What Matters

I am pretty sure I have mentioned before an episode of the Simpsons that I did not see but was told about.  Homer had his hand caught in a vending machine.  People were called to rescue him.  It turned out that if he had been willing to let go of the can he was not caught at all.
When I won the worm farm my ticket was number 54.  There was probably close to 60 that got a ticket.  We wanted what was on offer, but winning or losing was not that important to us.  Behind us was a lady that really wanted to win.  We knew this because she really verbalized it.  In the end we wanted anyone to win but her.  It seemed to matter too much.
I have a bit of a dilemma.  I have a mate and I want the very best for him.  The trouble is, at every opportunity he sees a chance to say how wonderful he is.  I want to build him up, but I don’t in those instances as he does it himself.  I certainly build him up in other ways though.
For me it is great that stuff matters.  I have heaps of stuff that matters to me.  At times I defend it, fight for it, make it happen or ensure it stays happening.  Most people would not know though.  I really don’t want to be at the point where someone fights against me just because something appears to matter so much to me.
It is important to me that I do not grasp at things.  I mentioned before how I was given some stamps.  The woman who gave them to me said “hold them loosely.”  To me that is such good advice.
I have done it, and seen others do it, where they hold something really tightly that in the scheme of things is really not that important.  Some things are, but many things are not.  It is very much up to me to work out what is what.  It seems to me there are some things that universally matter and some things that, no matter who is involved, universally really don’t.  I can think they do, but need to ask myself, “do they really?”
We had something that was over 100 years old that got broke.  Both Merril and I were cut about it.  I stewed on it for a few days.  I asked myself though, did it really matter?  I will always try to ensure that did not happen, and have altered my behaviour to try and avoid that, but when everything is bound to perish with the using what difference did it really make?
I will always try to protect what matters, but it is imperative I know what does matters.