"LIFE IS GOOD"

   
      My friend and former colleague, Jaimie, who could from his own experience cite many reasons to the contrary, regularly told us, "Life is Good".  (That slogan has become commercialized and appears on numerous consumer items. So be it.  The attitude is not proprietary.)  
    I know, I know...such an outlook can easily be caricatured as 
'Polyanna-ish' and superficial.  When we have lived but a short while, we can provide an extensive itemization of the difficulties,
tragedies, traumas, injustices, that we and  others close to us have experienced.  As a former parish minister and now as psychotherapist, I know more than sometimes I wish that I knew about human hurts.  Though I opted not to complete seminary studies and went in other professional directions, I learned some 'Big Words' for 'Bad Things'.  "Theodicy" was one such...simply put, as I understand it, "Why do Bad things happen to Good people?"  My own experience is to 'beware of anyone who purports to provide the definitive answer. The position of God has been taken and none of us mortals has been commissioned to give the final answer to that one.
  
     I believe that 'a positive attitude' is often taken to imply something like 'denial'.  To me, that is a form of intellectual dishonesty.  Stuff Happens and to contend otherwise only makes us more vulnerable.
      Part of my practice involves working with persons who have been traumatized by injustices of life, using a protocol known as EMDR.  (You can Google that, if interested.)  There are the obvious HUGE traumas...PTSD from military engagement, sexual abuse, automobile accidents, etc.  Another perspective is that traumas are 'things that have happened to us that shouldnot have happened and were not deserved'. ( I learned this understanding from a nearby psychiatrist with whom I have consulted.  Not having asked his consent to name him, I will respect his privacy, but I want to acknowledge his help.)  I have witnessed remarkable healing through this therapeutic modality. At some later time, I want to reflect further on EMDR and how I am understanding its place in my practice.  But for now, I am convinced that despite all the 'bad stuff', Jaimie and his aphorism possess a kind of 'wisdom'.
     Sometimes the 'Good' is obvious...forgiveness, a new baby, goals and aspirations attained, human love and acceptance, good friends, sunrise over the ocean, a brisk cup of coffee, music, good books, an awareness that there is a 'More' that we are drawn to, a dog snoozing beside me as I write and think, 'new beginnings', and perhaps you can add your own reasons.  Vigilance and diligence are appropriate and even necessary on the 'mean streets' of life but to miss the 'good stuff' is to be less than 'alive'.
     'Thanks', Jaimie, for the reminder.
    
     Satchel