August 17, 2022
There is no such thing as life
without trials. Sometimes, when we’re feeling wounded by the very act of living,
we look around us and imagine that some of the people we see have an “easy”
time of it. They look good and smell good, and have those nice smiles, and we
imagine all that means they are so lucky and have it so much better than we,
struggling under our current burdens, whatever those may be.
But of course, that’s not true.
What you’re seeing are others who know who to put on a good face, how to not
let their burden-wrestling show. Because there really is no such thing as a
problem-free life.
We don’t always face the same
challenges as our neighbors or our friends. And really, I don’t think you can
truly compare what you’re going through to what someone else is going through.
A trial is a trial, and the challenge of tough times is a challenge for us all,
regardless of the minutia of the situations we face.
One more thing life isn’t, is
a “zero-sum game”. I know that as true deep down to the very base of my soul.
I asked Ms./Mr. Google, and
she/he told me that that expression, “zero sum game” originates from the 1940s
in the field of game theory. That surprised me because when I first understood
what it meant, I immediately thought of the field of accounting. Anyone who has
worked in that field understands that a company’s balance sheet is balanced when
the credits and the debits are the same.
But that wasn’t it at all. It
was the field of game theory. And I for one object to the use of the term being
taken out of its original context and applied to life—especially the way it’s
applied today.
Used today, this theory sets
different ideas, collectives, and people on a grid in complete opposition one
to the other. Basically, their mantra would seem to be, “I can only win if you
lose.” And while that might be true in a
game of chess, or playing poker, or in a race, it’s not true in life. It
just isn’t. I can win and you can win. Or we both can lose. I can get ahead,
and so can you. In fact, I’ll go one further. Because I see you get ahead, I
know that I can, too. It’s possible. If
I have a bag of candy, you can have one too.
Before the 1952 Olympics, no
one had run a mile in under 4 minutes. And then one person did. And after one
person did that, others followed. One person’s achievement shows that the
achievement is possible. And if it is possible, then anyone can aspire to it.
I think the problem we face
today with all this tribalism arises when there are people behaving in bad
faith, who use another’s loss/defeat/meeting with disaster, to define their own
“getting ahead” or winning. Just think about that for a moment. There are people
in this world who are not happy, who do not feel justified, who do not feel “good”,
unless others are suffering.
Can you think of a more
relevant definition of selfishness? Can you think of a more relevant definition
of evil?
The good news is that I
believe that on the whole, there are fewer of that sort than there are those
who want good things for their fellow human beings. I really do.
Therefore, it is up to you and
me to live our lives in good faith. To do as much good as we can for as many
people as we can. It is up to us to “let our light” shine; and when you think
about it, that’s nothing new. It’s a concept as old as time. It’s how I was
raised, and I know I’m not alone in that.
It’s not always easy, but in
my opinion, it does get easier with practice. And sometimes a little judicious “selective
hearing” can go a long way toward keeping your heart calm and helping you in
accomplishing your goal.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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