Have you ever read one of Susan Mangigian’s Thankful Thursday posts?  They’re so heartfelt and genuine, they’re inspiring.  So here I am, doing my first one.  I’m afraid it’s going to sound cheesy, but here goes anyway.

I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist.  (“…a bit of…?”  My sister is laughing her head off right now.)  While I have high expectations of others, they’re not nearly as high as the expectations I have of myself. 

And when I make a mistake, I get really upset.  Really, really upset.  Oh you may not see it on my face…or do you?  But if you could see inside of me, you’d see what looks like a witch’s cauldron — a swirling, boiling, steaming mess of regret and disappointment and self-criticism, with maybe an eyeball thrown in for good measure.  (Hmmm, does that make me a witch, I wonder?)

And so I adore people who do not take themselves too seriously.  People who are successful in life (whether personally, professionally or both) AND have the courage to admit, and share, and laugh about the fact that they have made many mistakes in life – and no doubt learned from them.  At the very least, they survived them.  And learned to laugh about them.  And then had the courage and generousity of spirit to share their stories with others, like me, so that we can take their experience and their laughter and rub it on our wounds like a soothing salve.  Or maybe like a sunscreen, to protect us a wee bit from the self-scorching that will come the next time we make a mistake.

Today, and everyday, I am thankful to those of you who freely offer up your salve.  You make me feel better…and you make me strive to be better, so that I too can offer up my salve to those around me.