DEJA-WHO
Monday Dec. 10, 2018
Reality hits us.
Shows up when it wants to.
No appointment required, nothing we haven’t heard of, but these surprise events show up when they happen – sometimes we accept or deflect, sometimes we block or run to avoid – they show up just the same
Things that used to work, but don’t anymore. Body parts that never hurt, until they do. Body parts that don’t work like they used to. Business processes that don’t work anymore – and we wonder if they ever did.
No prior booking, nothing in the schedule – life’s most interesting moments show up unannounced, and they cause everything else to stop, like someone stopped the hands on the big clock. The other day a friend got a call about something sudden and unexpected about a family member’s health. Talking about that triggered my memory, to revisit the many scares with my dad in his final years – when a normal day’s schedule evaporated with a simple phone call, when ‘another hospital visit’ became his last. Think about it yesterday created some time travel, took me back to a time and place that will always be etched in my mind.
My point? When time and life give us surprises, joyous or tragic, they stay with us and offer instant-replay anytime we want. We don’t need to prepare for them, they just show up. And we don’t have to scratch our heads to remember them either – they just arrive.
Reader feedback:
WRITE THAT WRONG
Hi Mark. You have as usual posed questions worthy of thought. When the news broke about Adnan Khashoggi it seemed fairly obvious there had been foul play, and this was later confirmed as fact. Not too long before that incident our government took it upon themselves to criticize Saudi Arabia on their treatment of women and human rights in general. There was the backlash involving the recall of certain students and withdrawal of Saudi assets from Canada. I thought about that too and came to a startling realization. What other countries legally do within their own borders is none of our business. Their behaviour might be considered wrong and immoral by our standards but in accordance with their laws, it is not. So what to do?! The same thing a reasonable person would do on a peer to peer basis. Distance yourself. Be polite, but place them on ignore. Above all don’t do business with them and continue to fund their economy. Stop selling them anything and above all don’t buy their oil, especially when we have so much of our own. If our government is so concerned about human rights they need to look in to their own backyard first and look after the needs of veterans who fought that kind of ideology instead of welcoming back terrorists who took sides with ISIS. They also need to look after the interests of our own economy, build pipelines etc. in order to makes us energy self sufficient until a greener alternative comes along. Didn’t mean to make this a rant but some things just strike a nerve. In the big picture there are many ‘wrongs to be righted’, and the best place to start is your own home. Cheers!, DM, Ladysmith, BC
