i was once talking to a friend of mine and he was telling me that one of the things that he could not stand about some people is how superstitious they were. he thought that it was completely ridiculous that you would have to, for example, consult a special calendar to see what day would be a good day to get married on. he found it completely ludicrous that people believe in hexes, voo doo, or bad luck if you do certain things.
i think that superstition is a relic of the uneducated. sometimes it’s fun to humor superstition, but there are people who believe that they are cursed and they have to do these drastic things to lift a curse off of them, and i don’t get it. there’s no scientific evidence that says that houses can be cursed and that bad things will happen to you if you live in a cursed house. i just don’t get it.
superstition is an easy way to blame your coincidental misfortune on some kind of mysterious force. i think what it really does is that it lets us place the blame somewhere and it lets us cope with these difficulties. it also gives the power back to us to allow us to do something about our recent misfortune so that we can feel that we’ve done something to make our lives better.
this sort of ties in to the notion of karma. my mom is a big believer in karma and she’s a steadfast pacifist. she believes that if people do bad things to you, they will suffer later in life. and that’s her salvation. she believes that there is this karmic force that will make everything all ok. i don’t believe that this is true, but i do believe that you should always try and be the best that you can be.
there are a few people in my life who i really admire. the one quality that they all share is that they are genuinely decent and good people who aren’t looking to find profit in others. they are good people because that’s just the way they are.
i remember this one guy who i met for a very brief moment. perhaps it was only in the span of a weekend, but he extended to me the generosity of a giant. he didn’t know me at all, but he welcomed me into his home. he fed me, he made me feel welcome amongst strangers. he probably doesn’t even remember me. he probably doesn’t know what kind of an impact he’s had on me. he probably doesn’t think anything of it…because it’s just in his nature to be very kind and generous. there aren’t too many people who i’ve tried to emulate in my life. i think that i’ve always tended to be independent, but after i met this guy, i realized that he was the kind of person that i wanted to become.
think positively about everything, make best of the situation you are in, and try your best. don’t try to blame others (animate or inanimate) on your misfortunes, don’t dwell on what could be, don’t live in regret. just keep moving forward. that’s what i learned and that’s what i take with me.
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