Stop – Edit – Continue

A hot topic of conversation in today’s society is called cancel culture.  Every other month a new atrocity is brought to light.  People are either expressing remorse over what happened or denying the offense occurred. Many ask the question, who could have allowed this to happen, or why are we just now hearing about it? The answer is quite simple, we all use the practice in our everyday lives.

When trying to inspire our children to do better in everything they do, most parents will tell them about their triumphs. When I was your age, I made the honor roll or dean’s list. It’s probably not a lie, but the rest of the story is left out.  The conversation should be, when I was your age, I made the honor roll after failing math two semesters in a row. If I hadn’t achieved honors, I would have had to repeat the grade.

The conversation might be similar for the aspiring jock after edit. When I was your age, I made the varsity (pick a sport) team and received a letter jacket. The real story is, when I was your age, I made the varsity team but only played a couple of quarters in four years because I wasn’t good. I got a letter jacket because every senior that played a sport got one.

The practice of editing life never stops. When putting together a resume, has anyone listed the reason for leaving as fired for poor performance? The edited version was probably, left in search of a better opportunity. Have you ever heard someone proclaim that people tell me I’m the life of the party? Unedited, I can’t hold my liquor and become obnoxious when I drink.

There are realistically more examples of people editing parts of their lives than I have time to write them down. The point is, we shouldn’t be shocked or dismayed when some of these atrocities come to light because it’s what people do every day on a smaller scale.