I Did Everything Right!! (but bad things still happened)

It should be simple. Do what you are supposed to do, and nothing bad will happen to you. If only life would cooperate and fit into the little mold, we humans have constructed.

I have always been a rule follower. As a child, my Mom taught me that I could not play outside until ALL the chores were done. In school, I was a compliant student who obeyed my teachers. I followed my parents standards, and was not a rebellious teenager. The authorities in my life taught me this one simple rule: Do what you are supposed to do, and good things will come to you. (Okay, maybe that is a little dramatic).  At the very least, follow the rules, and you'll greatly reduce the chances of bad things happening.

This little plan was thwarted early on in my life when my dad died. I was only 18. I remember questioning God, but kept skipping along, doing all the right things. As I look back, I adopted the mentality, early on, that if I do all the right things, and follow all the rules, then maybe God will keep me in a bubble and protect me from the Big Bad Wolf.

I see others living by my same philosophy. You hear stories all the time of people who did all the right things, and yet still had horrible things happen to them. There's the guy who ate all organic, exercised, yet still developed cancer. There's the woman who did everything she was supposed to during her pregnancy, yet her baby was born was a birth defect. The list could go on and on, as everyday we hear of tragedies.

When bad things happen, our natural tendency is to click back through the list of things we did right, and the things we did wrong. We spin in this cycle and bargain about how "this should have never happened." It's as if we think that we can change the circumstance, simply by completing this cycle of insanity. Sadly, many people spin in this insane cycle and never get out of it.

We have this endless need to control life. Mostly because we live in fear of the "bad things." Yet, what are we really in control of? Not much! I wish I could give you the neat little formula so that bad things didn't happen to you. I so wish I could say, "do this, do that, and don't do this, and nothing bad will happen." I can't. At the risk of sounding all preachy, (like I have it figured out) I would like to tell you what keeps me from diving off the cliff.

SURRENDER. I surrender to God, at least 500 times a day. The good old Serenity Prayer keeps me sane. Then I think about what I CAN control. Taking those 10 million rogue thoughts captive, is a constant battle and yet that is where the battle is won.

In the end, we can do everything right, yet bad things will still happen. It's a sad thought, yet where would we be if we didn't seek to "do everything right?" I shudder to think! After letting myself run through the insanity spin cycle of "why did this happen," I am going to keep doing my part. I know that bad things will still happen, but ALOT of good things happen too! In fact, as I look back over the tragedies in my life, I see many good things.

I hope you will allow yourself to reflect on the good that has come from the bad. It certainly won't make us excited about impending difficulties, but perhaps a small shift in perspective can give us all the motivation to keep doing the right things.

My name is Angie, and these are my confessions..