Blame Game

                Sometimes Frank will chew on his tail.  Feeling pain, he thinks his tail bit him so he growls at it and bites back, escalating the situation.  My first thought watching him is, “What’s his problem?  Is he really not getting this?” but on second thought, we humans do this kind of thing ALL of the time.

Frank's tail in a non-combative position

                We do something that obviously is going to come back to bite us and then are angry when things go wrong and blame it on something or someone else.  Was he really astounded to get a speeding ticket knowing that he was, well, speeding?  Can I blame the holidays for weight gain when I was the one who put all those goodies in my mouth?   When she returned the library book late, knowing it was late and knowing there are fines for late books, did she really think blaming the library for charging her was a reasonable gripe?  Most of us bear self-imposed crosses alongside legitimate ones.  I am guilty of carrying my share.

                We are blessed with great freedom in our country, but we are not free from the consequences of our actions.  If we bite our own tails, they’re going to hurt.  If we don’t want them to hurt, then we should choose not to bite them in the first place.  Don’t be Frank—think ahead before acting and if you do make a mistake, for heavens’ sake don’t growl and snap at the rest of us.  Just quit making that mistake, clean up the mess you made, and move on. 

                Frank’s tail only quits hurting when he quits attacking it and let’s go of his anger.