b130 (1.12-1.2026): of stepping-stones & upgrades

of stepping stones and upgrades
by never e. nough
 
of stepping stones and upgrades
like waves upon the shore
when ‘next step’ becomes baseline
when more more, more, more, more!
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·        i used to explain (to one girlfriend) that it was a stretch to behave up to her expectations, and, when i did so, i was actually giving more than i was ready to give.

·        it’s not that i didn’t want to, but rather, i was playing-up over my head… getting extra base hits at every at-bat.

·        instead of being joyful over my temporary foray into the amazing, she quickly would consider my ‘amazing’ to be the new baseline, and soon expected even more! i used to call this the stepping-stone approach.

i never understood it, but the video (below) finally explains it. i was happy at B+ living & giving, and she wanted A’s! i began giving A’s, and she wanted A-pluses! i felt that i had actually progressed (in terms of commitment/investment/etc., but that seemed to go unappreciated).

      every time i got to one level, she wanted more, more, more!

any man who has experienced valentines day with the same gal can attest: 

last year’s pinnacle is this year’s baseline.

 
if you bat .333 for a career, you get into the hall-of-fame. when i was .333, she wanted .500.  when i hit .500, she wanted .750! in her mind, she was helping me get better, but i knew that i was in-over-my-head. when i got on a hot streak and batted 1.000 (on a hot-streak), she wanted extra-base hits instead of singles. when my slugging percentage increased, she wanted more triples and home runs!
 

i was damn great at .333, but now, batting 1.000 wasn’t enough!

that’s (usually) what ends the relationship-streak.

forgive me for not being superman.

 
at first, i didn’t think i was good enough, because she didn’t think it was good enough. eventually, i realized that it was her level of expectation (not my level of performance) that was the problem. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR9CIA0zG7s&t=45s

why she will never, ever be happy

 
it’s refreshing, actually, to re-cognize that it is not her fault, and that it’s just neurosynaptic wiring. understanding is forgiveness.
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martino, j. (1.12-1.2026). more, more, more, more, more! book 130: we are For-Given. © 2026 by wellnesseducation.us
 
*note: the average guy is a ‘C’. even as a ‘B’ -- i was well above average. hall-of-fame material!