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Sometimes we don't see the good qualities in others until events arise where those qualities are expressed.

I'm a firm believer in good enough; trying for the best of everything is tedious and makes you less grateful.

This is a really hard thing to do but ultimately very rewarding. To be able to see and recognise the worst parts of yourself. It's not as easy as you think. There were many ways in which I was fooling myself that, up until recently, I was oblivious to.

Just because your parents are dicks doesn't mean you need to cut them off; sure, create a period where you stay away and explain why. But at some point you need to let them spend time with the grandchildren; you need boundaries in place and to pull away if they don't respect those boundaries. What I'm trying to say is cut-offs don't have to be permanent.

I used to be at war with other people's beliefs, criticisms, and perspectives. Now I live by my own values and understand that others live by theirs or their tribes, and generally they have their own war-like state to overcome. Many won't, but I have, to a certain extent.

A war-like state where we play teams and see outsiders as rivals is the default state; we can only overcome tribalism through our higher reasoning.

Love is a burden only a fool does not carry.

A good man knows as much as he can about his own folly. A great man might even go as far as to lessen it.

Better than to be understood is to be heard, without trying to explain or justify your own condition.

Being misunderstood is the human condition; don't try to be understood as much as trying to understand. We feel others misjudge us, but we also misjudge ourselves.

You Can Be at Peace Without Accepting the World as It Is

There's a lot to be angry about in the world, and a lot of the time we equate having peace with accepting things as they are.

But you can have peace of mind and still be a force for good in the world, in whatever small ways you can.

I think it's important for people to know that because I personally have spent many wasted years being frustrated and getting worked up about the shitshow that is modern life.

And all that anger and frustration got me nowhere. It didn't move the needle one way or the other. It was personal torment, simply because I refused to believe I was allowed to be at peace when there were so many fires to put out.

As Kasey Chambers said in her song, "If you're not pissed off at the world, you're just not paying attention."

I believed that to be true for a long time.

Until I didn't.

And the funny thing is, I'm more helpful now in reality than I ever was when I was full of bluster.