I'm not that kind of girl!

"The first duty of everyone in life is to realize that they're a piece of shit...Once you realize you're a piece of shit it's not so hard to take, because then you don't have this feeling that you're a good person all the time." - Kenny Shopsin

Throughout the years, my father has given me several pieces of advice. They are delivered casually and without much emphasis, but never fail to swell in my mind into gigantic, philosophical statements of life. When he told me during ping pong, "You've always got more time than you think you do" he unwittingly gave me a calming mantra in times of stress and pressure. I repeat these gems often as if quoting Shakespeare, but I doubt my audience is as impacted as his. This week's topics stems from one of those quotes: "Anyone is 'that kind of person' given the right situation."

Now, to a gal who has grown up by the book, this idea immediately clashed with my brain when I heard it. I had always been the over-achiever, the stereotypically good girl, and it was something I rather prided myself on. But this new idea meant that I could be as foul as any other person given the needed factors. I didn't want to think it was true at first, but, as usual, it has become a peaceful thought to me. My dad was essentially trying to bring me a sense of tolerance of wrong-doing; not for others, but for myself and the inevitable mistakes that lay in my future. Everyone can make a mistake, and there is no grand fall from a pedestal to mark the occasion...it is a simple part of life. None of us can stand the test of a rigid morality, especially if we think ourselves to be "good".

It can be an overwhelming duty to be a good person; and when a good person does something bad they have betrayed themselves. If you approach life with the idea that you're flawed (as we all are!) then the good deeds are a bonus and the bad ones are simply something to learn by. No guilt, no self-recrimination, just life.

But, if that were the norm, I've no idea how Catholicism would work...