The Power of YOU (Part 5)
Providence is one that most people don’t like to mention or think about because it is outside us. Timing and hard work we can sort of control. Or at least we can take credit for those. Providence may be a fancy way for saying good luck.
Some more religious people may call it the “favor of the Lord.” If we think sports we know how short-lived that favor may be. One season (or even game) a team seems unstoppable, the next they are struggling to survive. it seems random.
It is! That’s where providence comes in. Life is far too random not to mention it. Even for those who do not believe in God there must be some recognition of chance in the Universe. Any tightly wound system of cause and effect fates us to powerlessness.
Randomness gives us a chance, no matter how bad our “luck” seems to be. And it evens out the playing field to some degree. If anyone can potentially ‘hit it big” out of nowhere, we all have a chance. Someone has to win the lottery, right?
So if we have a real chance and shaking things up, the world has to be somewhat absurd. Random good and evil happen. Someone finds a $20 bill on the side of the road, but somebody else has a child die in a bike accident.
We are all right of the edge of something completely changing everything. Movies and many of our stories focus on this idea. A sudden car wreck, an injury, a job change, the main character then has to deal with change discovering their life again.
It is usually a tale in our world to not get overly attached to certain external realities. A pro athlete suddenly and seriously injured who has totally wrapped his identity around his sport must find joy eventually somewhere else or he will die.
In a random universe life is more that what we do. There is something deeper to our existence than the world outside us. Cruel realities happen to the very best of us. Who are we? Who will we become when and if tragedy happens to us?
That is also the great equalizer of life. Even those who have had massive “success” in the eyes of many have personal tragedies they must endure. They are almost kept from enjoying their great success in light of their heavy realities.
In our world we might think of some pop star, take Katy Perry. On her quick rise to super stardom not only is she dealing with an incredibly grueling schedule she is also dealing with a quick romance, marriage, and then divorce.
Not only that she knows her time on top is limited. The lifespan of a pop star is short. The pressure to keep inventing is high. Once you are at the very top there is only one way to go: down. And so then we all sadly watch the downward spiral.
No one can escape the reality of our own life. Existence gets in the way of success. Thankfully. It reminds us there is something far more worthwhile than simply achieving our next goal. Life itself is the ultimate win no matter who we are.