Empowerment, delusions, and hot wax.

It's an odd feeling, those moments when you feel as if you are in control of your life. Perhaps you just ran a mile in record time, or you landed that job you wanted so badly, or you lined up a date with the cutest co-worker in the building. Perhaps, if you're a nerd like me, you just downloaded a few mp3 albums from Amazon using Pymazon instead of the Amazon mp3 Downloader. ...I know, thrilling, right?

Something about accomplishing a goal that we've had to really work at makes us feel invincible, I suppose. There was an obstacle in our way, we thought about giving up, but instead we pushed forward and really overcame. It's empowering. Surely if we can conquer that mountain, there is nothing that can stand in our way!

I don't know about the rest of the world, but for me that feeling of invincibility is a little bit dangerous. I may be excelling in my career or personal relationships, but that does not mean all other areas of my life are going well. Yes, I can hack a system into letting me do things my own way. NO, I cannot spend money indiscriminately and magically come out ahead. Yes, I solved a conflict between two second graders at work. NO, I cannot fix my family and everything that is broken. Do you see? When I feel powerful in one area, I can make the mistake of thinking I am just as capable in all aspects of my life. And the hard truth is, I'm just not that good. I have weaknesses, just as many as I have strengths, and I need to be real with myself about that. Ideally, I  need to find ways to look my faults in the eye and find a way to improve on them. Unfortunately, it's much easier to coast by on a "success high" and ignore those miserable little parts of my life until they rear up and bite me.



Here's to being human. Here's to incredible success, heartbreaking failure, and all the muddy times inbetween. Let your triumphs put enough wind under your wings to help you soar over the turbulence, but don't fly so close to the sun that your insufficient waxed wings melt away and leave you tumbling back to where you started. Somehow we must learn to find a realistic view of ourselves but in the most positive light that we can muster, focusing on our strengths to get us through and not letting our weaknesses drag us down.