Bad Things, Good Things.

A friend recently said that he believes that for every good thing that happens to you, the balance will tip the other way to remind you of your luck or mortality. I’m guessing he means in a humbling kind of don’t-take-things-for-granted sort of way.

What a load of crap.

I’m sorry, but I don’t buy into this philosophy at all. I think it’s an excuse used to avoid reality and responsibility.

To imply that bad things have to happen so we can truly appreciate the good things in life, is like saying you have to eat catshit before or after a gourmet meal so you can truly appreciate fine cuisine. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Eat some catshit and a Big Mac would taste like gourmet fare! It’s only by having enough courage to try a wide variety of things that you can develop a truly discerning palate and appreciate each individual offering for what it is.

I was talking with another friend and was reminded of a saying I once heard that seems a lot more credible and reliable in my experience. It was, essentially, that if you want good things to come into your life, you have to make room for them.

That means cleaning house, folks.

I know, nobody likes it, it’s a messy job, you often find things that you stuffed to the back of the closet and forgotten about, maybe some that don’t even fit you anymore. But honestly now, what good are they doing there anyway? They’re just taking up valuable space that you could use for better things. And they make it harder and more expensive anytime you want to move. Just because something was good for you once before doesn’t mean it always will be. To hold on to it "just in case" you ever need it again is such a waste. If you truly need it again, you’ll find a new one. And it’ll fit you a lot better than the one you put away years ago.

But we do hold on to things long after they’re needed, don’t we? Sometimes we don’t even realize it until we go to put something new away, and we realize the old stuff is still there.

It’s the people who know the old things are there, and they’re hanging on to them out of fear and desperation – they’re the people that I feel for. I want to pry the old stuff out of their hands as I reassure them that better things can be had if they just let go and take the risk.

But what do I know? Maybe they won’t be as lucky as I have, and they’ll end up empty-handed.

Then again, sometimes having nothing is better than having the wrong something.

Maybe too many of us relate to the old fable of the dog who had a bone in his mouth but saw his reflection in the stream and – when he got greedy and tried to get the other bone too – lost what he already had.

Wanting happiness isn’t greedy.
Wanting peace isn’t greedy.

I’ve learned, sometimes if you hold on too tight to something you have, out of fear of what you might lose or get, you discover after a while that all you’re left with is an old bone.  I’m tired of old bones.  You?