OF MICE AND MEN

'life is what happens to you
while you're busy making other plans'
as john lennon once sang
life is messy
do we have control over our destiny
or are we mere playthings in the hands of fate?
we fill up our diaries
make neat entries in our calendars
map out our futures
then watch helpless
as our plans disintegrate
those best laid plans of mice and men
like sailors whose ship is blown off course in a storm
we find ourselves washed up on strange islands
where beautiful mermaids call
we enter uncharted territory
if fortune favours us we might have a compass to guide us
otherwise we must navigate by the stars
or draw our own charts
but real life always sabotages the human mind's attempt
to put things into neat little boxes
to categorise
to call it this or that
good or bad
black or white
love or hate
for these are not absolutes
but products of our own personal values
is the glass half full or half empty?
is this a problem or an opportunity?
was he a hero or a villain?
did i narrowly miss the bus or am i early for the next one?
are you a christian, a buddhist or a muslim?
a believer or a scecptic?
an atheist or an agnostic?
if it was as simple as that
what need would there be for an art of living?