Have you ever gone to the barber shop or the beauty salon and gotten a bad haircut? It just doesn’t look right and no way of brushing, combing or fixing it up corrects the problem. To some this is a tragic event. To me, it is a two-week problem because that is about how long it takes to grow back.
So, how is this relevant to today’s discussion? All through our lives we face good times and bad. We build bridges that, in most cases, we never have to cross. We face challenges that can be real tragedies. By the same token we accept good fortune and good news gladly.
It has been my experience, however, that most of the problems I have had to face in my lifetime were not nearly as bad as I had thought they would be, and some of the good fortune I experienced wasn’t as good as I had hoped either.
Another little tidbit I have heard is what doesn’t kill you makes you better. It would seem during our lifetimes we deal with challenges that somehow are designed to teach us. I know I have always learned more from a defeat than from a victory. It wasn’t always pleasant, but it was a learning experience.
I know of people, as do you, who have had a clear life plan laid out. They have prepared themselves for a certain destiny when all of a sudden something changes and their plans go up in smoke. Maybe they suffered a medical setback, or lost a job or had financial reversals. Whatever, something happened and their lives were upended. Some have allowed these reversals to destroy their lives. Some, though, have landed on their feet and gone on to succeed in other ways or other fields, and many beyond their wildest imaginations. This I know: Everything you have ever done in your lifetime has brought you to this point in your life. Somewhere along the way you turned right when you meant to turn left and you wound up here. If you are a senior citizen like me, you have dodged many arrows in your journey that has brought you to today.
If you are a young person, perhaps your journey is just beginning. Remember Forrest Gump who famously said, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” You may well have some changes in your master plan. Let those changes be like a bad haircut. They usually fix themselves in a short time. Many years ago I read a book by Dale Carnegie called How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. I recommend the book. One of his lessons was when something is worrying you, figure that it has already happened, deal with it and go on about your life. Simple but effective.
I don’t mean to make light of or belittle events we face. I have friends who have had to deal with serious medical diagnoses. I have had friends who died much too young. The fact is there are no guarantees. Life, while a beautiful thing, is fragile. Life can be fleeting.
I know there are some people who envy someone else’s life or their wealth. What they don’t know is that the very person they envy might well be willing to trade places with them. None of us knows what someone else’s journey is.
So have a blessed day and enjoy your life. Don’t let a bad haircut get you down.
