Are things as they appear?

Are things as they appear? I don't think so. I can't imagine that there is anyone who hasn't experienced the terrible, drastic, sinking feeling that happens when you start to feel sorry for yourself. "Poor me"  is about the worst thought you can have both for your physical and mental health. All your energy tanks. It is a hard thought to avoid and an even harder thought to claw you way back from.

J.G. used  to say that everything that happens in our life is a gift from God. That sounds a little cute. Easy for him to say. The picture he would paint was of a present arriving and a person being so put off by the wrapping paper that they throw away the present without opening it. They never get to see the gift that was intended for them.

So, say the wrapped gift looks like a broken hip. Could it also be that you were about to make a  very wrong turn in your life and and nothing short of a drastic calamity would put you back on the right path? I have experienced this. I have experienced it in small and huge moments. We all have heard stories about people who's car broke down on the  way to the airport (really bad) and they missed the plane (really bad) and then the plane crashed and they experienced an absolute euphoria that they have a second life. In the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center there seem to be as many stories about people who should have been there but were held off by some delay as there were stories about the opposite outcome.

All the healing therapies talk about 'the attitude of gratitude', like AA and Christianity. You might be considered a bit insane if on the way to the hospital in an ambulance you cry out "Thank you, God!" all the way. But, on the other hand, you might just be ripping off that wrapping paper like a kid at Christmas and get to see the gift that much sooner.

But the real zinger comes if you can make that shift and instantly feel different. The 'sink' doesn't happen and you feel lighter, filling up with anticipation rather than pain. I am in the process of working this wisdom on a couple of fronts right now.

I am trying to articulate a process whereby we operate our lives from wisdom moving toward happiness. When something like half of the US citizens are on anti-depressants or addicted to some substance or grossly overweight, shouldn't we examine whether our paths to finding happiness are faulty? I think so!