Blame Games + New Pictures Added
We had a great time in Portugal, enjoying great golf courses, great meals, great drinks, great scenery and great people. We had perfect weather, a consistent 81° F. Our hotel was perfect for our needs. We visited Roman ruins near our hotel in an area called Milreu. We were impressed by the condition of the remains of a Roman villa (and also by the apparent disinterest of other visitors). The ruins included a temple devoted to the worship of water, baths and residential buildings. Apparently the Romans enjoyed the sunny climate as much as we did.
[One of the new pictures on page 2 of the scrapbook shows the beauty of one of the golf courses we played and the other is of me at the Roman ruins. ]
But we had some serious annoyances as well: Part of our luggage, including our golf clubs, never arrived. We didn't have tickets for some of the places we wanted to visit. We missed a connecting flight and had to spend an unplanned night at an airport hotel. Because of the missing luggage, I had to buy clothes that I discarded after one wearing because they fit so poorly.
I feel compelled to confess that, despite the many years I've spent in trying to avoid such emotions, my first reaction was to blame others for these annoyances. However, after only a moment, I realized that blaming others was inappropriate. If I wanted to find someone to blame, I had to look in the mirror. I had to take responsibility for problems I could have avoided with a little better planning, with a little more care, with a little better education. If I had done a better job, everything would have been fine.
We all have a tendency to blame others for what goes wrong in our lives. We look to our parents, our friends, our co-workers whenever anything goes wrong. It's comforting to think that the bad things are the fault of someone else. It's nice to think that we've done everything right and that if only others didn't let us down we'd have the lives we desire. On analysis, this way of thinking is usually wrong. We're usually responsible for our own lives, it's usually our own mistakes that lead to problems.
The next time you fall into the trap of blaming someone else for your problems think twice, look to your own responsibility and learn how to avoid creating the same problem again. In that way, you'll take better control of your own life and, not incidentally, avoid making trouble for the people you blame.
10-6-03
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