All the things we are capable of doing

A rumination

It’s always so clear when someone else is being hard on themselves.

When a friend is lamenting not doing xyz, I’m quick to point out the extenuating circumstances and what they have already achieved, or how thinking, rest and reflection are equally important to doing the work. 

And yet, when I’ve been told I’m being hard on myself for xyz, I refute the conclusion. 

I don’t want to be told I’m hard on myself—I want to be told I’m capable of more.

There’s a quote attributed to Thomas Edison that I’ve mentioned before, and find equal parts inspiring and taunting: “If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”

I often wonder when I’ll finally start doing all those things. Sometimes it’s thrilling to contemplate what might happen if I applied myself—the possibilities, the ideas, the lives. But sometimes it’s deflating—the failures, the half-done, the unlived. 

Perhaps that’s why it’s difficult to hear we are being hard on ourselves—because we are convinced th…