How Bad Are Things...Really?

You ever get the feeling that everything is going wrong in your world and you wonder what you're doing wrong?

So I'm lying in bed last night after yet another Lakers loss. I'm feeling pretty miserable that I probably need some sort of psychological counseling because of the two most recent NBA postseasons and this one isn't even over yet. But I guess I can get over that when the Oregon Duck football team starts another season with a strong effort, maybe get to #2 in the country and, yet again, let it all slip away.

So it's just sports. I can deal with that with some over the counter drugs. No problem. Then I turn on my computer and read the news. Oi Vey! So it seems that the world fits nicely in a hand basket. Whodathunk? I mean to say that all of the things that I hold sacred and valuable are now the butt of societal mockery. "Marriage you say. HAHAHAHA what a joke", "You mean to say that you wouldn't let your daughter kill her unborn baby so that she doesn't have to learn from the experience of making poor decisions. You'd rather give her love and support at any cost just so you can develop even stronger Christlike values?", "You believe in God and have faith in something that can't be proven? You're so delusional.", "Free market enterprise is for overachievers, you should just relax and let the government pay for everything, there's plenty of money".

I mean, what is going on with this country? By way of digression I just want to say that we need a president that's more like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. We don't need a friend in the Oval office, we need a leader with a killer, no-nonsense instinct and no emotion about making the decisions that WILL get the country back on track. Bill Simmons of ESPN said that toward the end of Jordan's career his teammates were mere coworkers to him. All he wanted was to win. No friendship was more important to him than winning. That's why he's not hanging out with Scotty Pippen and and boys ten years later. People hate Kobe for the same reason. Nothing is more important than winning (he makes a case that his family is more important, but it's sort of a toss-up). Why can't we get a president like that? George Patton wasn't interested in making friends, he wanted to win and sacrifice for the greater good. It's time we got a guy in the White House that people hate like teenagers hate their parents, but ultimately knows what's best. Unfortunately it's the people with the problem that are picking the guy to lead.

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Gen. George S. Patton

Enough Digression. So after deciding how to fix the world, I began thinking about my immediate world. The realization of my own reality hit me like Derek Fisher "running through" a Scola screen. My world is without question the most perfect place. How could I possibly have anything to complain about. My wife is the most beautiful, understanding and patient woman in the world. When I accidentally shattered her computer screen after a Lakers loss she just calmly (not a good sign) said she was mad at me and went for a run (I've fixed the screen since then with a brighter higher definition screen so it's all good). I have three of the greatest kids in the world and I have the greatest job I could have ever asked for. I have the unique knowledge that Jesus Christ is my savior and nothing can ever change that. There is nothing wrong with my life no matter what happens in Staples Center, Autzen Stadium, or the White House.

The problem with the world is that people don't try hard enough to improve their own world that they depend on vicarious triumphs that ultimately have nothing to do with them whatsoever. If the Lakers win the Championship, it had nothing to do with me. I didn't win it, I have nothing invested except my own emotions which are controlled only by me. Jack making a 5 foot, flat-footed, two handed deuce (that's making a basket in a 3.5 foot basketball hoop) with my hand in his face is more thrilling to me than any sports team's victories. What else matters when I see my son smile because he knows his father loves to play with him. That's what matters. If you think your world is falling apart, take a look and see which world is falling apart. If it's the outside one and you can't do anything about it, let it fall. As long as your immediate world is intact, all is well, all is well.