Slices of Life

By: Jill Pertler

In simple terms, life can be summed up as moments of “good news” and “bad news.” I’ve come to believe it’s best to embrace both: the good and the bad because each makes us who we are. Each molds us. Each helps us grow as we are supposed to, meant to, during our time here on this earth.

Embrace the positive and negative just as surely as you embrace those you love. (And I hope you do that often.)

The good news: You were born.

The bad news: You will die (or maybe that’s good news also; we shall see.)

All the rest is made up of the middle, good and bad.

Today was no different. I struggled with an issue with my car. I am traveling across the country and hoped, believed and wanted my vehicle to run consistently. This morning, 600 miles into the trip, it refused to run at all. I guess that’s the bad news. Or at least the first rendition of it.

The good news: I found a mechanic who was willing to do a diagnostic on my car first thing this morning.

The bad news: I had a dead battery that wouldn’t hold a charge.

The good news: The mechanic was able to put in a new battery – today.

The bad news: The battery was only the tip of the iceberg. I had another major repair in need of repairing. This involved something called a turbocharger, which I never knew existed – before today.

The good news: New knowledge about the inner workings of my automobile is power.

The bad news: The turbocharger in question is an expensive repair. Ka-ching!

The good news (perhaps the best of the day): The mechanic looked up the specifics about my car and I had three days (only three!) left on the manufacturer’s warranty on my vehicle. The turbo expense was covered by warranty. Ka-happy!

The bad news: The nice mechanic wasn’t able to replace my turbo-thingy because it had to be done by a certified dealership.

The good news: The nice mechanic told me which dealership to contact.

The bad news: The dealership couldn’t fit me in until two days later, extending my travel time.

The good news: I’m not on a tight schedule. I can afford an extra two travel days.

You see how it goes?

Good news followed by bad news followed by good news and so forth.

It’s a tightrope, a balancing act – and it’s all about perspective. It keeps us on our toes because life is not meant to be lived on autopilot. It is supposed to be experienced, every moment of every day – good and bad – eyes wide open.

We learn to walk. We fall down. We play with friends. They move away. We join the band. We are seated last chair. We flirt with someone in math class. They flirt with our best friend.

We graduate high school with honors. We are denied admittance to our first-choice college. We fall in love. We fall out of love. We find our dream job. Seven years later it’s no longer a dream.

We marry. The honeymoon ends. We have children. They grow up. Grandchildren follow and they provide a renewed purpose we didn’t know existed.

Health concerns hit, along with a diagnosis. This is followed by a remission and perhaps even a cure. Things slow down. Yet, we thrive despite not being as young as we once were. We lose friends, family and significant others to this thing called death.

We keep breathing. We mourn. We find yet a new way to live and laugh. We become more thoughtful. We become more grateful. We become more joyful. We grow wise. We come to understand we’ve always been wise.

We embrace love, in all its forms and realize it’s surrounded us our entire lives, despite our circumstance, status or temperament.

The good news: we are renewed, reborn, as has happened many times, throughout our lifetime.

More good news: this happens again with the entity we call death. It is but another rebirth. Another life. Another source of good news.

Embrace it as fully as you embrace one another. Because when you do, you will understand there can be no more bad news.

It’s all what you make of it.

And that’s my last piece of good news for the day.

Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright and author. Don’t miss a slice; follow the Slices of Life page on Facebook.