Flaws & Foibles: No Need to Hide

Life offers us choices and we cannot always know absolute outcomes.

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(SALEM) - Are we the unintended victims of our own personal propaganda? Is it true that we are largely in denial of making mistakes and instead inculcated with the notion that we must constantly pose near-perfection for fear of being rejected by others?

I take issue with those attuned to hiding their real selves. To possess flaws is a part of the human equation.

Pretending otherwise is folly. We make ourselves less credible. And in the process, we stifle the desirability of gathering a support system that can happen to help us of those speed bumps along life's uncertain path. We need others to emotionally survive. They can have had experiences in life that go way beyond what we have endured. They may be able to supply solutions that never occured to us. Why feign that we have infinite wisdom to go it alone?

Nobody is attracted to a know-it-all personality. We like to think that people can change for the better. Aesop had his fables...and each of us has foibles. Nothing to hide and be embarrassed about. There is no "shame" in admitting to weaknesses as well as strengths.

Life offers us choices and we cannot always know absolute outcomes.

While we can venture guesses as cause-and-effect, there are no guarantees. Very often we use predicaments of the past toward making a choice for the present. But people and conditions are prone to change. We can only muster our best judgments of how things will turn out but let us not turn on ourselves if our conjecture turns up incorrect. We must accept dead ends and be ready to makje u-turns when necessary.

After all, being human has all the hues on the spectrum. Introspection invited!

NOTE: B. Lee Coyne first emerged as a Caucasian cub reporter for the Black weekly NY Voice and was assigned to cover numerous civil rights struggles. It has left its indelible mark on his mindset. He can be contacted at: notcoy@netzero.net.

B. Lee Coyne, a NYC native, blends three careers: Journalist, Counselor, Educator. His writings have appeared in newspapers and magazines on the East and West Coasts and the Southwest. He loves the art of the interview and has covered such persons as Dr. King's 1963 "Dream" speech and Sen. William

Proxmire as an advocate for the environment. A global traveller to some 30 countries aboard, he speaks Spanish semi-fluently and very rudimentary Russian, Tagalog, German, Arabic and Hebrew.

Lee's legacy here in Salem includes launching the Salem Peace Mosaic at the YMCA and doing a radio talk show for KMUZ/88.5 FM. It airs Mondays and highlights lives of proactive, productive senior citizens. He invites you to contact him at: notcoy@netzero.net.