Thursday, March 8, 2012

52 Card Pick Up

"Think of it like this. If you are sad because you can't have something you want - maybe a book or a toy - you can do one of two things: you can do your best to get it, or you can stop wanting it. Either way, if you succeed, you won't be sad any more." - E.H. Gombrich, A Little History of the World

Lately, I have observed two ways in which meaningful events occur; 1) people make them happen or, 2) they happen to people. An indecisive mind will favor option 2, because although the indecisive mind generally seeks the same conclusiveness as a decisive mind, the indecisive mind is too apathetic to make that choice his/herself. In my experience, this apathy can be a guard against the fear of failure (or success). Sometimes, the indecisive mind resonates with phrases like: "if it's meant to be, it will work itself out."

A decisive mind will favor option 1 because the decisive mind knows the best way to make things happen is to take action and do. The decisive mind is not afraid of failure and knows that the best way to know is to find out by either succeeding or failing. The decisive mind does not count on things working themselves out.

It's the difference between making things happen in your life and letting life happen to you. If an objective is a neat stack of playing cards, the indecisive mind throws the cards up in the air and hopes that they fall back into a neat stack. And if they don't, then it wasn't meant to be a neat stack. The decisive mind collects all the cards and organizes them into a pile - no matter the cost - because that's what he wants for his life.

"Everything happens for a reason" usually because people make those things happen. And that's the reason for them happening. Because we make decisions and life unfolds. Not because we're figurines in a big snow globe that bounce around every time someone turns our world upside down.

Sometimes, things do happen to us that we don't anticipate, that weren't part of our plan. Obviously we can't control everything that happens in our life. And sometimes, "everything happens for a reason" can be a very comforting thought.

Right now, in my current situation, "everything happens for a reason" and "if it's meant to be, it will work itself out" are mindsets with which I cannot agree. Things happen - or don't happen - because people make decisions. By not choosing, you still have made a choice (to paraphrase a Rush song...).

I suppose there is a chance that all of the cards could work themselves into a neat pile; but I'm not betting on it, and I'm not waiting to find out for sure. I'm playing 52 card pick up.

What are your thoughts on these two catch phrases? Leave a comment a below.

No, seriously. If you read this, you should leave a comment below.