Dear Doctor:
Everywhere we look we see it. Sometimes it’s peaceful, as the Pope passes on after a marvelous life well lived. Sometimes it’s confusing, as Terry Schiavo fades in a flurry of legal posturing. Sometimes it’s horrible, as yet another school kid, altered by psychotropic drugs, ignites another lethal burst of violence. Yet, whether we like the way the play ends or not, the outcome is unmistakable – ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
That’s why it’s so important for us to pay attention to new beginnings as well. If you look at the broad view, life is cyclical in nature – what goes around comes around, one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. While it is normal to be sad when great people die, angry when our laws and ethics collide, and outraged when bad decision-making and lousy leadership cause grief and tragedy, it is unavoidable that another day will come. The corner will be turned, the sun will rise again, and new opportunities for optimism and growth will part the sea of sadness and show the way to a better tomorrow.
And that’s one of the reasons I love baseball as much as I do. It really is a microcosm of life – victories and defeats, hard work that only sometimes pays off, giving it everything you got, and most of all, the hopefulness built into every fan, every season. Disappointment and cries of “Wait until next year” yield to passionate support and positive expectancy, and every team starts the year even.
Opening Day symbolizes just that – a fresh start, an enthusiastic jumping off point that provides a focus for investing constructive energy, a way to return to the faith and joyfulness that both centers and uplifts us. We see ourselves in those springtime warriors, and it rekindles the excitement of our youth, the juice of life.
Endings and beginnings – sad or happy, they are a necessary part of our existence, and we will all be touched by them somewhere along the line. There is a cyclical nature to life, and nothing we say or do will change that. We can only appreciate the magnificence of the plan, and participate in whatever ways we can. I can’t say that I always understand, but I can say this – I have a sense of comfort that things happen for a reason, even the unpleasant things, and as such, I have confidence that ultimately, the grand design is being served. Goodbye to our dear departed, hello to a new day, and let’s decide to make the best of it, no matter what else happens.
Dennis Perman DC, for The Masters Circle
PS Come see guest speaker Guy Riekeman at our second quarter seminar, “Secrets of
Exceptional Practices” -- please call 800-451-4514, or go to themasterscircle.com
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