Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Goals or Guilt Trips?

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the inspiration trap, based on my horoscope that day. Today I am seeing the same words from a different direction. Here's the horoscope (from January 2, 2012). 
One person's perceived perfection can inspire another person to feel flawed. It's a trap that can be avoided through honesty, modesty and a down-to-earth attitude.
Today's perspective shifts the pronouns — My own goal of perfection can inspire me to feel flawed. I have been beating myself up for several days for not getting my weekly blog update done "on time." Suddenly this morning I realized that I need to let go of meeting the perfect schedule (on this, anyway). After all, is my goal to get the blog done or to feel guilty?

It occurred to me this morning that sometimes we set our goals just barely out of reach. It's true that this makes us stretch and grow to reach them, and that's good. But what's up with consistently setting some of our goals high enough that we are almost guaranteed to miss them? Could it be our actual goal is a guilt trip? Do we feel "better" somehow because we feel guilty for missing a goal? Is guilt easier to live with than success (Ooh! I see a future blog in that!)? What if it's necessary to miss some goals to meet others?

Now we apply the "cure" my horoscope listed — honesty, modesty and a down-to-earth attitude. OK, being honest sometimes means waiting until I actually have something to say before I write anything. In all modesty, we're not talking about world peace here. And down-to-earth...why do I expect to be perfect when I don't expect anyone else to be?

I think I have just arrived home from this particular guilt trip. Not only was the guilt identified and faced, but the blog also got written. Not a bad start to the day, and the week. 

1 comment:

  1. Oh, so true! Hope you've unpacked those guilt bags and stowed the luggage, too! This said from someone who has been struggling since the new year started with meeting her writing/blogging/ exercising goals through one snag or another. Soldiering on...

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