I never had a slice of bread,
Particularly large and wide,
That did not fall upon the floor,
And always on the buttered side.
– Huron Reflector (November 23, 1841), reprinted in Shapiro, Fred R., ed., The Yale Book of Quotations 668 (2006)
It seems like my bread keeps falling butter-side down straight onto the sandy, gritty dirt outside. I’ve heard refered to as the “snowball effect.” It always seems like bad things begin to spiral out of control, and I begin to realize that I really can’t control every aspect of my fate — much to my increasing dismay. I’m positively a control-freak. I need a sense of order and control in my life to feel secure and stable. When the cosmos proves itself more powerful than me, I begin to crumble. I feel helpless, insecure, trapped, and incapable. Those feelings in turn are highly inconducive to progress. I also curse the name of Murphy at every chance I get — him and his stupid law.
How then does one regain a semblance of control over one’s life? Do we look around us for the answer, or is the answer we seek inside ourselves? Do we philosophically pour over books and materials focused on this subject? Do we meditate in total silence? Perhaps the answer lies within that “happy medium” that seems to pop up in every instance. Perhaps we must consider all possibilities — inside and out — in order to regain order. As for myself, pardon me while I attempt to pull myself back out of the rut.
