I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time

Happy New Year, everyone!

Even though I mostly blog (endlessly) about Game of Thrones or movies, or post my (vaguely ridiculous) monthly MicroStory collections, the onset of a new year allows for some reflection on the previous one.

Sometime in 2016 (I forget exactly when) I was in a bad mood. I was frustrated about something, and rather than overtly acting out, I sketched a picture of me yelling on the back of some scrap paper that was probably being used for my daughter’s math homework. (This might be a clue in regards to what I was frustrated about.)

(Look, I make no pretensions towards being an artist.)

I walked away from my emotive masterpiece, and when I returned, my daughter had made these improvements to my sketch.

Instead of me just being some yelling, frustrated guy, my daughter had turned me into a skydiver. I was still yelling, but at least I could imagine me yelling from the thrill of the activity. And my girl had me coming down directly towards a landing zone target. (Which might be a trampoline, which seems likely to add a comedic wrinkle to the event.)

This improved my mood. Dramatically.

I think the takeaway is pretty obvious. Sometimes a situation can be disproportionately improved with a little addition of kindness. A parachute isn’t that useful, *most* of the time. But in the short amount of time it takes to drop from a plane, it’s extremely important.

So if you get the chance, spread a little positivity around this year. I’m not saying it’ll be life-saving, but a parachute (regardless if it gets used) is more reassuring than an empty backpack. (Or a backpack filled with rocks.)

Best regards, and Happy New Year to everyone.

I’ll have a new Game of Thrones post out in a few days.

© Patrick Sponaugle 2017 Some Rights Reserved