Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Shit Happens

Yeah. Everyone knows that. Which is why we have been passed on well developed techniques for dealing with it. God moves in mysterious ways, poorva janma karma, every thing happens for the best - whatever be your cup of irrationality. Its supposed to help you accept shit and move on. Not mope around wondering - why me? Why did i miss that step? Why was the exam so hard just this year? Why did that bird have to fly over my head just then?

But, leaving aside shit that is generated by the randomness that is this universe, there is shit that happens to you for a reason. I dont mean The Alchemist type reasons, the universe is trying to send you a message crap, i hated intensely disliked that book. The day i find myself quoting non-sarcastically from it will be the day that i die. Ahem. Coming back. Shit that happens to you because you did something or said something or should have done something. Shit that you can somehow link back to you. Shit that you can and should learn from.

Sometimes i find myself in such a hurry to move on that i fail to differentiate between random shit and causal shit. I rationalize, i look for excuses, i find them, i move on. Once i've convinced myself there is nothing i could have done, its all pretty simple. A shrug and its done.

And now, because i've just realized that this is exactly what the Serenity Prayer says, and says much better, i paste it here.

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things that I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.

10 comments:

Charuta said...

POst-appraisal wisdom/serenity, eh? ;)

vinaya said...

:) Didnt realize the cause-and-effect was so universally recognizable. Its always been such a non-event for me.

Mohsin said...

I first read it as 'shift happens' and was wondering whether it is arithmetic or logical..
anyway.. I liked the post..

vinaya said...

:D Do you have one of those filters in your head that they use for subtitles in english movie channels? That convert "offensive" words to less offensive ones. Only, your seem to convert them to mathematical ones!

Thanks :)

Sumit Sorde said...

Shit happens! Now flush it off or it will just make the whole ecosystem of your life stink :)

vinaya said...

Wise advice :)
Its been so long however, that when i flush it off, i think i'm going to miss the stink!

pm said...

@IISc, really shit happens, all the time, on your head or may be on your new dress :P and since we can do nothing about it, we started believing that if shit happens, you finish PhD sooner :D But truly 'Whatever happens does happen for the good', cannot be reasoned always though.

vinaya said...

:D And just like that, another superstition is born! If i squint my eyes and see really far, is that a temple to a pegion god i see?

Yeah. The best you can do is make something good out of it. But sometimes, shit is just shit.

kiran said...
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kiran said...
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