Same Old Same Old!

Whatever goes around comes around:

A building in Dhaka goes up in flames and many die.  Poor construction.  Didn’t comply with fire regulations.

Suicide bombers in Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Children killed in Yemen when Saudis bomb a hospital.

Ebola and cholera in Africa.

Brexit fails again.

Rival politicians in Washington engage in their daily pissing match.  Dysfunction reigns supreme.

And on opening day:

Giants lose 2-0 and manage only 5 hits, all singles.  Dodgers win and hit 8 home runs.  It’s gonna be a long season!

So What's New?

Every day for the last couple of weeks I find myself thinking about writing a new post.  Thinking about it, but not doing it.  What’s new and interesting, I think.  And come up blank.

Checking the news doesn’t help.  Death and destruction, man made and nature at work, continue unabated.  Political dysfunction at home and abroad is the order of the day.  Trump and Brexit.  Brexit and Trump.  Protests in Europe and South America.  Acts of terror everywhere.  On and on.  Over and over.  The same thing.  Nothing new.

What’s the point of focusing on the obvious?  Is cynicism an appropriate response?  Maybe, except I know that cynicism may ease the upset temporarily but won’t really help.  How about good old fashioned complaining?  Same result – doesn’t help.

How about bemused non-involvement?  Just laugh at it all.  That may be a promising approach, but could also just be a cop out.

Sports?  That could be interesting.  The Champion’s League quarterfinals offers some interesting matchups.  I watched a Netflix series on Formula One and enjoyed it.  March Madness is a welcome diversion for some, but not me.  How about baseball?  The season starts soon.  Trouble is my Giants look like they are going to be just as woeful as last year.  So sports has promise, but is a mixed bag.

An enlightened path would be to not get sucked in.  Let circumstances that I can’t control just unfold.  Let them do their thing and look at what I can control.  Which is how I relate to the world around me.  And encompassing it all, the context in which I can live joyfully, is gratitude.  Being grateful for my blessings – my relationships, my good fortune, the peace that envelops my personal world.

That’s not bad.  True, it isn’t new.  But I can renew it every day.  Gratitude.  That’s worth remembering and writing about.

Expect the Unexpected!

Can we protect ourselves or prepare for the unexpected, especially when the unexpected carries with it brutal results?

Examples:

The tornado out of nowhere that kills indiscriminately . . .

Wildfires. . . Floods . . . Suicide bombings. . . Mass shootings . . .

A massive stroke . . . Heart attack . . . Stage 4 cancer diagnosis . . .

Unexpected death of a loved one . . .

Earthquakes . . .

Being declared redundant, i.e. getting fired without cause . . .

Sudden end of a relationship . . .

That’s enough, you get the message.

The answer is “no,” we cannot protect ourselves or prepare for the unexpected.  We cannot change what happens.  What we can do is be responsible for how we relate to what happens.  Are you a victim or a survivor?  That’s up to you!