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On the Lighter Side: Life Lessons

So, if I've learned anything in the last forty-eight fucking years it's this: I haven't learned a fucking thing.
No that's not exactly true. 
Why, just yesterday I learned a valuable lesson: do not Nair your underarm hair. 
Don't do it. 
I did it so you don't have to. 
There's an old cliche, you know the one, about how you don't appreciate stuff like your mom or skin in your armpits until she's/it's gone? Wow. So much truth there.

Another piece of advice is, follow the directions on the deodorant label. Especially that part that says do not apply to broken or irritated skin.Yeah. That. Heed that advice. 

I'm trying to think if I have any other nuggets of wisdom I can quickly rattle off to all y'all.

I said something yesterday about being a fuck up, but that I'm shameless about it. I have found that there are two major emotional states that come with fucking-up. Shame is one. The other is humility. 
So you can be wracked with shame and self-loathing or you can accept your fuck-up as a lesson in humility. 

For the longest time I was consumed with shame. Shame is debilitating. But over time, somehow, through a combination of introspection, therapy, and other stuff,  I'm starting to learn how to move past humiliation and towards humility.

Humiliation erodes the soul, people, sort of like Nair erodes the skin from your armpits.
But humility is a salve and a salvation.

Humility is the awareness that fucking up is part of  the process of being alive. You fuck-up, you learn a thing or two, you allow yourself to sit with the mistakes, you let the shame wash over you and then away. You can't hold onto shame, just let it wash over and away. You take responsibility for your part and allow others the same consideration.

Once the shame has passed you find, hopefully, you're in a place where you can humbly accept your mistakes and make plans for the future where you'll be able to make different mistakes and learn new lessons.

Humiliation vs Humility.

That's what I have to offer today.







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