Take a rat, a dog or a monkey. They easily learn the difference between reward and punishment. They easily identify actions that will result in pain and avoid them. Not us!
We have a certain tendency to learn with our mistakes but easily forget how much it hurt. And unlike other animals, if we forget the punishment we easily repeat the same behavior and sooner or later the pain of the punishment comes back. Not a shadow anymore in the back of our head, but true pain, sometimes even more intense than before.
And the first reaction is to complain, fill our lives with self-pity, blame other for the pain inflicted. Again we easily forget that it wasn't the first time and we should have learned, we shouldn't have done the same mistake twice, three times or four... So we're the only ones to blame!
So here I sit now. After an amazing bloom about coffee and queues and beautiful women, I blame myself. But only today! Tomorrow I shall forget the pain again, I shall not be conditioned again and I'll open my heart and my eyes and I will live another day for the first time and even if the sun just shines for a little bit I will smile and laugh and be who I'll never forget I am!
