There are days when all lights are green; everything runs
smoothly, sometimes even better than expected. Then there are days when
everything goes wrong; we struggle from morning to night.
This morning on my way to town every traffic light was green, the
first time in 26 years. Not once did I use my brakes; it was a thrill to keep
moving.
It felt like having a winning streak at a card game and I wistfully
thought how pleasant it would be always to win. Yet the left side of my brain objected
to my selfish thought: Who would want to
play with you if you always had the upper hand? Nobody. Nor would you ever feel
challenged to play to the best of your ability. There’s great satisfaction in playing
a poor hand well.
Life is an inscrutable, incorruptible taskmaster. It rarely deals
us the hand we’d like, but—as the saying goes—when given a lemon, we can endeavor
to make good lemonade.
Some lemons are especially bitter. They can be difficult to
swallow, but they can also make us stronger. Effort, patience and persistence often
pay off. If nothing else, they strengthen our ability to handle life’s voluminous
vicissitudes.
At times, a particularly capricious challenge may become the
crucible of something grand. As Goethe wrote in his Faust, “Wer immer strebend
sich bemüht, den werden wir erlösen.” He who keeps striving shall be set free.
Until next time,
Rosi
