I'll Never...Nevermind...

I'm extremely burned from the tanning bed. I know, I know...it's terrible to go, so dangerous, etc. etc. Anyway, I went. I was a little proud of myself because it's the first time I've gone in almost a year. I try to go as little as possible, but yes, I do like to have a little extra color for the summer. Being half Indian, I figured that I wouldn't burn too badly since I'd already laid out twice. Boy was I wrong. I went Monday and I can finally stand for my back to be touched today.

You can guess the things I've been saying since Monday: "I will never go to the tanning bed again!" and "I'm on tanning bed retirement - permanently!!" However, why is it in our human nature to forget how we felt at one time and make the same mistake over and over again?

I'm sure I'll visit a tanning bed again in my life. Will I stay the full 20 minutes on day one? I sure hope I'll remember not to do that...

Think about it. We've all sworn, "I'll never drink that again!" or "I will never eat more than 3 pieces of Papa John's again - ever!!"

And there we go...cramming Papa John's down our throats, having another stomach ache.

I have told myself I'll never be late to work again. Have I been late again? Yep. I have sworn I'll never shave without shaving cream again. Did I? Um, this morning. I have decided not to eat after 7 pm, etc. etc. I swore I'd never lose my temper again, and then it manages to rear its ugly head. I have decided I will walk away from now on when a situation escalates, rather than making a fool of myself.

It's just like with New Year's Resolutions...as time passes, we get stuck in our same old routines again. I am proud that I actually stuck to my working out resolution this year! That one was so much easier, though, because Bert and I made the same commitment, so we keep each other going.

It's the same way with childbirth. You hear new moms say that the pain was so incredible that they'll never put themselves through nine months of agony coupled with the horror known as childbirth. Three years later, though, Child #1 is welcoming Baby Brother or Baby Sister.

Maybe it's a good thing we can forget how we feel at certain times, otherwise, how would we forgive and forget? Time really does heal all wounds, in my opinion. If you put enough hours between yourself and an incident, you will forget the true emotions you felt at that time. That can be good with forgiveness, or it can be bad with dedication and commitment.

Even if I mess up, I still pick myself back up and try to start over again. I'll try to be on time to work every day next week. I won't let little things get to me. Eating after 7? Yeah, I'm sure I'll do that. Go to the tanning bed? Hopefully not.

Life is a learning process, and luckily, we don't have to be perfect. Human beings are resilient, and we can always try again and start over. And if you're really lucky, someone will be there to lend you a hand. In my case, that certainly came in handy to have help rubbing Aloe Vera gel on my very hot pink back!