When good comes out of bad things

[iris lilies]

We have touched on this, but I was just thinking about it today.


When ransomware wiped out custom software code in my former workplace, that resulted in an aspect of their technology moving to a modern and more sustainable option. Certainly that change didn’t happen without workplace pain, but the bad malware forced a change.


I see Covid forcing changes all over the place, Changes that are for the good, in my opinion.


For instance, in my neighborhood we held 2 house tours a year. They are a burden to put on, volunteers burn out after two or three years on the house tour committee, and everyone kept saying “this is not sustainable” yet no one ever had the balls to pull the plug on them. Well Covid forced a “no house tours “environment and we are working through our neighborhood budget without that source of income.

[Yppej]

It has certainly got me thinking about my future, and I have decided I do not want to retire in the community I currently live in, but someplace that has more respect for personal liberty.

I learned how to read e-books and they are easier on my eyes in the evenings when it's dark.

It's made me think more, and evaluate information given me by public health officials and the media more, and made me more resistant to things like vaccines - so no flu vaccines, shingles vaccines, etc. I do expect to still get my tetanus shot in 2025. I also will not again go through a year separated from my parents, not able to hug them, etc. It has given me a certain level of fearlessness in the face of the doom and gloom. As my mother says, "I've got to die of something." Developing that power to stand up to prevailing opinion has also gone in tandem with my willingness to stand up to the mental illness that was controlling my home, and to take charge of that. I am not about to let any illness - physical as in pandemic or mental - control my life.

And as I have gotten to the point where I don't care if I please, kowtow to, and try to convince authorities to give me my rights - but insist on stating that I deserve them - I also have from reading a couple of books, The Diet Revolution and Broken People, become more accepting of my body and its quarantine fifteen - now more like a quarantine twenty. Just as I don't accept the prevailing narrative about things like masks, I don't accept the prevailing cultural norms about weight. And I own that it has some health drawbacks, and I am adding to my risk if not of covid (which I'm vaccinated against) but of other things, but it's my choice and I take responsibility for it.

So it's been a time of deciding that no, you will not make me cower in fear. I claim my power.

[catherine]

Here is one of my favorite parables--a common one, but this one by Anthony DeMello, SJ. I actually emailed this to my DH yesterday, because he was saying that his teeth were so bad that he had to have them all pulled last spring and he is now dealing with temporary ones [Bad luck?], and it's been hard throughout all of this to eat and he's lost 60 lbs (Good luck?)




GOOD LUCK? BAD LUCK? WHO KNOWS?

There once was a simple farmer who lived and struggled alongside his neighbours and friends, trying to exist and fulfil a peaceful life. One day news arrived from far away, that his old loving father had died. His neighbours gathered to grieve, but the farmer simply said, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"
In time relatives brought a very fine horse of great cost and fine breeding, left to the farmer by his father. All the villagers and neighbours gathered in delight with him to celebrate his good fortune, but he just said, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbours sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”
Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

[iris lilies]

That is a nice parable Catherine. What happens, happens. We can put whatever spin on it that we like, that is the story we tell ourselves.

[happystuff]

Great story, catherine, and a good example of karma as/when defined as simply cause and effect/action and reaction. I try to remind myself that the notions of "good" and "bad" are often based on individual perspective at a specific point in time, and that everyone has their own perspectives from which they are determining what is "good" and what is "bad".

[LDAHL]

Here is one of my favorite parables--a common one, but this one by Anthony DeMello, SJ. I actually emailed this to my DH yesterday, because he was saying that his teeth were so bad that he had to have them all pulled last spring and he is now dealing with temporary ones [Bad luck?], and it's been hard throughout all of this to eat and he's lost 60 lbs (Good luck?)




GOOD LUCK? BAD LUCK? WHO KNOWS?

There once was a simple farmer who lived and struggled alongside his neighbours and friends, trying to exist and fulfil a peaceful life. One day news arrived from far away, that his old loving father had died. His neighbours gathered to grieve, but the farmer simply said, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"
In time relatives brought a very fine horse of great cost and fine breeding, left to the farmer by his father. All the villagers and neighbours gathered in delight with him to celebrate his good fortune, but he just said, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbours sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”
Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

I heard one version of that story where the farmer dies. When the neighbors come to commiserate with the widow over her loss, she makes the same reply.

