I don’t know about you but, in the past, I have lived under the umbrella of one of life’s biggest myths: Until it happens to me, it doesn’t exist.

Oh yes, I acknowledged that IT happened to other people, but blindly held the notion that it would never happen to me. Those people were just mishandling their lives and got what they got as a result. At least that’s how it computed in my mind . . . until it happened to me.

I’m not going to describe any specific “IT” here, only point out the limiting, and may I add, “holier than thou” mindset that fertilizes that myth.

Some telltale signs of the “it’ll never happen to me” crowd are vociferous, dogmatic assertions that the “IT” people are weaker, stupider, unsophisticated, lazy, etc. In short, inferior.

It’s both sad and entertaining when you hear an anointed one start singing out of a different hymn book. Entertaining because you get to see them bucked off their high horse; sad because they could have been aware of others plight in a more compassionate way, a lot sooner.

Their new mantra is similar to a quote attributed to English reformer John Bradford: “There but for the grace of God go I.” If you don’t believe in God, substitute the words “good fortune” in your mantra. Which reminds me of something President Dwight Eisenhower said in a speech: “There are no atheists in foxholes.”

I don’t wish anything ‘bad’ on anybody; My only hope is that their belief that bad things only happen to bad people will stop being their headline, long before we read their obituary.

All the best,

John

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