Friday, August 27, 2004

just some advice on life
well, i've been reading this book called Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections by Robert Asprin and i'd like to quote a page or two for you guys. don't worry if you don't know who the characters are; it's not important. what matters is the advice Kalvin gives Skeeve. *crosses my fingers and hopes i don't get in trouble for copyright infringement..hehe*

"Ever since we met, you've been talking about right and wrong as if they were absolutes. According to you, things are either right or they're wrong...period. 'Was Aahz right to leave?'...Are you wrong to try to bring him back?...Well, my young friend, life isn't that simple. Not only are you old enough to know that, you'd better learn it before you drive yourself and everyone around you absolutely crazy!"
He began to float back and forth in the air in front of me with his hands clasped behind his back. I supposed it was his equivalent of pacing.
"It's possible for you, or anyone else to not be right and still not be wrong, just as you can be right from a business standpoint, but wrong from a humanitarian viewpoint. The worlds are complex, and people are a hopeless tangle of contradictions. Conditions change not only from situation to situation and person to person, but from moment to moment as well. Trying to kid yourself that there's some master key to what's right and wrong is ridiculous...worse than that, it's dangerous, because you'll always end up feeling incompetent and inadequate when it eludes you."
Even though i was having trouble grasping what he was saying, that last part rang a bell. It described me with uncomfortable accuracy how i felt about myself more often that not! I tried to listen more closely.
"You've got to accept that life is complicated and often frustrating. What's right for you may not be right for Aahz. There are even times when there is no right answer...just the least objectionable of several bad choices. Recognize that, then don't waste time and energy wondering why it is or railing that it's unfair...accept it."
"I...I'll try," I said "but it's not easy."
"Of course it's not easy!" the Djin shot back. "Who ever said it was easy? Nothing's easy. Sometimes it's less difficult than at other times, but it's never easy. Part of your problem is that you keep thinking things should be easy, so you assume the easy way is the right way. Case in point: You knew it would be hard to ask me to stay on after i had fulfilled the contract, so you decided the right thing to do was not to ask...ignoring how hard it would be for you to keep hunting Aahz without me."
"But if it would be easier for me if you stayed..."
"That's right. It's a contradiction," Kalvin grinned. "Confusing, isn't it? Forget right and wrong for a while. What do you want?"

skeeve and i have a lot in common. both look for the easy way out more often than not. it's a good thing there's people like kalvin out there to help us out. for me, it's rebecca, purgatory, and rayea. i give them advice on things (which means i have to go out and learn something), then i try to take my own advice. when i fail, they're there to remind me. thanks gals. i love you....especially you rebecca.
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