How I see it

I have been accused ,on more than one occasion, of being a revisionist. I plead guilty. In my defense can any one of us say we have not made revisions to our stories ? We all like to change things, or enhance them just a bit, it is human nature. History, even our own, is subject to interpretation. The reasons we did or did not do certain things known only to ourselves. It is sometimes embarrassing to tell just what you were thinking when you made a bonehead mistake. And then if I explained it, down to the last detail, in fifty years another wouldn't understand it exactly and start revising the story. There are things I did fifty years ago that I can't explain to myself ! Therefore I submit to you that all history is revisionist. Unless you personally created that bit of history, by your own actions, whatever you tell of it will have been revised by your own observation. Your personal prejudices will influence the way you perceive it. The proof of that can be found in a childhood game. Remember playing " post office ? " What the first player whispered to the second became history the moment it was spoken. If you had three or more playing the history was changed, or revised almost every time. We can know the basic fact of an action but not know what caused that action. It is that way with almost everything in history. Well at least those things that man has done. We know Kennedy was shot but by who and why ? Those answers certainly have been revised a few times. It has been fifty one years. Whatever story you choose to believe in that scenario could be viewed as revisionist history. How many years were we taught that Columbus discovered America ? Now we believe it was the Vikings, or was it really the natives from Europe crossing an ice bridge into the new world ? Which revision would you like to embrace ? Cases can be made for all three scenarios. Now Pluto isn't a planet, another revision.
When it comes to my personal history I make revisions by omission. That is to say by the things I choose not to share. When I was much younger I would enhance the stories just a bit. Always I came out on top of the situation. Even when it may appear to you that I failed, I did not, it was part of the plan. I could run faster,jump higher and score better on tests. The girls all loved me and the guys were just jealous. Now I just don't talk about that stuff. It becomes fairly apparent, fairly quickly when one chooses to, shall we say, embellish our past achievements or indeed make claim to things we have never achieved. No one wants to tell of their shortcomings. Well there is one exception that comes to mind, ex anythings ! An ex smoker has smoked more cigarettes than anyone else ever did, and he quit. Alcoholics the same way. Drug addicts. Anything that someone used to do, but now no longer does, and wants to point out to you how you should not be doing that either ! Oh, I need to revise that as well. If someone wants to be kind to you they will say they have also done whatever idiotic thing it is you have just done.
Revisionist is one of those catchwords that some like to use. I think it should be called perceptive analysis. Or for layman, that's the way I see it.