The idyllic crush

The last couple of weeks have been pretty draining on the family and now we all have the flu. It is one of those things that happens when people get rundown and worn out. The immune system just can't keep up and defend against whatever the environment happens to throw at it.

The immediate goal is to get our daughter in a condition that she can have her MRI next week and then see what that will mean going forward from there. It is a pretty challenging time for us as a family but, whatever comes out, we will deal with it the best we can and hopefully make it through the other side relatively unscathed by life.

There are no guarantees in this life though and no matter how idyllic the scenes may be, the world has the tendency to create disruption at unwelcome times. I don't believe in fate of destiny however, I do think that various systems tend to align at the right times to create a breeding ground for success or failure. There are lessons on both sides of the coin yet it is the failure that carries the most weight.

Much like the world's resources, conditions of success are not evenly distributed which means equality of opportunity is impossible. There is a lot of temptation to try and improve the conditions for some but often the process includes the reduction of others or, disregard of others. An example that comes to mind was when I was at high school, there were special career days for girls while the boys were offered no such help. It seemed to work on the assumption that men would be okay regardless, something that is quite ridiculous. The process leads to inequality rather than a meritocracy where those with the interest and skills get the job. The concept leads to empowering women by taking opportunity from men. That is not equality.

It is an interesting paradox of sorts as even though I want the best for my daughter, I don't want her to have the best without having earned it in some way based on her investment into herself. Her life is hers to empower, not guided by the 'charity' of a social agenda. Nothing in this world comes for free and that includes opportunity. It is very easy to forget that the governments that oppress are made up of humans much like ourselves and there is a high likelihood that given the same opportunity, we wouldn't act much differently, we too would oppress others for our own benefit. Many people will deny this knowing that they will never be in a position to test their resolve.

Lately, I feel like every day is a new test of my ability to cope as if there is some kind of vice slowly being wound tight to see at which pressure I am going to break. So far, my resolve has held relatively well, even though the throbbing in my head will tell a different story if I let it. Perhaps this is the purpose of existence, a driver of our evolution as it looks to squeeze us until we learn and grow, or get taken out of the equation completely.

These photos are from Varenna and Belaggio on Lake Como, Italy. They were taken on the last day of our honeymoon a few years ago and we walked around the beautiful little towns and talked about our future together. It is hard when in such a place and at such a time to consider all of the pressures and events that will do their best to get in the way and derail life's plans. Despite it all, we are still on track but, we don't really know where it will take us.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]