I’m Jewish so I’ve just spent the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mired in existential exploration reckoning with my faults and foibles and misdeeds.
It’s always quite enlightening to actually make a written record of character flaws to work on during the coming Jewish new year. Much more effective than just fleetingly berating myself for a nasty behavior or thought – and then carelessly batting it away as you would a pesky fly.
So here’s a PARTIAL list of my foibles and failings:
I’m selectively kind
Inwardly judgmental
Easily distracted
A much better starter than finisher
And still embracing the impostor syndrome – you know- the mindset that if people REALLY knew the REAL you, they’d be appalled.
On the other hand, even though I’m innately illogical and more often than not miss the obvious, my curiosity and zest for life remains ever present.
Thus I am always ridiculously optimistic when I embark on yet another round of self-improvement maneuvers.
So here is my current, most updated personal manifesto:
I will employ hope, without unrealistic expectation.
I will listen, without interrupting.
I will show kindness, without judgment.
I will recognize that creativity is chaotic and the to-do list never ends.
I will reserve the right to adapt, modify and change.
I will diligently practice the art of gratitude, freeing me from the destructive mindset of entitlement.
I will keep peeling the onion further and further down to relevant specifics, thus keeping me focused and balanced.
I will live life fully in the moment—even the unpleasant, annoying and challenging ones.
I will continue to believe that self-care is healthy; a necessity; a divine responsibility; and a sign of self-respect, not self-indulgence.
I will internalize what best-selling author Eleanor Brown says: “You Can’t Serve From An Empty Vessel.”
Keep Preserving Your Bloom,
Iris Ruth Pastor