The art of seeing the good in the bad

As a farmer I have never experienced the full wrath of El Niño before. So this is my first time….and it is very painful to walk around my lands in the knowledge that some of my dear friends – my beloved palms will not make it…..even should they manage to slip thru the eye of the needle…the damage would be so severe that I would probably have to cut them down.

The mathematics of necessity is very clear to me. As since I am a man of considerable education….I know only too well, what will happen in the coming months. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before the ground will crack and the roots will be shredded into ribbons – nothing can prevent this from happening. The trees will begin to shut down….that is their Dao, when survival is threatened. So there will be no fruit this whole year and whatever little yield there is will probably be shrunken and the very opposite of a bountiful harvest.

But at least I know – what is El Niño and what it is firsthand.

I have finally come face to face with my nemesis….indeed it’s very humbling.

Life is cruel!

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‘I learn from only the best in the world! That has always been my learning philosophy – I am not asking you to agree with the ideology or the methods of the Jew, that is your prerogative…your own private affair…but in my book…there is much wisdom to be gleaned from the Jew when it comes to how to manage oneself and others in the face of adversity.

I cannot confirm or deny this…and it’s best that it remains just a third hand account.

But it’s conceivable that I might have been there when it all happened. Then again that might just be the creative license a story teller would have very little hesitation assuming….either case…allow me to share this story with all of you.

A homemade rocket had just taken out the front section of a provision store just across the hotel. Soon the ambulances arrived. The injured were loaded up and in while the entire neighborhood pours out to clean up the debris…everyone…from the oldest to the children were calm and sombre, but they are all very purposeful – as if they were all under the same spell of quiet determination – as if they all know, if so much as one person cracks, the magic spell will be broken there and then.

This is a very impressive display of maturity in the face of adversity, as it illustrates poignantly how with the sheer power of collective determination – it is possible for life to go on normally even under extreme conditions of war …within the hour, the street is cleaned up and the bombed out section is boarded up and life proceeds as if nothing had ever happened….it’s just another day.

There are many life lessons here, first and foremost is idea that while pain may well be inevitable, suffering is definitely optional. The other being, it’s never the case of what has happened. Rather it’s how one can best pick up the pieces and muster the courage to continue the best one can.

From that one snippet of daily life in Tel Aviv, the perceptive observer is left with absolutely no doubt whatsoever – that it’s conceivable only the Jews have successfully managed to elevate the art of survival to the upper reaches of a theoretical science. Either that or, the Jews are just unfuckable!

Many valuable life lessons can be drawn out of this daily diorama of life….many life lessons.’