Life isn't fair
"Life isn't fair" is the phrase we usually hurl at people who just had a setback. I for one know those words do little to soothe a so-called unfairness of life. The phrase is true though and people react differently to it.
All it really means is that things just happen. Sometimes we get what we don’t want; and other times what we want, we don’t get. OK, maybe those things happen more than sometimes. The point is there are things we cannot control.
Before we make our first choice as a living organism, a lot of things have been determined we have no say in. They are: place of birth, parents, race, class, and all of the physical, emotional, and intellectual characteristics. Some folks seem to have it all, but most of us have a mixed bag. There are people born rich who have low IQ's and personality problems and there are poor people with brilliant minds. A common theme in humanity is we all struggle with something.
In my work, I see people everyday who started with the deck stacked against them. I also see people who have pissed away a pretty good hand. Something I have learned is that you cannot predict a person's outcome. I am always asked questions like, "Do people recover from alcohol abuse?," "Does marriage counseling work?" and "Will I be able to get a job in this condition?" The answer is the same to all of the questions: "It depends."
When faced with a problem, challenge, or obstacle (choose your noun) we need to be resourceful, able to improvise, endure, be creative, and not quit until we've won. Many give up before they win. Giving up becomes a pattern and their life turns to crap. They utter the phrase, "Life is not fair" through clinched teeth. Their bitterness eventually isolates them, because who wants to hang around a chronic whiner?
Others achieve beyond what is expected. Look at the sidebar of this page and notice the one-legged runner. Running is not a requirement or even a normal thing for an amputee to do, but he wanted to run. His grit and determination not only enabled him to run, but to run next to the President.
Life is not fair. This phrase always causes gratitude to well inside me. I welcome the mundane and routine, because they are free from tragedy. I know tragedy and suffering will someday come, but if they are not here now, I will celebrate health and having enough.
When tragedy does come - and it will - I will endure it, learn from it, and do what I have to do to get through until its time is past. We all get our turn with suffering.
Today is the day to breathe the air and celebrate health, family, employment, provisions, relationships, and free time. Today is the day to extend a hand to those who are suffering if you can.
Life is not fair, but we have the power to take away a lot of its sting.
This concludes the sermon for today - I hope wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you are enjoying it.
Until the next time
John Strain