I burned my finger on the grill. 650℉. This blister is quite the accessory. The following morning I encouraged my back to freak out while moving a “portable” basketball net by myself. At least my children were there to witness it while they waited for the bus. (“Daddy’s fine. Have a great day.”) Then, while standing at the pump of a local gas station, I realized my wallet had overslept on the end table where it retired the day before.
Am I slowly descending into darkness, victim to the momentum of my circumstances?
Of course not. It’s just a few off things that happened close together. No pattern. No momentum. No shifting tide that will claim my mortal soul. Yes, it’s seems silly to speak of three random (and not that terrible) occurrences in such foreboding terms. So, humor me, please.
We’ve all had “a bad day.” Sometimes that day turns into a week. We all know that weeks can’t be trusted. They often turn into months. Actually, they always turn into months. And on and whatever. However they’re strung together, bad events are often reported to wield momentum. Just as good things do. It’s even a thing in competitive sports. The coaches, players and commentators talk about momentum and how it’s on their side or not. Momentum is the property that a moving body possesses as a product of its mass and velocity. Momentum can shift when that moving body is under the action of a constant opposing force. Which is why you don’t want to step in front of a train. Your “force” won’t be constant enough.
But that’s with a train.
Ideas are different.
Most of your life occurs in the world of ideas, yours or others. We can find ourselves in the path of an idea that can often feel unstoppable. If we allow paralysis to set, we’re creamed. Or, we may choose to run without realizing how far off course we continue to become.
Either way, who’s going to put on the brakes? Who is going to stare down the oppressing object or idea and say, “You shall go no further?” If you assume momentum is a force with a will, you may be reluctant to get in its way. What if it sees you on the tracks with your hand raised and your lip so stiff but doesn’t back down? Don’t worry, it will only hurt for a second.
But what if it isn’t a train? What if it’s your fear cooing “chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo!”
It could be nothing more than your smallness trying to bluff your bestness.
Don’t let it.
Say, “Stop. I’m not your victim. You aren’t even real. You only mean what I allow you to mean. Today, I say you mean nothing. You are an idea that I’ve entertained but it’s time for you to leave. Please, grab your things and go. You are persona non grata.”
It’s your life. It’s your mind.
Accept what you cannot change. Find a way forward, always. Even if you don’t get to set the terms.
See the train coming. Then, step aside and go about your business.
