The events of the last week are savage, evil, disgusting and yet another blow to a people who the rest of the world has had it in for over millennia. It isn’t  any different to what is happening all over our world from terrorist organizations, tyrants, dictators, thugs, gangs and mass shooters. Stepping back from this, is it in any way fair?

Fair is a crazy word with so many meanings. A ball can be fair or foul. A judge or jury can render a fair decision or unfair one for that matter. It can mean dispassionate, unbiased or impartial. We have state fairs or hopefully pay a fair price. For many is it an equal playing field or maybe it is just nice weather. But is life fair?  Intriguing  question. 

We are all competitors whether we like it or not. We vie for so many things. A game, job, girl or boy friends, notoriety, acceptability in society. In many cases one person’s success is another person’s failure. We can study hard, stack the deck, put our nose to the grindstone and yet not achieve the desired outcome. Were you screwed or is this just life?

Fairness is acceptance. I worked my ass off but didn’t come out on top. The boss picked an idiot instead of me. If I hadn’t gotten on that train or airplane or got stuck in traffic, “I coulda been a contender!” Maybe they are all true but it did not happen. There is not some Evil Doer that decides who wins and who loses. An ordinary event is the culmination of a lot of things coming together. We are participants but also innocent and helpless observers. 

The tragedy in Israel might have been avoided if perchance their world class intelligence had been more on the ball. This surely should not have happened in anyone’s worst nightmare but it did. It has been studied that the reason we keep watching newsreels of the raid, 9/11 or some off the wall weather event is not our curiosity for gore. We are praying and hoping it isn’t true and maybe somehow we can figure a way out of it. 

I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. For the most part they were docile times or at least appeared to be. Maybe the less we knew the better and I don’t say that out of hand. I am sitting here in Flalaland on a gorgeous day. Is our physical world any different than 60 years ago? Is the sky, oceans or trees really different or is it just our perception of them. 

We now bisect everything into nanoseconds and millimeters. We have machines that control everything with infinitesimal specifications. We have created and aborted. We have defined every bit of DNA in the human body and now have the hubris to think we can change out the bad ones. Embellish and improve the good ones. We think we are masters and mistresses of our universe. 

And yet with all of this, bad things happen. Computers malfunction. Self driving cars screw up. Maybe not as much but it happens. You have the latest golf clubs but you still have a shitty swing. You have planned out your finances in detail but there is always the unforeseen and you are scrambling. I think the more control we think we have the more vulnerable we are to defeat. 

Why is it so hard for us to accept? You are not the only one who plays  in a tournament, has a brilliant idea in business or buys a Lottery ticket. There are thousands of people out there that are just as qualified as you.

You were not unlucky because luck is one of the more absurd concepts of our existence. Right place at the right time works for you whether you are meeting your true love or securing a job. It really is a matter of chance not predestination. 

Can you stack the odds? Of course. Wealth begets wealth. A highly paid lawyer can get off the biggest scumbag in the world. A bad one can get an innocent man convicted. We bitch and moan and whine but in the end it is just life displaying its randomness and yes callousness. If not for the lucky(did I just say that?) sperm club I could  be in a jungle in New Guinea. And so could you. 

The toughest part of life is reality. We spend so much of our lives wishing the past away. Sometimes I will toss and turn thinking about the many things I could have done better. Irish Catholic guilt? Maybe. But what the hell does that have to do with missing a putt in the club championship at Country Club of the Rockies too many years ago. Yup it is still right up there, center stage. 

Fair is defined by events as they happen, not our version of reality. Karma is a pleasant thought and maybe it happens now and then. Do I pray for things? Of course. But too often God is either looking the other way or taking care of something a lot more important than me. Try to hit the ball thrown at you. If you have to make a decision there is a fifty fifty chance you re right. 

I closing, bad things happen to good people and vice versa. In our wired world we really have to get that there is oh so much we can not control. It is what it is. I am going to try to enjoy life with all its pratfalls and speed bumps. Shit Happens. It always will.

As Always 

Ted The Great

Factoids:

A noted psychologist says there is luck…sorta. If you feel lucky and optimistic then good things could happen. If you feel unlucky you are probably down about things and in many cases destined to fail

BLAME GAME is a situation in which different individuals or groups attempt to assign blame to each other for some problem or failure. Not me brother. 

What we perceive to be the real world is a construct of our mind. In other words, we do not see the world as it really is, but as our brain has been “programmed” to show it to us. BTW you can change that program if you have the will and desire to do so. 

I do not want to appear glib about the Hamas massacre, 9/11 or any personal tragedy you might be going through. They are cataclysmic and life changing and my heart goes out to you. I can accept it as life but I am sure they will see it otherwise. God Bless!