Last night, when Bella and I got Chinese, I got two fortune cookies.
I ate the first right after dinner. I was laughing because my cookie actually had two fortunes inside. My future was FULL of possibilities! 🤣
Later, I ate the second cookie.
It had no fortune.
My immediate thought was, “Ouch. Are you saying I have no future?” (Obviously I was joking because fortune cookies are just a game, but still…ouch. 🤣)
A few moments later, though, I realized something.
An hour earlier, I’d gotten two fortunes.
It had already evened itself out.
That’s a funny thing about being human.
We react to the most recent event.
We rarely give the previous one the same consideration.
A bad day gets the focus, even after an amazing vacation. A rough morning overshadows the compliment we received yesterday. One disappointment can drown out a dozen quiet victories.
We don’t instinctively step back and think, “Eh. It evened out.”
Instead, we think, “Damn. Today sucked.”
Maybe life doesn’t always even itself out.
But I do wonder how much of our suffering comes from forgetting to count yesterday’s joy because today’s disappointment feels louder.
Maybe we don’t need life to be perfectly balanced.
Maybe we just need to remember the first fortune before we let the second one convince us it was the only fortune.
*Jazz Hands* Mom 