THE OLD MAN SAID

The old man said, “I am not enjoying my life.  I lost everything, wife, kids, house, job, health, am getting old and feeble, and right now I am living under a bridge that isn’t bombed, yet, but the soldiers are hunting me.  I am not enjoying myself.”

The crazy guy said, “Dude, you are so ungrateful, so unthankful.  You are having the adventure of a life time.  You’re so ungrateful that even if you were in an old folks home taking your meds and slurping oatmeal and pooping in a diaper, you wouldn’t enjoy it.  Complain, complain, complain, and you don’t even enjoy your complaining.  

WE GET BORN and spend our lives trying to survive and be comfortable. Not much adventure there, a little challenging perhaps, but not very exciting.  It doesn’t take much to survive unless you refuse to poop except in a gold plated toilet.

When life gets really painful, and you can’t do anything about it, go mindless.  Sit, recline, lay down, relax, disappear, OR imagine an adventure you’d enjoy, like living through a nuclear war and starving to death.

“Fine,” said the old man, “I get that, but now I am wondering about my next life, wondering if it will be better.”

The crazy guy said, “OH MY GOD, you are nuts.  You’re suffering your imagination, your indoctrination, suffering unprovable theologies and philosophies bouncing around in your head like they’re real.  You’re suffering what doesn’t exist, except in your mind.”

I have empathy for people who are emotionally suffering their mind’s thoughts.  I have so much empathy for the mentally created problems that I avoid them, except occasionally when I go among them to see if there has been an improvement, to see if they’ve gotten over themselves.

So far, as far as I can detect, the majority get offended just by hearing that other humans are alive enjoying their lives.  Even pronouns offend them.