For Good

Click here tIn a lifetime lots of things happen to me.  Stuff I consider good and bad.  As they say “you’ve gotta take the good with the bad.”
Having a stroke.  That’s bad.  Working where I worked.  That’s good.  Not making the finals in table tennis.  That’s bad.  Meeting Merril.  That’s good.  Things happen.  They can look bad to us, but they may be good in disguise.
It is not like this is some theory I am hypothesising about.  Something I have never experienced and am just suggesting my take on things.  Things have happened to me and around me that really look bad.  However I do not have the big picture.
I suppose so much depends on my point of reference.  I guess if I don’t have one, then bad things seem bad, no matter which way they are looked at.  An athlete sustaining an injury that means they can no longer pursue their career looks bad.  My stroke meaning I was no longer seen as fit to be the Finance Officer seems bad.  Life throws me a lot of stuff and probably everyone can point to some circumstance and say that is bad.
To me, bad things are never to be sought out and longed for, for some sort of character development.  The fact is though, things happen I wish never did.  All the wishing in the world will not change things.  It always astounds me how often I hear someone say this happened (bad) but because of that, this happened (good).
I think that is where the old choice thing kicks in.  I can bemoan the turn of events or make the most of what remains.  For me it is easier than for some.  I still have a lot that I can use.  I don’t have everything I had, but thankfully I do still have a lot.  I need to face the reality I am only here for a very short time when compared to human history, or the age of the earth.  I can be content, or throw up my hands (probably it is being content after I have thrown up my hands).
What has happened may seem like an injustice.  I may have heaps of questions.  I reckon shaking my fist is legitimate when it is born of honesty.  For me pretence is the enemy.  Pretending that something is what it is not.  Pretending that all is well when it is not.
Someone I knew had a reputation for flying off the handle.  I always made a point of contacting them several days after the event.  Always, they had had a chance to calm down.  It did not matter if we shared the same opinion or not, what they said came from a rational and considered place, rather than just raw emotion.
Another guy let me have a piece of his mind.  I said I would ring him.  After several days I did.  I was amazed.  What had been front and centre was no longer even considered, as it was not a problem.
When bad things happen to me or around me, I go through a kaleidoscope of emotions.  I ask questions.  Life can seem really unfair.  It is important to me that I settle down and consider stuff.   I think all things work together for good.  I may not see it, and I may have done things differently, but the best I can do is do my best.o edit.