Nothing is guaranteed

My father used to say and he was quite right, that there is only one thing you can be sure of in life, one day, you won't be alive anymore, anything else is a bit of gamble. This silly saying, although comical does hold a tiny drop of wisdom I always try to remember.

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Life does not owe me anything. There, I said it, and waking up to this idea is liberating. Yes, it might not feel good at first, but it also allows us to operate within reality. Why we should operate in reality is an argument I don't need to make.

I only say this because its a common mistake younger minds make. They think that when they do something good, life holds a ledger of that action and effectively they have deposited a guaranteed return in some hypothetical bank.

When the return, when the investment does not pay off, they feel cheated, as if life itself stole from them. To someone with this type of thinking, I have to ask. Who told you that it was guaranteed? Who said, if you are always kind, people will always be kind back? If someone did, they surely lied.

This does not mean we should not try, this does not mean we should not be kind to others, and plant seeds of love on the ground. It just means that if we do it while holding our breath, in expectation of guaranteed results, we fail to account that not even the wisest of men knows if its ever going to rain a week from now.

Nothing is guaranteed... remember that.