Life–Wait a Minute and It Will Change

There’s a lesson that is told in most cultures. In Canada, it’s about the weather: “Wait a minute and it will change.” Or, most everywhere on the good or bad in life; “This too shall pass.” All are so true. Right now, our family is going through both some ups and downs. I try to remember the latter adage during the “down” periods and not expect the “up” ones to always last.

Sticking with the clichéd sayings, there is another that is credited to Rabbi Joseph Telushkin’s mother that goes something like, “The only happy people I know are people I don’t know well.” Think about it. When you know someone well, you usually know his or her troubles. When you don’t, you invariably get the proverbial answer “Good” or “Terrific” to the greeting “How are you?”

So, to beat a dead horse, and keep this cliché-ridden streak going, there’s another saying, paraphrased since I don’t remember it exactly, “I wouldn’t trade my problems for yours any day” and most of us wouldn’t if we knew what “your” problems were! Continue reading »

 

So there was a movie a while back called “Failure to Launch” with that Matthew McConaughey fella (yes, I had to look up how to spell his name) who played a thirty-something who still lived with his mom and dad. Frankly, all I remember from the movie is that the guy didn’t seem to own a shirt and some funny scene with the former Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, walking around naked in the house.

This failure to launch theme seems more prevalent with the current crop of kids than with our generation. Ouch! Did I really just say “with our generation”? Am I finally that guy, the one who talks about how things were different back in the day? Oh well, so be it, because things were different back in the day. I am from a large family. There were ten of us living in a 1,000 square foot house, and obviously that means we doubled up and even tripled up on kids in bedrooms. (I swear to this day, I still can’t figure out how to make the top bed on a bunk bed.)

Back when I was coming of age, it was pretty much family tradition to get the same gift upon turning 18. And that coming of age gift: an empty suit case. Point made, Dad; message received loud and clear! Continue reading »