Old Complexes

One huge gift of aging is that old complexes begin to lose their grip - I hope!  One of my ancient complexes is the need to be right.  I won't claim that this old internal crocodile has given up.  It's still very much alive.  But it doesn't create quite the same terror it used to.

One aspect of this complex was the need to always be up-to-date about world events.  For example, I felt truly ashamed if a conversation started about a country or a war that I wasn't aware of, especially if the country name was unfamiliar to me or I didn't understand the political implications of the conflict.  I needed to have a clear postion on every territorial dispute  and  the right answer on how it should be solved.  It was exhausting!

Now, while I still try to be aware of world events, I realize that I don't need to have an answer to every world problem.  In fact, I'm often at a loss about what can be done.  Not only does this remove a huge amount of pressure, I'm finding that I'm more open to questioning myself when I spring to a position.  I think this might even be wiser!