2008 Resolutions

It's self-evaluation time.

I came across an interesting article tonight about regret in the Times. I think I am able to ghostbust regrets about major events in my life with a good amount of complexity, which the article describes as "an ability to incorporate various points of view into a recollection, to vividly describe the circumstances, context and other dimensions." Complexity in self-evaluation is how we mature and constructively deal with regret, and the more complexity one has the greater one's psychological well-being. Or maybe I'm just really good at rationalization and denial. Not going to question this one too much - have other and bigger problems to think about. Self-evaluation - pretty good.

But I am frequently haunted by regret for small, inconsequential things that I do or say on a daily basis. It probably results from a combo of being too hard on myself and not knowing how to deal with this kind of regret. Every time I get a flashback of something embarrassing, I just try to shake it off (sometimes involving literal shaking) instead of effectively dealing with the regret by learning the lesson and moving on. Self-evaluation and resolution - improve ghostbusting of little regrets.

Other resolutions that I've thought of include
- Be on time! I always get myself in a tizzy when I'm late --> thus, I'm always in a tizzy. This is one easy way to reduce stress.
- Listen more, talk and argue less. I think everyone knows I'm going to be a lawyer and am argumentative. Why not go against my stereotype more often?
- Be more decisive. Perennial resolution of mine.
- Be less quick to judge. Why do I think my opinion matters so much? It doesn't.