Each Day a New Beginning: October 17th

Pride, we are told, my children, "goeth before a fall" and oh, the pride was there, and so the fall was not far away.
—Wilhelmina Kemp Johnstone

Requesting help. Admitting we are wrong. Owning our mistake in either a big or small matter. Asking for another chance or someone's love. All very difficult to do, and yet necessary if we are to grow. The difficulty is our pride, the big ego. We think, "We need to always be right. If we're wrong, then others may think less of us, look down on us, and question our worth." Perfectionism versus worthlessness.

If we are not perfect (and of course we never are), then we must be worthless. In between these two points on the scale is "being human." Our emotional growth, as women, is equal to how readily we accept our humanness, how able we are to be wrong. With humility comes a softness that smooths our every experience, our every relationship. Pride makes us hard, keeps us hard, keeps others away, and sets us up for the fall.

I will let myself be human today. It will soften my vision of life.

From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation.

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When my Ego is in charge, I feel the need to run the world and to always be right. If I am wrong, then I am imperfect and worthless. Learning to say "I don't know" is a difficult thing, because it makes me feel 'less than.'  In reality, it is not my job TO know everything! I release the need to always be right, and I will not allow myself to feel worthless in the process.

As a human being, I am not supposed to be perfect.  I am supposed to be open minded and eager to learn, and to grow, and to maximize my experience during my lifetime. Everyone I run into is a teacher, offering me something of value to learn.

My mistakes are not 'mistakes' as much as learning experiences.....blessings, given to me to enhance my life experience.  I learn most during the hard times, not the easy ones.

For today, I give up my need for 'perfection', within myself, within others, and with events in general. I surrender my pride and put my Ego on the back burner, where it belongs. Only through humility can I learn and grow.