Pot vs Kettle

Life is an interesting place. It's isn't always fair, either, but I
believe for most of us it balances out pretty well.

I find many negative things in life that do not make sense. Cleaning
up after people for a year, for instance, only to have those same
people come back at you when you make a mistake (and a minor one at
that). Threatening to write someone up for a slight wording faux pas
when 90% of everyone else can't even spell well enough to MAKE a
wording faux pas. Being called on in a classroom simply because
you're quiet and contemplative and thus an easy target to bestow
one's inner demons upon. Forcing kids to modify their writing style
when they obviously have one of their own already. Telling someone
to "dumb down" a school report so other kids don't feel bad about
themselves, rather than praising the use of words far beyond the
typical so that other kids can LEARN from them. Telling someone
they're depressed because they write a mixture of sadness and hope
into a poem about their freshly deceased pet, rather than seeing it
as grief that needs to be expressed so things can go forward. People
with degrees but no brains getting high-paying jobs while hardworking
families everywhere with far less opportunity are still struggling to
feed and house themselves.

It's as if the world is setting itself up to fail sometimes.

But when I reflect on these things, I also recall many happy
instances that also do not make sense. The woman who smiles at a sad
stranger in a parking lot, instantly giving the stranger hope that
perhaps she's not alone after all. An employee who readily and
without hesitation helps another despite their own heavy workload. A
hopeful face in the brunt of certain adversity. Two neighbours
shovelling each other's yards in unspoken turns during a snowstorm.
A driver stopping for another and offering use of their cell phone
even in today's dangerous times. A fiancé who buys his girl a
computer instead of an engagement ring because he truly understands
her and loves her for who she is.

And, the most statistically improbable thing I've ever witnessed
occurring: Two very compatible people meeting through Yahoo in a
three-day window of time, who end up deciding to get married two
years later.

It is easy to focus on the negative things in life, especially if
life starts out more negative than it does positive. But there are
so many blessings that counterbalance the misgivings that perhaps
focusing on the positive can only bring more positive.

They say attitude is everything. Quite honestly, I believe it.