What IS it!? - 37

Morning Friend,

"IT IS WHAT IT IS", has become one of the more popular "catch-phrases" in today's culture.

On one level you could call it the "21st Century Serenity Prayer for Dummies" being as it speaks to acceptance, (if not downright resignation?).

Or you could call it a more polite and politically correct way of saying "SH_T HAPPENS" ?

However you define this quaint little "sound bite", it certainly is a useful tool as an acceptable replacement for actual intelligent insight and as a safe and effective discussion ender.

When posed with a difficult question which requires you to delve deep into your vault of worldly understanding and you find yourself somewhat "wisdom-challenged" on that particular topic, you can quite sagely reply how "it is what it is"....end of story.

You might not have a clue what IT is supposed to be.

You may have no idea whatsoever what IT was.

You may be completely in the dark as to IT's significance on Global affairs, the local economy, or the darned time of day!

Your ignorance about anything and everything IT, is no impediment to your unequivocal and inarguable conclusion that IT is NOTHING ELSE known or otherwise comprehended by mankind, than what "it is".

On the other hand you my know exactly what IT is, but if a full and proper explanation requires some self-effacing revelations, exposure of personal shortcomings or good old fashioned embarrassment, then the prudent course of action is an oversimplified declarative refrain which says everything, and reveals nothing at the same time.

Professional athletes and politicians are great proponents and purveyors of the what-it-is "explanation" for poor performance.

The folksy cliché neatly deletes accountability from the athlete's ineptness or the politician's insincerity, by chalking it up to "things that just ARE"....the team lost, and your tax dollars are in the toilet.

You'll never see ME paying to see them play or voting for them, yet these people keep finding work somewhere !?

But in the sporting arena where luck can be such a large determining factor, and the world of politics where integrity is about as rare as a "perfect game", accountability is no longer expected, let alone required.

A simple "...what it is" will suffice.

But in the everyday world of you and I my friend, I would suggest that many people are unhappy with their lives because this new age "serenity prayer" doesn't include any reference to the all important aspect of COURAGE....the courage to CHANGE.

MISERY, is often the IT in their lives and as the saying goes "misery is misery".

Misery without HOPE...IS misery.

There is always another sporting season and another election down the road, but there is no other earthly life than the one we're in right now.

There was a time in my life when I couldn't even IMAGINE what life would be like without alcohol.

I was what I was.

Thankfully I realized I was what I WASN'T...and that was "meant to drink alcohol".

That realization provided the hope I needed to embark on a new and daunting life that I had previously refused to even think about, let alone TRY!

I Thank God for the courage to have said "Yes it is what it is... but I want to change IT!"

My gratitude always includes hope for others who long for positive change in their lives but who feel impotently resigned by a fearful acceptance that things are as they are and that's all there is to it.

I'm not going to sling the hackneyed line "If I can do it anyone can".

I WILL say that "with God, anyone can".

Because while IT may be, what IT is....it doesn't necessarily have to be.

Unless you're Popeye of course.

love tImMy:/ "ahh-gha-ga-ga....!"

Laugh as much as you breathe...

Love as long as you live ( accountably)