November 8, 2010 I Am Calamity Sam
It never seems to go the way you picture it, life that is.
You pictured the wife delivering the baby at the hospital and you with your flip camera in the corner, trying to capture the moment in between waives of faintness from what you’re witnessing. Yet in reality you didn’t make it to the hospital, and instead your on the side of the road in rural nowhere fashioning your favorite jacket into something like a catchers mitt (as if its coming out like a fastball) and no one else is there to guide you other than the local cattle who seem surprisingly shocked at your lack of preparation.
You pictured walking into that car dealer and fast talking the sales dept. into accepting your 89 Honda Accord (complete with rusted rear wheel wells) as a trade in under the Kelly blue book value for *classic car* towards the cost of your new family swagger wagon. In reality you left with a *Classic* 89 Honda Accord, new steering wheel cover and a curiously misplaced sense of pride in your bargaining skills.
Humorous or horrifying, the reality is that life when given the chance will almost always go according to the unplanned, and its not because the cosmos were misaligned. And it wasn’t because of the bad Karma from giving your fantasy football opponent the slice of pizza you sneezed on instead of doing the right thing and keeping it for yourself… Life is unpredictable because it just wouldn’t be a life worth living if it were completely foreseeable. There’s no mystery in schedules. There’s no discovery in protocol. There’s nothing to learn from the expected.
My life hasn’t exactly gone according to the way I would have wanted/expected it to, but through those experiences (good and bad), I have learned things about myself I count as invaluable and crucial to making me who I am. I discovered things that changed my perspective on life entirely, and found mysteries that will captivate my imagination forever. And in the end I’m learning that things like this make my life, my faith, and my experiences richer and more vibrant than I would have ever conceived. And I’m growing to the conclusion that I really wouldn’t want it any other way. Here’s to the detour, and all the calamity that may or may not come with it!
Tags: change, Fear, Humor, Life, misconceptions
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Jeremy
said
Don’t ask me why, but your post reminded me of the old Garth Brooks song, “The Dance,” that was about this same idea. I remember hearing one of the lines of the song as a kid and it has still stuck: “I could have missed the pain, but I would have had to miss the dance.”
I’m glad to see you with this perspective. God is still alive and at work in your life even though you are going through a lot. I’m encouraged to see you focused on Him through all of it.