Ambivalent!

Ambivalent is defined as having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas.  I have a few:

I’ll be going back to India for a visit next year.  I lived there 50 years ago and have returned many times since, so I have a nostalgic feeling for the India that used to be.  I know that for most Indians life is better now.  Yet, the olden days have an appeal.  My workaround: Honor the past but let it stay in the past.  See/accept today with fresh eyes.

Our national parks are said to be America’s best idea.  Today, Donald Trump is America’s worst idea.  Yet I want him to win the Republican nomination.  Why?  Two reasons: First, running him will assure that the Democrats continue to hold the White House.  Second, this country needs to face up to the phenomena that make it possible for Trump to emerge as a choice of so many people.

If the Tottenham Hotspurs lose to Chelsea today Leicester City wins the Premier League title – the most improbable result in football history.  On the surface, my preference is simple.  Go Foxes!  However, my fantasy football team includes three Spurs, so the better they do the better I do.  What, then, do I want?  I want to have it both ways: My guys do well and the Spurs still lose.

An item about which I am not ambivalent: While I don’t dwell on them, I do notice obituaries in the news.  These days most people who die are younger than I am.  Gives me a chance to be grateful.  Every day!