[catherine]

I heard one version of that story where the farmer dies. When the neighbors come to commiserate with the widow over her loss, she makes the same reply.

And I'm sure that would still be an appropriate response.

[ApatheticNoMore]

It will be very hard to unsee that working from home for the types of jobs that it is suitable for WORKED. The upside: less pollution, less fossil fuel use (if we REALLY wanted to be serious about this, work from home would very much be encouraged), less wear and tear on cars (I won't say road wear as that's mostly trucking, but there is less need for adding additional transit if the population on the road doesn't keep increasing all the time), more time for work-life balance that was wasted commuting.

[ApatheticNoMore]

And I'm sure that would still be an appropriate response.

also always appropriate for someone grieving the death of a child, I mean bad things may have befallen the child if they lived.

when they bombed Hiroshima: good luck, bad luck, who knows.

I mean I think the parable might be fine for minor things, but it's inhumane for bigger things. In truth sure maybe nothing matters at all in some ultimate sense. Life or death (since death claims everything anyway whether it comes at 8 years old of childhood cancer or 99 years old in one's sleep one night). Human extinction or not, nuclear war or not, but it's inhumane to have any expectations of living that way.

[Rogar]

I would like to think that there has been some reductions in disinformation and conspiracy theory. It seems like every other night there is a story in mainstream news of a dying patient or survival family who says, I or they should have believed things and gotten the vaccine. Popular social media sites have banned some of the most egregious. Maybe it has nudged the fact ball forward on issues like global warming. But, like the farmer story, who knows.

[catherine]

also always appropriate for someone grieving the death of a child, I mean bad things may have befallen the child if they lived.

when they bombed Hiroshima: good luck, bad luck, who knows.

I mean I think the parable might be fine for minor things, but it's inhumane for bigger things. In truth sure maybe nothing matters at all in some ultimate sense. Life or death (since death claims everything anyway whether it comes at 8 years old of childhood cancer or 99 years old in one's sleep one night). Human extinction or not, nuclear war or not, but it's inhumane to have any expectations of living that way.

I think in general, we look at events through our own lens of love and fear, without any knowledge of what the next moment will bring. Byron Katie has a classic book called "Loving What Is" and it really points to "radical acceptance" of certain things That does not negate our responsibility to be part of a revolution that changes things for the better, whether it's by being a pacifist, or an environmentalist, or a teacher, or healthcare worker, or just a plain old good person.

But there comes a point where you can't control the flow of events, and that's when you simply say, who knows what this will mean for me? I may as well accept it, as I can't do anything else about it." I have had many situations where life turned out better beyond my wildest dreams, and those outcomes were borne out of intense pain and loss. It takes decades of life experience to be able to look back and recognize that pattern. That's one of the benefits of getting old. :)

[rosarugosa]

I certainly would not have wished kidney cancer on my DH, but that event did prompt us to quit smoking, which definitely improved our quality of life. It was also the impetus for us to become very enthusiastic walkers, so we were able to get some very real positives from a great big negative in our lives.

[Jane v2.0]

As much as I miss my partner, I'm glad he didn't live to be struck down by COVID. He died a relatively painless death from a constellation of other conditions.

[SteveinMN]

when they bombed Hiroshima: good luck, bad luck, who knows.
Not to be on record as thinking of the bombing of Hiroshima as good luck. But my father was one of tens of thousands of troops massed for an invasion of Japan if the bomb had not brought an end to the war. It would not have been a cakewalk. If my father had been a casualty of that, well, I wouldn't be here (nor would several other people functioning members of society).

Good luck, bad luck, who knows?

[Teacher Terry]

Steve, my dad was hospitalized right before his unit went to Normandy and were killed. Ditto on the not being here.

[JaneV2.0]

My father, stumbled as he tried to scale a fence (probably somewhere in New Guinea), and a Japanese sniper's bullet creased his spine between him and his pack. Clumsiness has its benefits. Later he fell off a cliff...:~) (Somebody get the Captain!)

[Teacher Terry]

Funny Jane. My dad was very tall and clumsy so don’t think it would have gone well in battle.