I ask this because I am reminded regularly that crappy things happen to good people. And why not? Crap happens, man. It just does. Crap does not care who it happens to.
So if you're totally paranoid, maybe you're miserable but at least you're prepared.
But if you're blissfully oblivious to all the peripheral bad stuff, you get to go on with your life and be basically... mellow? numb? happy?
Then when the crap hits the cool air distribution device, you will be shocked! stunned! blindsided! that such a thing could happen.
"I can't believe this," you could tell the reporter from the local news station. "This is the kind of thing that only happens to other people! You hear about this all the time but it never happens in your own life!"
But now let's consider you as the prepared pessimist. "It was only a matter of time. It's not a case of if it happens, it's when it happens." No shock, no tears, just a bummed-out realization that there's one more crappy thing done and out of the way. And then you get on with your life.
I think about these things way too much.
So, here's what I ask you, anybody who's still following along here:
Who's better off?
8 comments:
A motto I live by is "Expect the best but Prepare for the worst". Or "better to be prepared and not need it than be unprepared and caught unawares". But I don't dwell on all the crappy things that COULD happen. It's like worrying. You could worry about ALL the things that COULD/MIGHT happen and be sick with worry all the time, or...be prepared in case something happens, be aware crappy things COULD happen, live your life, and if it happens deal with it and move on, but don't waste your life worrying about maybe. I am also a big believer in thinking things to life. If you think about all the crappy things that COULD happen, chances are they will because you brought them into being. I am also very aware about how I talk because "as a man thinketh (speaketh), so is he".
Call me crazy, but this is the only way I can live life joyfully.
Well, here's what I know:
If you are borrowing money, borrow from a pessimist; they won't expect you to pay it back.
:-)
Jules- beautiful!
Cindy Dianne - ha! Never thought of it that way before!!
I like what Jules and CD said.
In my view, you can't go wrong by borrowing from the boyscouts: be prepared. So if you are helping an old lady across the street and see a car careening out of control straight at you, you'd still have time to dive out of the way. I'm just saying...
Or as a lawyer, prepare your client by forecasting the absolute worst-case-scenario. Lot of negotiations went that way, from bad to worse, the clients, dug-in hardcase, not daring to concede a single inch. You know: give an inch and lose a mile.
So if you are asking if the glass is half full or half empty, that depends if you putting the bottle down or are still lifting it.
My personal take on it is that there is enough sh*t to go around, and you are bound to be splattered by some of it, whether you are paranoid or not. It's just a fact of life.
Paul - suddenly I want to go have a beer... after all this talk of lifting the bottle...
And you know I have been splattered enough in my life. There is for sure enough sh*t to go around eh?
Paranoid. I have meds for that.
It's just good sense when everybody's out to get you.
(a very wise woman once told me that....!)
This is one of your most thought-provoking pieces that I've read for a very long time. My own experience over the last twenty years of watching my entire family develop a genetic illness is that there is something strangely liberating about your very worst fears coming to pass. You are as low as you can go and nothing can be done to "fix" anything. You have nowhere to go but up and amazingly enough you get on with your life. There is always joy and beauty along with the crappy stuff although sometimes it's a challenge to see the beauty and experience the joy.
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