Week 99 - We're making the same mistakes we made 1,000 years ago. So they must be the right ones" -Chuck Palahniuk
why it's not just fools that make the same mistake twice
There’s something funny about the fact that when I read my journals from 3 years ago, I find myself dealing with the same problems I have right now.
Despite the countless experiences between past me and present me, I still deal with the same issues.
What’s strange is how frustrating that feels.
As someone who has learned to see mistakes as lessons I (hopefully) won’t make again, it’s perplexing how there are some lessons I’ll probably just have to remind myself of over and over again.
Just like there are life lessons that you have to learn on your own, there seem to also unfortunately be ones that you have to constantly relearn and remind yourself of.
And I think that’s so irritating to me because I usually try to look at life like a video game.
As you grow up and progress, you learn more and more lessons that are supposed to help you later on in life.
That makes sense.
What doesn’t is having to go back to the same lesson you learned on a previous “level”. A lesson like not worrying incessantly about the future, and simply being where your feet are isn’t one that’s fun to keep remembering.
Yet, it’s something I’ve felt I always have to do.
And I know it’s pretty easy to just say you should spend more time on the important lessons, but when it comes to something as constant as being present, there’s no excuse other than the fact that it’s just pretty damn hard.
The list is probably endless, but I’ve found in my conversations with most people, the top 3 issues everyone struggles with are being present, not feeling like enough, and learning how to let go of things out of your control.
And no matter how successful any of those people seemingly are, our conversations always seem to come back to those 3 issues.
But what other choice do we have?
The recurrence of these lessons is the exact reason why they’re so important. You just can’t escape them.
So maybe the answer is acceptance.
If you know you'll have to remind yourself again, there's no need to be upset — and, no reason to worry when it happens next time.
I actually think the more you adopt that mindset, the less you’ll have to remind yourself because of the patience you’re giving yourself.
So if some lessons will always be eternal, maybe the real growth isn’t in completely learning them, but in softening each time you need to be reminded.
Amen.