Fair? No; but if there’s one class of people I can justifiably be unfair to, it’s past versions of me who in any case aren’t around to be hurt by it.
For instance, every time I realize that Past Shane has said something that probably made someone else feel bad—unless there’s an excellent reason, which as it turns out happens roughly never—I berate him soundly for his stupidity. I think I’ve actually become kinder and friendlier because I don’t want Future Shane to be mad at me.
I seldom have any sympathy for Past Shane; generally he was a dumbass and I don’t know what the hell he was thinking. This seems to work for me, maybe because I’m not being hard on myself—only on that other idiot who was running the controls earlier.
Fair? No; but if there’s one class of people I can justifiably be unfair to, it’s past versions of me who in any case aren’t around to be hurt by it.
For instance, every time I realize that Past Shane has said something that probably made someone else feel bad—unless there’s an excellent reason, which as it turns out happens roughly never—I berate him soundly for his stupidity. I think I’ve actually become kinder and friendlier because I don’t want Future Shane to be mad at me.
I seldom have any sympathy for Past Shane; generally he was a dumbass and I don’t know what the hell he was thinking. This seems to work for me, maybe because I’m not being hard on myself—only on that other idiot who was running the controls earlier.