Why did this happen, why did he do that or why is this happening? You can spend your whole life wondering about the “whys” and never go anywhere.
It took me a long time to figure this out.
Like many of you, I thought if I could understand things, my life would be different. Then found out nothing new happens if I understand.
I believe spending one’s time trying to “understand” is a waste of time.
Consider our boy Christopher Columbus. He sailed out into the ocean without contemplating why people thought the world was flat. If he had, he would still be on the shore.
My thought is if he had spent time contemplating flatness it would have produced fright causing him to miscalculate his ship’s course. Christopher would have been in more trouble. Obviously Christopher didn’t want to know “why” he wanted to know “what.”
What if the world was different than everyone thought? What would it mean to him and my journey?
If you continue to spend time and energy on “why” it’s like digging through the dirt. The only thing you come up with is more dirt.
The real key to life is that whatever you got it’s yours, and you can do what you want with it.
My friend keeps waiting for her boyfriend to decide on the fate of their relationship. She is always wondering why it doesn’t work and why doesn’t he love her the way she does. By the way, the relationship has been going on for 20 years! It’s been twenty years and there’s still no answer to “why.”She’s probably better off not knowing why he doesn’t love her. If she knew, she would have to do something about it if she wanted the relationship to change.
When you find yourself asking, “why did this happen,” try to switch to the “what can I do now “and you will immediately feel different. You have decided to do something. You can also make up your own answers to the “why.” That’s even more fun.
I remember asking my grandfather why both of us were so short. He laughed and said what do you mean? I guess compared to my six-foot dad, we were all small.
He asked why I cared, and I said he wouldn’t have to use the ladder to pick the apples.
Grandpa said we were made short, so we could snuggle easier and everyone loved someone who could snuggle. I remembered that my parents were always snuggling and my mom was also little.
I remember smiling as I snuggled up to my grandfather thinking boy, now I know why I’m short.
How could I be so lucky?
By the way, stop in at the Tech Career Expo tomorrow in the SEFCU Arena on the campus of UAlbany between 2-5PM and say hello. Maybe we can contemplate a few things.