"My life has been pretty blessed. Not a lot of drama in it," I commented one day.
My sister-in-law did a 180° swiveling head snap to lay a glaring look on me. The reaction was worthy of a FABulous gay guy who had just been told his shoes were tacky. One of THOSE looks.
"HOW can you say that?" she fumed with indignation. "You've been unemployed, divorced, and held at gunpoint; your father and grandmother just died; and your mother has cancer."
Oh, yeah, that stuff. She had a point.
"Most people would consider those events to be dramatic. Why don't you?"
Hummm...this from a woman who can find drama in making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But still she had a point. So I pondered on that a while.
The only conclusion I could find is that my expectations for life are different than most people's. I always expect the worst and when it doesn't happen I rejoice. When the worst happens, my expectations have not been violated, so I don't get all meshuganah. My life stays on a fairly even keel.
I was going to rant on ad nauseum about plans, decision trees, toxic drama, changes in perspective and such, but author Robert Fulghum summed up things nicely in his book Uh-Oh, Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door. I call this the Lump Theory.
"You don't know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire - then you got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat, and a lump in a breast are not the same lump. One should learn the difference."
Today my neck is functioning as designed. Today I have Cheetos in the pantry. Today my house isn't smoking, it's not even warm (kicks furnace). Today my life is blessed.
Tomorrow things may change. But I expect that.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Expectations for Life
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7 comments:
Will you be my sister?
And a lump on the noggin from smacking yourself upside the head in a DOH! is another kind of lump altogether. Nice perspective reminder.
Hoot hoot!
The gorgeous TV chef, Nigella Lawson, was once quoted saying, "Life does contain affliction. When it's not occurring, you may as well be pleased."
I love that.
And my shoes look fabulous, by the way.
See? That's why I love you.
This reminds me of my martial arts instructor's advice on taking the offensive;
"If a man calls you a fool,you don't need to break his arm..
But if he pulls a knife on you,you know he's not collecting for the Red Cross!"..
Keep things in perspective.
It's like I've told my children, "if you're not bleeding or on fire, then don't bother me with it".
Of course they didn't understand the first time they heard it, as they were 6, 3 and 1 at the time.
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