Because I get into a lot of social media stuff, in addition to the traditional reading I do, I come across a lot of “inspirational” quotes and sayings. Most times, these do not reveal to me some previously unknown celestial truth. Instead, they remind me of something I know but have been ignoring. Sometimes I just misplace these nuggets of wisdom, other times I deliberately tuck them out of the way because I’d rather wallow in my inadequacy for a while. That is not a good thing, but we all do it from time to time.
Then I come across some gem that reminds me that no one is perfect, or God is happy to forgive, or it’s okay to be sad or angry as long as we don’t unpack and live there. A light flips on in a dark corner of my brain and I think, “Oh, that’s good, I like that. I need that.” Then it occurs to me that I already know that. Since I already had that bit of wisdom, why did I stuff it in a box and put it on the top shelf of my mind’s closet?
I’m not a psychologist, so I can’t adequately answer that, but I suspect that some of us are wired to want to punish ourselves for things and to be negative. Sometimes that’s a learned response. And when we encounter someone who is eternally happy and effervescent, we just want to throttle them because no one can possibly be so happy all the time.
It does amaze me however that we (or at least I) do sometimes take these truths that will bring us happiness through an improved view of life and hide them from ourselves. What’s THAT all about? So it’s a good thing someone else is tossing these out there for me to stumble over and remind me of what I already know.
