“In the final analysis, the questions of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.”–Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
In the words of Forrest Gump, “It happens.” So when it does, how do we respond? It is not a matter of bad things happening to good people (or good things happening to bad people). Stuff happens.
I have long appreciated Arthur Ashe’s response to the question of whether he ever asked the question “Why me?” when he was diagnosed with A.I.D.S. He believed that if he were to say, “God, why me?” about the bad things that happen, then he should have to have said, “God, why me?” about the good things that happened. It is a sentiment to live by.
I have been asked (and, now, frequently ask others), “If I (you) could go back in time and change one thing in their life, what would I (you) change?” I have come to understand the correct response to be “nothing.” I find, as well, that I can almost guess how the person will respond. Personally, I know that were I to change the slightest thing—correct even the smallest mistake or regret—my life would not be the same. I would not be the person I am. I would not have found my lovely wife. I would not have the wonderful children I have—and they would not be the people they are and are to become. There is no cause to look back and ask, “What if…?” There cause, however, to look forward and ask this question. There is cause to address my past and ask myself how I will respond and what I intend to do going forward. After all, I have no control over the past. I do have control (albeit limited at times) over this moment. At the very least, I have control over how I will respond.
We can blame and create excuses, but the certainty of life is that “it happens,” and we have to deal with the circumstances we are dealt. How I am treated? Whether fortune or misfortune befalls me? It doesn’t matter, because I am shaped by my circumstance—for what I believe is a Purpose greater than myself. I also believe that what I experience isn’t necessarily for my benefit. Sometimes “it happens” so that the Universe might benefit. Indeed, I would dare to say “it” always happens for the benefit of the Universe. The question is, will we accept the opportunity or complain about the burden?
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!