About
This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.Subscribe
This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.
So true, those who are bitter about things are often unable to see the good in what has happened. Every cloud has a silver lining, It’s just a matter of finding it.
Gee, this is the first one I don’t agree with. Really good, complete reflection will always turn up something to regret. Moreover, the habit of skilled reflection grows over time, both deepening the reflection and adding more “reflectable” memories to the “inbox”. It’s what one does with the recognition of regret that yields or forestalls bitterness.
This is why vampires are so bitter. They have no ability to reflect!
ability to reflect
time to reflect?
option to reflect?
there are times when circumstances trump the option to reflect, regardless of whether the individual has the skills or abilities to do so
“Really good, complete reflection will always turn up something to regret.”
Wow, I could not disagree more. Regret is a knee-jerk reaction to negative events which you haven’t had time to think about yet, and realize what they’ve taught you.
Example: When my first wife left me, I regretting ever having met her. Now, though, we are still friends, and I would not discard the lessons learned there for anything; they’ve been paramount in my growth as a person, and could be solely responsible for my being able to have a healthy relationship.
Regret is a poison clung onto by those who wish they could forget their past and change their future without doing anything in the present.
Depending upon what one reflects upon, more reflection can easily mean more bitterness.
“To regret deeply is to live afresh.”
Thoreau
Chaz,
Garth Brooks – “The Dance”
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/garthbrooks/thedance.html
if only there were a cure for bitterness. that way i could finally see the silver lining…
Very thought-provoking, Jessica.
The more I reflect, the more it occurs to me that every silver lining has a cloud, too, and that there may even be some yin & yang in this.
Nevertheless, trying to suppress reflecting over the cloud, or even seeing it, seems to be a natural response, and understandably so.
@Mim Song: Regrets don’t necessarily imply bitterness – so there may be no quarrel there, really.
@Jay: A beautiful one, this.
@agm: Depends on one’s frame of mind, I guess.
Makes me think of yet another shot at describing the difference between a pessimist and an optimist:
Pessimist: Now it can’t get any worse.
Optimist (cheerfully): Yes, it can! Yes, it can!
@a. noni mouse: Yeah, that kind of says it all.
it would have been a lot funnier if it was the other way around
Pingback: How To Be Less Bitter « PrattleNog
Pingback: Another graph | late last night