Own it

Doled out some tough love today.

It's not something I enjoy doing. And I don't do it often, because the effort is often rewarded with resentment, no matter that the tough love is delivered with care.

But when you allow someone you don't completely trust access to financial and other meaningful parts of your life based on a "verbal agreement", you are responsible for what happens.

So own your mistake. Acknowledge your part in it. Correct it (if possible). And make changes so that it doesn't happen again.

And who am I to say "own it"? Because I own my part in past mistakes - divorce, breakups, staying in a job I hate so long it makes me miserable, family rifts, etc. I am far from perfect. And I don't want to be. But I do my best to learn from my missteps so I don't repeat the past.

Now, hold up your right hand and make a fist. Hold up a finger for each person (outside of your family) that you are constantly looking out for. And when I say constantly, I mean every day. Every action and thought is done so with keeping them in mind.

I'd bet the change in my pocket that if you were to use that hand to play rock/paper/scissors right now, you'd be far from paper.