Failures

The morning is wet and the skies are grey - but the blue seems to want to come through. The weather is 57 degrees fahrenheit and today is Tuesday.

This past few weeks have been another kind of life challenge. The general theme has been failures. For some reason at this stage in life, there is a tendency to let go of many things and to recall failings that remain in the memory banks. Those things might be people or work related, or maybe a road that opened and the choice to go another direction creates imaginary better scenarios. Then there is the reality of living with the decisions made, and that is fraught because of course, life is never perfect. For some reason, the idea of everything being fine, all the time, and without disappointments is something that is hard to erase. Then, in the midst of all of it, you remember, "Change is the only thing that is constant." (I forget who originally said this, but it seems like a lot of people have said it).

Then there is the fact of our "meta-reality" - the whole of society/country/nation is falling apart. It seems that it is no longer true that we can look to future generations for life an the world to become better. The generation that is just neo-adult seems lost. There is clearly a duality that has deepened in society and that has cost them their hope for their future. The loss is manifest is the complexity of our existence with climate disasters appearing (and being predicted), in fears about economic security (or insecurity), in the atrophy of strong communication skills and values that prioritize our deeply interconnected lives across all the identities that have emerged in the past decades. The confusion has led society to what seems like a giant failure.

Finally, the "micro-reality" that death is a part of life. All systems will go down, including those inside our bodies. While there are plenty of things to prop up life thanks to surgeries, medicines, and personal practices that will extend bodily and mental wellness, it is also a fact that all those things cannot prevent death. At some point, the organs will not cooperate, the interstitial systems will get confused and sometimes turn on the very body that was supported for health, and the mind will begin to fade into something that we don't fully understand.

Failures are a part of life. Thankfully, there are those who have chosen a path to support failing people, systems, and thinking patterns. It's dangerous to stay in the failure mode for too long when it comes to attitude toward life. Staying in the failure view of living becomes part of your cell memory and it's a habit you don't want to adopt.

No matter how bad it gets, it might be helpful to remember that for the moment, we share the same sky, the moon still waxes and wanes, and flowers still bloom in spring.