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Thornism #3

This entry was posted on January 10, 2009 1:36 AM and is filed under Thornisms.

Have you ever had a pattern in your life that seems to keep repeating? I think at one point or another we all have. Whether it's in our work life, or in our personal life, from time to time patterns seem to develop that happen over and over again. Human nature being what it is, most will look beyond themselves for the reason these things keep happening, but fact of the matter is that those who go that route are missing the bigger picture.

See life is a lot like mathematics. One plus One should always equal Two. If you are doing the math in your own life and One plus One equals Three, well then chances are the condom broke, which sometimes isn't all that bad. If One plus One equals One, well normally that One is going to be you. If One plus One equals Zero, well then you are really fucked.

See I look at these patterns like this, and hence the reason for the following Thornism:

"You are the lowest common denominator in your own life, so if things aren't adding up for you the way you expected them to, well then chances are you need to go back and redo the fucking math till they do."

Now I am not trying to suggest that there aren't some times when external reasons cause patterns to occur, I mean shit does happen. That said though, most of the time if you find yourself in some recurring cycle that you would simply rather not play a part in, there is a really good chance that the reason it is happening to you is because of the choices you have made yourself. It doesn't take a degree in mathematics to figure that much out. Hell I flunked algebra and I see the logic in that.

How many times have you had a friend tell you that they lost their job yet again? They will point the finger of blame everywhere but where it really belongs. They will blame the boss, they will blame the company, they will blame the work load, but you and I both know the reason they lost their job yet again is because they always got up late or went into work hung-over all the time, and as such their quality of work simply sucked so they got fired. Simple math, but yet the answer evades so many no matter how many times you tell them to return to the chalkboard.

I cannot tell you how many times I have read on a dating site forum the laments of a woman who ended up having yet another one night stand they weren't happy about. Naturally the word "playa" starts getting bandied about heavily, and that fickle finger of blame starts doing its pointing dance everywhere but where it needs to get pointed. God forbid if you try to redirect it to the proper source, you will get your head chewed off by a screaming mob of women (been there done that). Now common sense dictates that if the same situation keeps happening over and over to a particular woman, chances are it has little to do with the guys, and a lot more to do with the woman in question, because she is the lowest common denominator in that particular equation, and it is rarely for the reason she wants to face, hence the blame game.

See I figure it goes like this in that particular scenario; either she is making horrible choices in terms of the men she is electing to meet (not doing the math first), or the sex simply sucked. I am inclined to believe it is a combination of both but with emphasis on the latter. I mean common sense again dictates that even a would be "playa" will skulk around for another "bootie call" if the sex was any good, so if he doesn't chances are it wasn't worth coming back for seconds now is it? Let's be honest if that is the case she is better off not knowing, because no one wants do hear the truth in that case do they? Now this is not gender specific, but you rarely hear a man complaining about this particular issue do you? Why do you suppose this is?

It always seems so easy to blame something other than what it is for what happens in our lives, and the last person we ever want to blame is ourselves, but I believe it is high time we simply started taking some personal responsibility for what happens in our life and the choices we make. You simply cannot have your cake and eat it too, no matter how you do the math.

Benjamin Franklin is famous for saying "The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result". I am inclined to agree with him, and I use that particular chestnut on a sadly regular basis when giving advice to those who ask for it. It is not that I think most people are insane but rather that many lack the common sense that should be so common, hence the name common sense.

"You are the lowest common denominator in your own life, so if things aren't adding up for you the way you expected them to, well then chances are you need to go back and redo the fucking math till they do."

So if you still don't see yet that you are penultimately the one responsible for what happens in your own life, well then you need to seriously wake up and smell the coffee burning. That's all I really have to say about that.

Have fun ;)!