A quickie post......in response to comments from last night, wherein ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ of Fighting in the Shade quoted Don Quixote. My response seemed a bit long winded for the comments, and it seemed an excellent idea for a follow up. (tips hat in a generally eastern direction).....
ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ, Cervantes and you are quite correct....in the battle of emotions, a closer look often times reveals only windmills where ogres once stood. When it comes to matters of the Heart, it seems that Men of our Breed,(and I don't think I'm being too arbitrary in that phrase), do tend to "tilt at windmills".
It's quite simply, and you all know I relish simplicity, that Men of our type were never taught to examine our feelings to find a solution. We were taught to fix things, whether it be the garbage disposal that is clogged, the building that needs to be built, the bridge that needs to be removed, the enemy that we're directed to neutralise, a relationship that is broken.
Now. Immediate reaction. Whatever it takes.
And we can't do it when it comes to matters of the Heart. We can't repair another person's broken psyche. And we can't mend our own broken hearts without doing a bit of self surgery. We have to cut. We have to examine.
It really does take a catastrophic situation to make us even consider that we might need to dig into "who we are". And to accept that we can't fix the problem, we can only fix ourselves to the extent so as not to have a repeat performance in a future relationship.
Once we, or in this case I, realised the course of action to be taken, that I was chasing windmills instead of the real enemy, the path became clear. It was difficult, it was learning new tactics for a different battle, but it was done.
I balked at it as all Men might.....
"But all this must be suffered by those who profess the stern order of chivalry" (Don Quixote, Book 1, Part 11).
Deus Vult
Wollf
