As Luck Would Have It
16/12/20 07:15
Seriously, folks. Who doesn't believe in guardian angels? I can't remember when I first started asking for favors or a little help for this or that. Having gone to parochial school as a youth, I wasn't above asking for a bit of divine intervention in a pinch. It never became an obsession and I never thought for a minute that I was tapping into anything malevolent. We've all heard the stories about the Ouija boards and the favors asked of spirits not yet passed. This isn't that.
Much in the way that certain numbers seem to have some sway in my life, the same is true for certain spirits that I call upon from time to time. It's probably not much more than wishful thinking on my part, but the frequency with which my wishes are and have been granted suggest something more. I used to think that I had certain loved ones who had passed and who were looking down from above and who were quick with a wink and a nod but, when it came to granting favors, not so much.
We're not talking about wanting to change the trajectory of a major snow storms or wanting to have unimaginable wealth here. Asking for too much has not ever worked very well for me. Maybe I learned that early on and I am now hard pressed to even imagine what I might have wished for back in the day. It was likely folly at the time and I would more than likely consider it folly if I could remember what it was as I sit here today.
Knowing full well that they would never be there for me with the big asks, I've learned to make my own good fortune and that in itself has served me well. Going it alone has its own rewards as anyone who has learned from their own mistakes will tell you. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for the small stuff too. That's where my guardian angel or angels really shine. That's good because that is where I've really needed them to shine.
If I had to guess, and if we're going to use Jimmy Stewart and the "It's a Wonderful Life" movie as a backdrop, I can safely say that my angel or angels have definitely not gotten their wings. How else do I account for the splendor, or lack thereof, of their beneficence? Perhaps this says more about where I am on the spiritual continuum than it does about the level of heavenly largesse afforded to me however miniscule.
Like I said, I'm grateful for the smallest or most insignificant of favors granted. Do I think for a moment that if I do not show my appreciation with a tip of the hat or other that I will likely not find favor again anytime soon? That would take an especially small-minded angel or group of angels and I've not experienced that myself. They are there for me irrespective of any small demonstration of appreciation that I may or may not care to express.
Make no mistake about it. I'm all in when the time comes to ask for something. I know by now how it works. And then there are times like today when despite my not making a request I found what I was looking for against all odds. Some might consider what happened to me today to be, well, serendipitous. I wasn't expecting to find something yet I went looking for it nonetheless. Remarkably, I was able to find exactly what I was looking for even though the likelihood of my finding it was next to zero. There they are again with a wink and a nod.
Having forgotten to make a request should tell you something about the frequency with which I reach out to these heavenly grantors of all things frivolous. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome or make a nuisance of myself. I also might well find that with more requests there might well be fewer deliveries for lack of a better term. This would invariably chip away at the myth and bring it all crashing back to earth. This is not a world I want to live in.
What if there really is no external force at play here? What if without me, they are nothing? What if without them, I am nothing? Even scarier, what if we're one in the same? Should I worry that even asking the question will displease them one way or another? How exactly would they express that displeasure? Maybe by granting fewer wishes?
Just so you know, there is no running dialogue between us. I never even ask the question "why" when my requests go unanswered. I just figure they have their reasons and those reasons may or may not have anything to do with me or my specific request. Knowing what I know about the parameters available to me in the miracle-making realm, I'm careful not to ask for that which I know they cannot, will not, and will probably never deliver. It's a face saving gesture on my part really. You never want to deliberately set yourself up for failure. Right?
I would entertain a change of tactics if I thought it would improve my chances of getting bigger and better asks. Wouldn't having the services of an angel with wings be better than having the services of an angel without wings? You betcha!
Maybe I should have considered this strategy sooner. I've been such a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy when it comes to this sort of thing that I've probably not been doing myself or my celestial partners any favors all these years by not pushing the envelope. We're both old dogs now hamstrung with the same old tired tricks we learned long ago. That's just a fact.
Much in the way that certain numbers seem to have some sway in my life, the same is true for certain spirits that I call upon from time to time. It's probably not much more than wishful thinking on my part, but the frequency with which my wishes are and have been granted suggest something more. I used to think that I had certain loved ones who had passed and who were looking down from above and who were quick with a wink and a nod but, when it came to granting favors, not so much.
We're not talking about wanting to change the trajectory of a major snow storms or wanting to have unimaginable wealth here. Asking for too much has not ever worked very well for me. Maybe I learned that early on and I am now hard pressed to even imagine what I might have wished for back in the day. It was likely folly at the time and I would more than likely consider it folly if I could remember what it was as I sit here today.
Knowing full well that they would never be there for me with the big asks, I've learned to make my own good fortune and that in itself has served me well. Going it alone has its own rewards as anyone who has learned from their own mistakes will tell you. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for the small stuff too. That's where my guardian angel or angels really shine. That's good because that is where I've really needed them to shine.
If I had to guess, and if we're going to use Jimmy Stewart and the "It's a Wonderful Life" movie as a backdrop, I can safely say that my angel or angels have definitely not gotten their wings. How else do I account for the splendor, or lack thereof, of their beneficence? Perhaps this says more about where I am on the spiritual continuum than it does about the level of heavenly largesse afforded to me however miniscule.
Like I said, I'm grateful for the smallest or most insignificant of favors granted. Do I think for a moment that if I do not show my appreciation with a tip of the hat or other that I will likely not find favor again anytime soon? That would take an especially small-minded angel or group of angels and I've not experienced that myself. They are there for me irrespective of any small demonstration of appreciation that I may or may not care to express.
Make no mistake about it. I'm all in when the time comes to ask for something. I know by now how it works. And then there are times like today when despite my not making a request I found what I was looking for against all odds. Some might consider what happened to me today to be, well, serendipitous. I wasn't expecting to find something yet I went looking for it nonetheless. Remarkably, I was able to find exactly what I was looking for even though the likelihood of my finding it was next to zero. There they are again with a wink and a nod.
Having forgotten to make a request should tell you something about the frequency with which I reach out to these heavenly grantors of all things frivolous. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome or make a nuisance of myself. I also might well find that with more requests there might well be fewer deliveries for lack of a better term. This would invariably chip away at the myth and bring it all crashing back to earth. This is not a world I want to live in.
What if there really is no external force at play here? What if without me, they are nothing? What if without them, I am nothing? Even scarier, what if we're one in the same? Should I worry that even asking the question will displease them one way or another? How exactly would they express that displeasure? Maybe by granting fewer wishes?
Just so you know, there is no running dialogue between us. I never even ask the question "why" when my requests go unanswered. I just figure they have their reasons and those reasons may or may not have anything to do with me or my specific request. Knowing what I know about the parameters available to me in the miracle-making realm, I'm careful not to ask for that which I know they cannot, will not, and will probably never deliver. It's a face saving gesture on my part really. You never want to deliberately set yourself up for failure. Right?
I would entertain a change of tactics if I thought it would improve my chances of getting bigger and better asks. Wouldn't having the services of an angel with wings be better than having the services of an angel without wings? You betcha!
Maybe I should have considered this strategy sooner. I've been such a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy when it comes to this sort of thing that I've probably not been doing myself or my celestial partners any favors all these years by not pushing the envelope. We're both old dogs now hamstrung with the same old tired tricks we learned long ago. That's just a fact.