Murphy Was an Asshole

Murphy's Law:  Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Well, eat my shorts, Mr. Murphy.  I beg to differ.  I currently find myself in the most challenging time of my life, hands down; curve balls, hurdles and roadside bombs have been lobbed in front of/on top of me over these past few months and I still challenge Murphy.  I have enough significant issues I am sorting through that my therapist says "are you sure your ok?"  However, amongst the things that "have gone wrong", I am constantly aware that there is much MUCH more still at stake.  Even with these crises and tribulations, I have an exorbitant number of blessings that are not "going wrong".

Murphy's laments are a disservice to the riches that surround us, the blessings that we may or may not take for granted every day.  Last week, my daughter who was in a fit of frustration following a scuffle with her sister, a disappointing response from me, and an earlier argument with her best friend bellowed "Argh!" (she literally said "Argh!"),  "Argh!" she said, "How could my life be any worse?"  I was inspired with a fatherly duty.  There is a lesson to be learned, my dear, and daddy's got his lesson plan.

I pulled her aside and challenged her to think about that cry of despair and try to answer that question.  Go ahead and feel the frustration you have (after all, the frustration is real), but also consider the blessings you have in your life (e.g. love, family, friends, food, opportunity, school, etc.) and then ask that question again. She promised me should and a few hours later showed me a list of about 50 blessings she considered in her life and said that there were many ways her life could be worse.  (woot - notify the academy).

Only in losing sight of those blessings does Murphy have a soapbox.  I challenge everyone to seek those blessings and revel in them.  I'm not saying that you have to not feel the pain associated with things that do go wrong - call them trials, perhaps failures - but in the following breath remember your blessings are still abound. Not honoring them transfers the power of these riches into the pockets of the bummers.

A wise armchair theologian named David said to me "No matter how bad things seem, I wake up in the morning and recognize all of the things that could have gone wrong yesterday and didn't".