How many people have uttered the tired phrase, “Life isn’t fair”? I know I have. It’s such a general exclamation, usually used after something “unfair” occurs. Bad grades, which students insist are due to a teacher that doesn’t like them. A death in the family. An opportunity at a great job lost to someone less qualified. The list goes on, and all of these things are considered “unfair”. I felt the same ingratiating phrase in the back of my mind last year. The night that all the scholarships went awarded, I waited with bated breath, hoping that one of the almost 20 that I’d applied for locally would pan out. Unfortunately for me, the scholarships all went to the same few people. One of those people who got most of the high-dollar scholarship already had a full ride to a good school.
Here I’ll skew off from the rant that was forming. Tell me: What would Life be if it was indeed what you’d call “fair”? Would you always win at contests, or get whatever you wanted? Would there be no accidental or intentional deaths? What would it be like for you?
I’ll tell you what. Bo-ring.
Without struggle and without adversity, what is life but a preprogrammed trip from age 0 to age 75? Opportunities wouldn’t be worth striving for because no effort would be involved. And let’s not even get started on the impossibility of you “winning every contest” because somebody would always have to lose, and therefore they might think losing was unfair.
I say the same thing for a fictional utopian world where there is no crime or bad people who could hurt you. I’m not saying I get some sick thrill from watching the horrible stories on the news at night, but I am saying that without the bad people in the world, we’d have nothing to compare to the good people of the world. There would be no good or bad, just bland ordinariness.
We already know that life is unfair, so why bother wasting time to say it? Let’s embrace those challenges that better us in ways we could never fully understand at the time.
And just think: Without those bad people, and without the unfairness of the world, we’d have nothing to inspire the need for progress.
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I couldn't agree with you more. Like I have told myself and others too, if I don't win this scholarship or the other one's that I applied for, I will not cry about it. I just know I will eventually get one of those scholarships. Well hopefully.Good write.
Rest in peace
yourfuneralguy
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not to expect life to be fair the hard way.
YES! I was beginning to think that I'm the only one who feels this way. My favourite saying:
"Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up".
It embraces the unfairness to life and reeks of reality.
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I find that statements like 'life isn't fair' gives me hope and a positive out look because if life were really not in my favor I would not say it. Its a reminder to keep on keeping on.
When I read you title it clicked in my my head as Dr. House would say. I could totally see his face. Then as I read along it reminded me of Bruce Almighty when every one won the lottery jack pot... they had to share pennies or something like that.
Good post
~T
All truths are easy to understand once discovered; The point is to discover them ~Galileo
Nice tie-ins! I don't watch House but I know the attitude of the character, so I get that reference. And the Bruce Almighty thing was another good point to make. I think that was one of the best parts of the movie.
~ *~
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I have heard this saying all my life. I have also figured it out the hard way because I can be stuborn. You have a good point though. What if life was always fair? Everyone would be winners and not experience anything bad. By experiencing the bad I believe a person can have more of a driver to succeed because they already know the let downs.
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I agree with you. My bad experiences in life made me motivated to not have to live through it again. I kinda like the not fairness, too. It makes life risky and surprising, and I like surprises (and risk!).
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Yes, I agree with you. We cannot get all those things what we want in our life. We go through both fair and unfair circumstances in our life. No one is born with a silver spoon in his mouth. We should do good deeds to make our life fair for us.
In the face of unfairness... I can be a brat. But it does make me work harder, and truly appreciate everything so much more, even simple, overlooked things.
One thing I've been thinking lately is that in a sense of balance, everything is fair. Just like how opposites exist and compliment each other... How for every action there is a reaction. The hard part for me sometimes is just accepting and getting over it. Not wasting energy I could put into positive things on negative feelings. But sometimes, complaining can be medicine once you realize you aren't alone :)