Last Saturday, 10/4/2008, I told both someone and my nephew to write a self-evaluation. The nephew finished it in no time and stayed pretty much on the surface, touching only symptoms of problems, which are signs or indications of something deeper that he is not able at this stage to think of. Such as, instead of saying I have bronchitis, I say I have fever and sore throat, the symptoms of illness.

That night I had a wonderful walk and talk with someone, during which she told me of her self-evaluation. She totally surprised me with her unreserved candidness and rigorousness to the point of being too harsh in her self-exam.  It is no exaggeration to say she revealed herself far above many adults that I know of in her nobleness of mind, her unsparing soul-searching and persistent quest for perfection. Her self-evaluation shows her maturity, self-acceptance and the desire to improve herself.  With her level of maturity, I would hope she should put an end to the epic war between she and her cousin.

In her frank attitude toward her weakness and her mistakes, she put numerous adults, including famous people, to crashing shame. Not so far from our memory are Watergate scandals and Lewinsky story. If the related persons had 1% of her guts and honesty, history would have to be re-written.

To be sure, she has a much short list of her strong points but a rather lengthy and thorough list of her weaknesses. I only need to remind her of avoiding either ungrounded optimism or pessimism. Always face the reality and deal with it with confidence, courage and fortitude. No coverup or denial.

I am so much pleased at this point.  And it is not unreasonable to expect a breakthrough or a giant step forward in her development. Then again,  I know we won’t be perfect and I should be happy with someone with a perfect heart of angelic quality and the courage and the desire to be better than herself.