes that I had no business arbitrating. I should have learned not to make promises too quickly. I should have trusted my ability to manage finances. I should have tried harder. I should have cared more.
And so on, and so on. The “should haves” outnumber the “shouldn’t haves” by a considerable margin, actually. Maybe that’s a symptom of what kind of man I am. If so, then I can’t imagine what attraction or value I have, because apparently what I’m best at is not doing things. Feh.
Gloomy thoughts for what’s supposed to be a romantic holiday, but that’s what I’ve got for you. May you and your loved ones be happier today than mine and I are this time around. Perhaps next year won’t be quite so damned grim.
Comments
2 responses to “Not exactly a cheery holiday thought…”
The place to take the true measure of a man is not in the darkest place or in the amen corner, nor the cornfield, but by his own fireside. There he lays aside his mask and you may learn whether he is an imp or an angel, cur or king, hero or humbug. I care not what the world says of him; whether it crowns him boss or pelts him with bad eggs. I care not a copper what his reputation or religion may be; if his babies dread his homecoming and his better half swallows her heart every time she has to ask him for a five-dollar bill, he is a fraud of the first water, even though he prays night and morning until he is blue in the face and howls hallelujah until he shakes the eternal hills. But if his children rush to the front door to meet him and love”™s sunshine illuminates the face of his woman every time she hears his footfall, you can take it for granted that he is pure, for his home is a heaven . . .
-w.c. braun
I couldn’t have said it better myself. You are loved and you are an amazing creation to behold and interact with.
Maybe you should think about all the “should haves” that you actually DID do. ‘Cause you’ve done a lot right, too. *hugs*