Everything's Eventualism

Editor's Clarification: Okay, because of a post made a few weeks back, some may have drawn wrong conclusions about my mostly imaginary relationship with a certain obscure talk show host/icon. For all records, I like Oprah. I really do. She's compassionate, enthusiastic and purpose-driven. I merely, for sake of my own amusement (It's funny...to me.), pointed out some peeves I have with the show. (And yes, I do have a lotta peeves about a lotta things. Nahhhh. *sticking my tongue out*) The point of the post was to ridicule The Secret. Mission accomplished. I'm going to go take off my Navy flight suit now. Uh....strategery. Yeah. On to the topic of the hour.

Alrighty. Eventualism. I stole the term from a Soderbergh movie called Schizopolis. It's used as a parody of "religions" like Scientology. Well, with all apologies to Steven, I'm totally stealing the term for a definition (redefinition?) that better suits me. (Hey, it is my blog so it can be ALL about me. Heh heh.)

There is a movement afoot in America. It involves purple bracelets (purple?!) and a solemn vow to not complain for like eternity. I found out about this on you-know-whose talk show. It was started by a preacher and kinda took off. Now one quote stuck with me from this show that set alarms off in my head and unloosed a frantic robot in my brain shouting "DANGER WILL HANKINSON! DANGER!" Okay, it didn't actually say that but you get the picture. The preacher said that "complaining is a bad habit that stems from people wanting things to be different." This is paraphrased but the meaning is intact. For us simple country folk, what he is saying is that we should accept things just like they are and not "complain" in hope of eliciting change. Complacency anyone?

Simple truth: change happens all the time. From weather, to our bodies, to places, to all things great and small. I'm asserting a viewpoint that now is a culmination of all thens and the future is a hope pulling us forward, ultimately fulfilled when we accept change and react to it ethically in the successive series of nows. Eventualism. Now, I may have just caused aneurysms in some people and I believe I'm suffering one myself having just written this. Basically change is the natural state of existence, we must accept that and attempt to be ethical beings regardless because it's the only path to a worthwhile future for ourselves and humanity in general. Eventualism. There, I tried it again.

Now that we all have regained consciousness from our blown-brain moment, I can explain the difficulty with living eventualistically. Simply put, in some cases, change hurts. Badly. Our bodies and minds break with illness, people we love live and die and emerge and vanish, the stability we've created in our lives can be erased at the whim of natural occurence. It's life. Some attempt to run from change and the associated pain. Blaise Pascal says in his Pensées that if we didn't move, chance, risk or act, we could avoid the pain of life. So, if we become turnips life would be ducky. Not practical. We cannot refuse to move because there might be pain. We also cannot run from existential pain because it will hunt us down and try to break us. I know of what I speak. I've been prey before. As hard as it is (but hey, it sounds easy), we must walk through. Accept the pain as the natural price for living a full, glorious life. For the Runners who read this, you cause yourself more pain than any person should bear. At some point of wisdom, you will realize this and truth will reveal itself in all clarity. For all who read this, I send peace, empathy but mostly hope. Never give in, never fade away. All things pass and everything is eventual.