Not My Area of Expertise

One-a-Day Redux
Day Twenty-Five:  Something You Made

If you're like I am, when you plan to put a lot of time and effort into something, you visualize the final product in its perfect form. As you get further along in the project you become more realistic, lower your expectations, and decide that as long as it's good enough to fulfill its function, it'll be fine. Sometimes, unfortunately, you have to step back, give it a hard look, and accept that it isn't at all what you had hoped it would be. You question whether you have the inclination to pour more time and effort into trying to salvage things, and you suspect you may not even have the necessary skills to do so.

I made a promise--twice--to love someone "till death do us part." Both times I meant it. Both times I worked at it. In the end, neither marriage was functioning even close to the way it should have been. Nor was I. I made promises and, ultimately, I broke them with the same finality as when an artist rips up an unsatisfactory sketch or takes a hammer to a poorly made clay sculpture.

Failures are learning experiences. What I learned from trying and trying again is to be extremely careful about making promises.