If Life were like Windows Mail
This is for the answers I search for but will never find. For the words I think but will never say.
This morning I was writing an email but couldn’t get past one sentence. It’s a sentence I want to say and feel like needs to be said, but I felt utterly ridiculous sending someone an unnecessary and unexplained one-liner. So, I click the “X” in the upper right corner to close the untitled, unfinished, and unaddressed (you know, just in case I accidentally hit “SEND”…hey, it’s happened before!) email.
“Do you want to save changes to this message?”
I stared at my screen, wondering at the subtle irony of the prompt: did I want to save changes? Ha! There are a lot of changes I can think of that I wouldn’t mind saving. A lot of changes I wouldn’t mind discarding, too, now that I’m thinking about it.
My mouse pointer jumped to click “No,” but hovered back over between “Yes” and “Cancel” before settling on the neutral “X” in the upper right corner.
As if changes in Life could be as easily saved or canceled with such clear-cut options like that.
But this is Life, and not my Inbox.
There are no pop-up warning messages with preset and familiar options including a universal red “X” simply because I’m not ready to make the decision (I mean, as useful as that would be).
And this isn’t just any Life, it’s my life. In which options include forgoing the probably wiser decision to let it marinate overnight…to swallow my fear and send the damn message.
Good to know that my Impatience trumps my Abulia.
Oh, and to set the record straight (before I am once again reminded that Buddhists are supposed to be the epitome of patience
): laid-back Buddhists do worry, are indecisive, think of impatience as impulsiveness (despite evidence of the contrary), and include “tendency to poke fun at ourselves/laugh at self-ironies” in our definition of “laid-back.”
February 24th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Who says that one-liners need to be explained? Part of the beauty of them is making other people think, whether it’s a deep thought or just wondering if you’ve completely lost your mind. In either case, hopefully it leaves them wanting for more.
dcr’s last blog post..Working on My Blogs
February 24th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
If my life were like an inbox I would be spam!
skinbeatergreg’s last blog post..Thunderballed
February 24th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
If only life were that easy, huh? Then again, that “easy” could also get a bit… I don’t know, I think, boring maybe at the same time, no?
February 25th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Sounds like you worry too much.
Mistakes and tragedies are inevitable.. the secret is to figure out how to mitigate their negative effects, and even better, experiencing a wealth of good from something that could be or was intended to be bad . . . which we only learn to do, like it or not, by going through them.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I agree with DCR…
glad I read the comments before posting the same exact thing!
meleah rebeccah’s last blog post..Simple Mathematics
February 26th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Ah, if only life were as simple as an inbox!
Holly’s last blog post..McCain Doesn’t Know if He Supports Contraception
February 26th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
If life were that simple, it won’t be worth the bother! But maybe you should save that one-liner for your own sake!
Nola’s last blog post..Genealogy: A Family Affair
February 27th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I sometimes wish life would be like an email… just save a draft and get back to it when you have more time
Good post, I enjoyed it a lot.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
On the other hand, if life were like my inbox I’d have to walk around having people tell me that I wasn’t as manly a man as I should be all the time, and that could get depressing.
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March 7th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Nice article a little Zen.? without ?,answer without answer,? without answer,answer without ?. You are right about buddhists.This the reason for the many lives to be lived each teaches something until full enlightenment is attained.Mistakes have to be made and sometimes it’s hard to be patient.I enjoyed your article.
Gregorio’s last blog post..Lumination
March 9th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I am sorry that i am an infrequent visitor to your blogging shores. Each time I visit I am enraptured by the way you write, the things you write and the way you make (no not make, enable) me to think. I always vow to watch your writing more closely, I always fail but one day I will master the art and I know that my lif ewill be richer for that.
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