One of the most frustrating and all-too-common paradoxes of life is just how often bad things happen to good people. I have seen this happen time and time again, and it breeds many negative emotions.
First and foremost, when bad things happen to good people, I immediately feel sorry. Sorry for the noble person incurring many negative things.
But the second emotion is selfish. It is my ego talking and it is hard to hold back. When really bad things happen to really good people, I immediately question myself. I ask myself if I am good. I ask myself if being “good” will even save me from the inevitable bad?
Is bad inevitable? Is it all luck? Do we control anything?
Are we anything? Are we just specks of existence?
When healthy people fall…is it their fault? Could they do anything differently to save themselves?
This feeling of hopelessness – despair – is hard to escape. It is demotivating. It is unfair.
But it is life.
What makes this feeling even more inescapable is the converse of this situation also happens very often…good things happen to bad people.
You have certainly been in this situation before. There is that person you know – that you know is evil on the inside – but they keep getting good things. You tell yourself that in the long run karma will catch up…but will it? And if not, do you care? Why does it matter?
These are all dark and grim thoughts. Life is going great right now, so I could easily avoid thinking about these things…but I think it is important to visit these deep spaces when you are on highs AND lows. Why?
I am all too often reminded of just how quickly things change. Just how quickly you go from a mountain to a basin.
And in those moments…I am thankful that I am familiar with the base. The darkness. The scary.
When you visit these places often, you eventually learn to see in the dark. And things become much clearer.
That is life.