I have had enough practice. We have been through this before, and should by now, know the drill well enough to react appropriately. The appropriateness having only a few options. When dealt a bad hand, a degree of disappointment or some flat-out nasty circumstance, we can:
1) Accept.
2) Reject.
3) Seek revenge.
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of movies have manipulated the latter into dramatic plot twists usually offering copious cinematic amounts of satisfaction for both protagonist and viewer. Regardless of justice restored, face saved or honor returned, they all ring like muted brass bells from the spiritual standpoint. It has been pointed out that an eye for an eye usually leaves the village myopic, or as we used to say of an umpire’s horrible call, ‘yo blue, if you had another eye you’d be a cyclops.’ We have a criminal justice system that is designed, and usually successfully, to deal with issues of this variety.
We can reject the reality of the circumstance and deny all responsibility. This, more often than not, sends us immediately and directly into victimhood. Without even the small cash reward for passing Go. I keep hearing people complain with an emphatic, ‘I can’t believe this is happening here,’ when addressing the political, or ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me,’ when flabbergasted by something more personal. This stinks of political and social privilege as well as personal irresponsibility and arrogance. One of the most altruistic slogans of all time is the pithy, shit happens. Because it does, keeps on doing and can happen in the plural or singular. To us, to you and to me. Shit showing up uninvited and most of the time unwelcome. Leading us directly to the only legitimate response to the reality of the recurring happening of shit.
Acceptance.
I am not saying you have to like it, but you will get over, past and above any shit show if you simply, perhaps paradoxically so, accept the reality that it is here. A few recent examples.
Yesterday, after my soul barring admission of the importance of distractions, and my personal weakness, college football, with one team in particular, it suddenly became as apparent as a wide-out coming open, that in claiming this distraction as crucial to my sanity, I was placing a LOT of pressure on said team to be responsible for my happiness. They win and I smile. Yesterday they played uninspired, unmotivated, unbalanced and afraid. And lost. I should be a mess.
But winners, leaders, champions and heroes learn the lessons from their defeats, lick their wounds and live to fight another day. We don’t wallow in self pity. We don’t blame others for our lack of focus and execution. We don’t spin errors into excuses. We accept that we got whupped, analyze how, correct the flaws and move forward, onwards and upwards. We accept.
Over the course of the last 70 hours America has been rattled to its democratic core. Pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and AR-15s in holy temples of worship. We are less than ten days from the most important mid-term elections in the history of our country. The talking heads on both sides blame each other for the carnage, continuing to point fingers and fan flames. Oddly, it now is apparent that a lot of this vitriol cum violence is blow-back from the eight years we enjoyed under the graceful leadership of the first African-America president. THEY WANT REVENGE and reject any mention of unity, peace, balance or truth.
Unacceptable folks. We are being bated by fear. I am disappointed that our leadership is so thoroughly corrupt, middle-men in the war between the have’s and those of us on the flip side of that coin. Until campaign finance, the lobby’s, and big money in politics is removed, we will see this shit-show on an endless loop of prime-time mass market media. This I accept.
And pledge my sincere efforts to bring it to a quick halt on November 6th. Please help me restore balance to America by voting blue.
With regrets to Michael Corleone, it is both business and personal. It’s not revenge, it’s the right thing to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment