As a boy, I learned there were infinite ways to annoy a girl. Many times, my discovery would be purely unintentional.
One afternoon, I was riding the bus home from school. There was a girl in front of me with golden curls. At the time, my sister was too young to have curls that big. For some reason, I was fascinated by them. My second-grade, male mind had no idea the time it to create those perfect curls. I found them fascinating. I was like a moth to a flame.
I found myself wanting to touch them as if I wanted to confirm they were real. I thought I could do so without her noticing. I was wrong! She turned around, glared at me, and scolded me for being so rude.
Part of me was crushed. I had no intention of pestering her. But the other part was satisfied with my scientific experiment. Yes, they were real. Those golden curls somehow defied gravity and spiraled into infinity, but they were real.
I like to think I live in a certain world. If I do A, B will naturally follow.
- If I keep my head down and do my work, I will never get laid off
- If I am a safe driver, I will never be in an accident
- If I eat my veggies and exercise, I will be the first nearly immortal guy to compete with Methuselah.
- If I am good and never do rude things like touch the golden curls of that third-grader on the bus, my life will go smoothly
The truth is, we have far less control than we would like to believe. Life is uncertain. There are infinite ways our lives could go today.
There are infinite ways our day can go wrong today. However, there are also infinite ways our day can go right today.
Instead of attempting to control everything, I will do my best to live a life of faith, hope, and love today. It may not make things any more certain, but it can allow me to trust that things will turn out all right no matter what curveball may come my way today.