A friend recently posted this status on Facebook: “It’s hard to trust the process. Is there a process?” The truth is, we all know that things work out in the end, one way or another. This is my favorite go-to line; I frequently deliver it to friends going through tough times. I also tell it to myself when I’m in my own sucky situations.
The thing is, it’s not just a line for me, I actually believe there’s truth in this statement.
I’ve also heard these lines from well-intentioned friends in the past few weeks:
- this, too, shall pass
- time heals all wounds
- everything happens for a reason
- hindsight is 20/20
- you’ll be better because of this
- soon you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel
- what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Some say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but I think when we tell each other these lines, we really are trying to be supportive. Cliches, after all, have their origins in truth at some point in time.
My body is being stupid, my family members keep dying, I’ve lost my passion for medicine, and the man I love is getting his ducks in a row necessitating separation from me. That this is all happening at once perhaps is a cliche in itself: when it rains it pours. To top it all off, the headache I have today just might be the final nail in the coffin. I’m at wits’ end because it seems like my life might be going to hell in a hand basket. But, because we all know that history repeats itself, things will all come out roses in the end. Right? I just need to remember one step at a time because slow and steady wins the race.
With all this shooting from the hip I’ve been doing, you might argue that silence is golden, but I beg to differ. I think I really hit the nail on the head when I say that spilling your guts is better than making people read between the lines. We all have skeletons in our closets, and sometimes it’s just best to air the dirty laundry. Such confessions must be taken with a grain of salt, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
And, if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: no man is an island. We all need someone to lean on. And sometimes, if you can’t take Mohammed to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed. But remember, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Leave no stone unturned.
Yet I’ve still got an axe to grind with the world. As luck would have it, I got the hare brained idea that if I bit the bullet and let the cat of the bag about my broken heart, I’d feel better. But all I did was open Pandora’s box. Love is a bitch and boys are dumb. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, so I understand that the first cut is the deepest. Once bitten, twice shy. That’s me.
But it ain’t over till it’s over. So I’m just going to go balls out and get back on the saddle again, dip my toe in the water. Although a good man is hard to find, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And there’s no time like the present. Why put off tomorrow what can be done today?
But I just can’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop. I know I should wake up and smell the coffee, but sometimes ignorance is bliss. I try to keep my chin up, and I know there’s no use crying over spilled milk, but truth is stranger than fiction. And my truth is that I’m at the end of my rope. It seems that when I give an inch, they take a mile. I guess we all have our cross to bear. Live and learn....
I feel like I have my back against the wall, that maybe this time I bit off more than I can chew. I know I might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but I’m really not crying wolf and these aren’t crocodile tears. I also know I should let bygones be bygones and let sleeping dogs lie, but it’s a dog eat dog world out there. And when push comes to shove, you have to piss or get off the pot, because what you see is what you get, and it’s only the tip of the iceburg.
I might as well just point out the elephant in the room: I made my bed, and now it’s time to lie in it. Lets just call a spade a spade and agree that love is blind. I know I can’t have my cake and eat it, too, but it’s not easy choosing the lesser of two evils. I guess beggars can’t be choosers. And now I’m just beating a dead horse. We’ve all been there, done that. Move it along , folks, nothing to see here.
To make a long story short, the nice guy finishes last, even if he is a diamond in the rough. Sometimes you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Oh, and don’t forget! It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.
