Parents: "If I could go back, I wouldn't have kids." Also parents: "If you so much as look at my child the wrong way, I'll burn down the world for them."

Sound hypocritical? Of course, it does. Welcome to the human condition: where conflicting truths live in harmony and people spend their lives dancing on the razor-thin edge of ambivalence.

Here's the thing: this isn't hypocrisy. It's being human. Love doesn't cancel out regret, just like regret doesn't erase love. You can adore your kids and still hate that they turned your peaceful evenings into battlegrounds. You can make sacrifices for someone and secretly wish you didn't have to. It's called complexity. Look it up.

And this doesn't stop with parenting. Walk outside. Look at how many people are living contradictions: smiling through jobs they hate, nodding at opinions they disagree with, and settling for truths they've convinced themselves to accept. The real kicker? Most of them don't even know they're doing it.

Now, add to this another kind of contradiction: people in management positions who believe others don't need to be mentored or managed. These people are not just hypocrites; they're fools. They think people will "figure it out" on their own, as if leadership is some optional add-on to a role, not a critical responsibility. Good luck with that philosophy — it'll work right up until the moment your team starts crumbling under the weight of their unmet potential.

The truth is, we're all just trying to survive this messy, chaotic, beautiful thing called life. We live in tension with our desires, fears, and obligations, and sometimes that means holding two completely opposing truths at once. But if you're in a position to lead, don't let your own contradictions become someone else's limitations. People thrive with guidance. Coaching matters. Mentorship isn't a luxury — it's a lifeline.

So before you point fingers at "hypocrisy," take a moment. Recognize it for what it is: the messy, complicated, contradictory masterpiece that is the human experience. And if you're leading a team? Do better.

Or don't. But if you don't, don't whine when someone calls you out for it.

Stay conflicted, Pinho