The Butterfly Effect

¡Hola! Everybody...
My online interactions will noticeably decrease as I struggle to catch up on paperwork I’ve ignored for most of the year. I will be posting (though not as often as in the past), but the debating/ comments part will be curtailed... This here is a repost.

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-=[ The Butterfly Effect ]=-

Feelings aren’t facts...

Think about it: how much time do we spend agonizing over things that, in the long run, are inconsequential? I submit that about 99.999999% of the shit we sweat in our lives is totally unnecessary. But sweat we do -- all the time.

Reminds me of a story. I love stories, so bear with me. A great teacher famous for teaching that life was all illusion was discovered sobbing uncontrollably by one of his followers. He was grieving because his son had passed away. Shocked, the follower asked his teacher, “Don’t you preach that all life is an illusion?” The teacher turned to his disciple and said, “Yes it is true that all of life is an illusion, but this is a big illusion.” LOL

And so it is with life: feelings aren’t facts, but it’s a fact that you feel. Some issues are graver than others and we can get stuck, but the real heart of the matter is how long we stay stuck. If we spend our lives feeling betrayed, angry, resentful, or insulted, then where is the time for living? You will blink your eyes one day and years have passed and realize they have been wasted fighting off a swarm of butterflies.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t be considerate of the way other people feel, or that our relationships are meaningless. I know I have made some genuine connections here on the ‘Net over the years and I am grateful for them. I happen to consider some as friends, but I have seen others show their real side. There are many people who engage in cruel behavior on here and in “real” life and rationalize it by saying some bullshit like, “It’s just the internet.” I submit that if you’re capable of cruelty here, then that potential exists somewhere in you.

Of course we shouldn’t proceed as if nothing mattered because that’s the other extreme and it’s called nihilism. What it does mean is that we choose our attitudes and reactions all the time.

There are plenty examples to go around. How many times have you caught feelings over a miscommunication and as a result exchanged insults. It’s happened to me. Some of us resemble out and out psychopaths, resorting to all kinds of stupidity. This happens for several reasons, but the main reason is that there is anger in our hearts. The tragedy (and comedy) in the grand scheme of things is: what did it matter? Not much is often the honest answer. But it matters that people feel insulted and disrespected, misunderstood and ridiculed.

Now, before anyone here begins commenting, let’s all be honest and just say we have all experienced similar events in our life, okay? I see it and hear it all the time. Most of the time, it’s not even worth it. That means you and I.

Shit happens: we lose jobs, grow out of relationships, get hurt, and betrayed. Shoot, I live in a city where pushing and jostling is considered OK. I run up against sweet old ladies who act like All Pro NFL linebackers when getting on and off the subway. LOL! The thing is that life is like that. There’s shit happening all the time. If you’re waiting for the perfect moment, with the perfect love (“The One”), at the perfect job, or location -- if you’re waiting for all that in order to smile and smell a flower, then you will have wasted your life waiting, because, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but there’s no Santa Claus, no Tooth Fairy and life is hard.

Life is hard and full of suffering. However, it’s also beautiful and amazing, the most precious gift, and the one true choice you have -- the one card you can play -- is whether you will face it all with a smile or a frown. This is it, people. I mean, I see all the wise quotes, but can you find the serenity within the chaos? Can you walk the walk? Can you sit in the midst of life and face it with joy and love -- all of it, not just the good shit?

Love,

Eddie