The Powerful Play Goes On…

Life is… odd.

It ebbs and it flows according to a tide of unknown origin.  Times are good, times are bad, and sometimes there is little space between the two.

Call it fate, or karma, or destiny, or the acts of a Higher Power, or simple random chance, but the fact remains that there are times when events spiral so far beyond our control that we are no longer the captain’s of our own destiny, but rather passengers on a run-away freight train.

I personally am of the random-chance school of thought.  I believe that humans don’t need a god to be wonderful, and don’t need a devil to be horrendous.  I believe that people are simply people: capable of acts of supreme sacrifice and outrageous selfishness, often at the same time.

Never let it be said that humans aren’t versatile.

When it became clear that 2018 was leaving the tracks and no amount of work could fix it, I became extremely upset at the string of rotten luck.  I pride myself on my ability to bounce back from hard knocks, but even the most formidable jaw has limits, and it has felt like life has increasingly pushed me to mine.

Today was an opportunity to feel like I was once more in control.

A stroke of good fortune rolled into my lap.  I had feared that I would spend an interminable time finding new work.  I have lain awake at night, fearing the worst, my mind parading endless scenarios about me going to jail and my wife leaving me, etc.

Instead, I knock an interview so far out of the park that I’m not even sure it’ll be in the same zip-code when it lands.

It’s not much.  It’s not a book sale, an agent,  or other meaningful career progress.  But it IS a feather in my cap.

And let me tell you, until now, that cap was distressingly empty.

Happy Holidays,

Justin