TODAY’S QUESTION

If you could have anything, what would it be?

Ok, I know this is totally cheating, but I’m going to go for it anyway. If I could have anything it would be a happy life. See what I did there? Happy life encompasses it all, doesn’t it? For example, I would know that my son is headed in the right direction toward a bright future. I would have good health and so would my loved ones. I would have a rewarding career, or, if my financial situation allowed it, a rewarding series of pastimes. Of course I wouldn’t worry about not having enough money for bills, saving for a rainy day, or scary medical tests. My loving relationship would continue to grow and flourish. If I could have this elusive happy life, I would have no worries.

I know it’s pie in the sky nonsense, and that into every life a little rain must fall, or something like that, but it’s nice to think about. It’s nice to dream of a world without illness and loss. It’s nice to think about a future free of challenges and obstacles. The reality, though, is that we all have those things in our lives, to a greater or lesser degree. The real test of a person is in how they react to all that stuff. Oh, I know that’s not an original thought, and the scholarly readers in the audience will be quick to supply quotes proving that I’m just rehashing old news (and not terribly eloquently either), but I do believe it’s true. So maybe the gift isn’t in having it all, maybe the gift is in the lessons learned when we don’t.