Day 4 -365 Questions to Spark Reflection

Is life fair? No? Sometimes? Not today?

Do I think life is fair? Not really. We all have our ups & downs. The struggle is harder for some than others. The struggle is different at different times for each of us.

My friend's friend had her mentally ill brother burn down the family home, killing her Mother. Then the insurance company refused to pay the insurance claim on the home.

My aunt had type I Diabetes in the 1950's. Blood sugars were poorly controlled then. She spent her limited adult years with a nasty husband. Her home, burned early one morning after the husband left for work, and killed my aunt & her three toddlers. Did they get a fair shake? I don't think so.

At my work, I rotate through each of three areas: Medical/surgical, Chemotherapy and Critical Care.

I see people hurt badly by other's carelessness or stupidity all the time: gangsters, careless drivers & drunk drivers. There are people who survive by the skin of their teeth and people who are fatally injured by the same. Teen-aged bravado can become a push and a head bump and a fatal brain bleed and a person, who desperately needs an organ, might get one because of it. They get their kick at the can because someone else didn't.

Some folks in the world dream of being able to feed their children. Here I am, hurting my body by violating it with food that harms it.

It works the other way as well. Why am I among the very wealthiest people in the world? (Those who own computers are in the top percentages of the worlds wealthy.) Why did the stork drop such a lovely child on my doorstep? Why have none of my siblings (5) or cousins (38) or their kids & grandkids (?) been killed in a car accident? Why has my Mom survived heart bypass 20 years ago, bowel cancer 12 years ago, a new heart valve 16 months ago, diabetes and dementia, while the guy across the road died in his sleep at 47 or my friend's dad had a debilitating stroke the day after he retired?

It is partly luck (eg. genes, randomness in general) & partly skill (eg. I choose better food now & I exercise.) I'll leave you with a quote from entertainer Robbie Robertson, that sums up how I feel about life's fairness, "You gotta play the hand that's dealt you, that's what the old man always said."