History judges us by our extremes not our average. We don’t tell stories of normal moments, we tell stories of things that are better or worse than normal. Furthermore, we usually let the bad beat out the good.
If you hate your parents you would point out the moments when they were at their worst: the meanest things they ever said, and the worst things they ever did. You will tell them about the time they were stressed out and said they wish you weren’t born, or the time they slapped you for talking back to them. You won’t tell anyone about how they packed you a lunch every day in elementary school, or how they always picked you up from your sports, or how they always made sure you had clean clothes. You will judge them from their extremes, and you will tell stories that reflect those extremes.
Likewise if you love your parents, you would point out the greatest things they ever did for you, how they stayed up all night helping your build your science project because you waited till the last minute, how they loaned you the money you needed to get your first car, how they nursed you back to health when you got your wisdom teeth out.
We are a drama driven people, and though we should give people credit for their good moments, and deduct credit for their bad moments, that shouldn’t be how we judge them..
98% of the time we are at our average.
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