Blame it on the Leprechaun
A leprechaun has given us fits for years. Recently the dirty trickster hid my wife’s coffee cup. Worse yet, when she puts a mini–Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup on the counter, he steals it when she looks away.
The other day the green demon hid my coffee cup. And all this time I thought he preferred girls.
We’re buying Lucky Charms the next time we shop. They’re magically delicious and help leprechauns be less malicious.
At lunch today my wife noticed a tiny gnat buzzing my food. I told her that’s surprising because leprechauns attract gnats. “I knew you were the leprechaun,” she said.
“Well, that explains everything,” I said.
“How so?” she asked innocently.
I explained that leprechauns possess people. He forces me to do mischief in my sleep.
Blame is a beautiful thing.
The power of Blame:
Blame is a magical force that preserves the illusion of personal virtue. Lose your keys? The leprechaun did it. Gossip? The leprechaun made me do it.
Blame nurtures comfort. Why change when you can blame?
Eat too much? The restaurant served portions too large. I’m not gaining weight. My wife shrank my jeans.
Blame keeps relationships strong. Forget an anniversary? A leprechaun deleted my calendar reminder.
Responsibility builds character. But blame spins stories, and stories are self-affirming joy. Thank goodness for leprechauns.
What subtle forms of blame hold people back?
How does playfulness enhance life?
Went and looked up what is Leprechaun!! new learning today. Thanks Dan
I always thought they were good, but found out they were tricksters.
One of my favorite quotes on blame:
The alternative to owning failure is blame. Blame guarantees you stay the same.
It is on a post-it note above my computer screen. A constant reminder to fail forward!!! Happy weekend Dan!
Thanks for the quote, Cheryl. I love it. “Blame guarantees you stay the same.”
How does playfulness enhance life? It can shine a gentle light at viewpoints that hold us back. When I think of blame, there’s a pretty strong connotations of negativity and disappointment. Reading “Blame keeps relationships strong” really gave me pause this morning. That connotation in my head made that sentence feel wrong.
As I give myself a little space and re-read your story, I wonder if my perspective has me leaning away when I see blame or other “negative” behaviors. Instead, maybe I can choose to get curious about the person behind those behaviors in the moment.
Playfulness can grease the skids of curiosity. I think it leaves a little more room for trust and perspective taking when a challenge inevitably comes up. Thanks for the perspective shift this morning Dan.
Thanks Brandon. Glad you picked up the sarcasm in blame keeps relationships strong.
Connecting it with curiosity is wonderful. It gives me a positive path forward.
Fear is a not-so-subtle form of blame that holds people back. I once heard that fear is a great motivator – I’m often surprised at what lengths we go to avoid blame.
For playfulness, in our house, “Kaat-yaaa! is an often–heard phrase when someone asks, “who did that?!?!” Katya was our family cat, since deceased. It’s our light-hearted way to diffuse the fear of punishment. Everyone knows it wasn’t the cat, and the culprit usually quickly fesses up. Extending that to work, a little good-natured ribbing can provide a safe space ownership.
So wonderful, Ryan. We had a dog named Shadow. Our middle child was caught sitting in a pile of crackers. When I asked him who did it, he said, “Sha-Sha.” His way of saying shadow at his age. Sometimes, Shadow still comes up.
Your idea on fear of being blamed is an interesting take on the subject. Thanks for adding your insights.
Borrowers. That’s who gets the blame with me. Look them up by Mary Norton, 😉
That’s a new one to me, Nancy. I did look it up and think we may have some tiny people living in our walls! Thanks for a chuckle.
Blame, it’s just like the two extra children I had in my house while my kids were growing up. “I don’t know” and “Not me”, funny names but they were just like the leprechaun. I laugh inside when I hear those excuses coming up in the blame game today in the workplace. 🙂
It’s great to expose these little devils. I suppose they are related to, “Nothing.” As in, “What are you doing? Nothing!”
When I became a new supervisor, I was assigned to another supervisor to learn the ropes. He shared to become a good supervisor one must practice “blame diversification” – blame others for mistakes and failures. He was joking – and I clearly understood that – but I watched others practice it often unfortunately.