New Year's Eve

Beating the Odds

“Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.”

Soren Kierkegaard

I overheard a conversation in the grocery store check-out line yesterday. Two young people talked about their work schedules. One of them tends bar in a part of Birmingham known as Lakeview, which is essentially composed of restaurants and bars with nary a lake in view anywhere. That's always been a curiosity to me. The young bartender lamented the coming of New Year's eve and the always excessive and outrageous drinking that goes on at his business. Now, one would think this would be good news for a bartender, but apparently this young man has a conscience. The cashier he spoke with said she would pray for him, and it sounded sincere, not cliche. I thought, “What an unusual conversation for two twenty-somethings to have!”

It's always encouraging to me to hear wisdom coming from the mouths of babes. I remember myself in my twenties and, believe me, there was no wisdom there. I feel a little safer having encountered these two. Truth be told, the number one cause of death in people their age is accidents, and a very high percentage of those involve drugs and alcohol. When one's dominant thoughts center around “having a ripping good time,” there's a good possibility of becoming a statistic.

Life is a mirror. What we think, what we believe, generates energy that draws that reality to us. In other words, we see what we believe to be real reflected in our everyday lives. This New Year's eve will sort out those who believe that having fun requires large quantities of alcohol, and those who don't. Some of those who do, will not be around to enjoy 2015. But I like the odds for the two young people whose conversation I overheard.

                                                                      In the Spirit,

                                                                          Jane