The next time you take a gander at the world,
and turn back inward thinking to yourself,
"What a that other human being is,
what a dolt!"
They're over there, doing something so stupid,
something you would never do, no lie --
stop.
Don't stop thinking the other human is a moron.
She probably is.
But so are you,
sometimes.
So here's the trick:
(Remember, we can't solve past problems; we can't even solve present problems; all we can do is remind ourselves and steel ourselves for the next time.)
You have to think of yourself,
at your worst,
as stupider than the guy jogging down the street,
music blaring from his device,
sans headphones,
the music is tinny and annoying for everyone,
even him, one would surmise.
Your XYZ (addiction), your late night self
after a long day of practical life,
chores, errands, homework, whatnot --
turns ordinary smart-you into dumb-as-the-rest-of-em-you.
It's okay. The prefrontal cortex can only
be expected to do so much.
Our perceptions of other people have the benefit
of being polished by the edited persona they each create.
In other words, we don't see them at their XYZ worst.
You have to see yourself at your XYZ worst.
And that is truly the difficult thing.
***
For me, there's being harsh on oneself on the one hand,
and being harsh on oneself to effective purpose on the other.
The first harshness I see in me all the time,
and in others I see it and presume its presence.
The second harshness is obviously the point.
I know about my XYZ.
I know it's bad.
I know I shouldn't XYZ as often as I do.
I know I should go to XYZ-Anonymous meetings to treat
my XYZ habit.
But as harsh as I am in every other area of my life,
when it comes to XYZ,
no matter how chronic the abuse,
no matter how prevalent the dissonance,
XYZ always escapes blame with a slap on the wrist.
But not when I treat that dumb part of me
as the dumb dumb dumbyhead with the tinny music,
the road-rager,
the negative nancys*
and pusillanimous pewdiepies.*
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