Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da

Anyone with half a brain or at the very least, minuscule if not microscopic appreciation of true and great music made by bands like the Beatles should know that whenever someone says "Obla-Di, Obla-Da" the next thing you should say is "life goes on bra" okay, maybe not the "bra" part (stop snickering you sick perverts, it's JAMAICAN SLANG!). But if you fail to at the very least, mention that mentally, then you need to get up, go out, find a Beatles CD or go to your friggin' iTunes store and get this song, IMMEDIATELY. After that, you listen to it, listen with GREAT VIGOR mind you, and memorize that part. As for those young whippersnappers who think that Coldplay or The Script are the "shiznit" and think this isn't worth your time, you can go right ahead and to get off my fucking lawn.


Still there? Good. Congratulations, your taste in music isn't as bad. You somehow recognize, as the late great Beatle John Lennon calls it, "Paul (McCartney)'s Granny shit" as a classic. This upbeat song about happy little Desmond and Molly Jones and their happily ever after may be considered inspirational, probably why Lennon proceeded to call it "granny shit". As life goes on, no pun intended, the expression Ob-la-Di, Obla-Da became a defeatist statement. To paraphrase The Urban Dictionary, "What you say or say to somebody in the event of misfortune as to let is slide so to speak".

Frankly, we should all learn to say this phrase more. Life is nothing but a blind stumble through a dark corridor and the light at the end of the tunnel is death. Along the way we go through many doors that just still end up going back to that dark corridor. But each door represents the situations, the milestones of our lives. Whether good or bad, we can never go back through the same door again. So why get so bummed out about it? Get up, function, suck it up and move on. As cliche as it sounds, life waits for no one, and it will go on with or without you.

That doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't look back. Oh do so in your own good time if it helps remind you of the ass kicking the Universe decided to give you as a lesson, go right ahead. But never, ever, give that harlot the satisfaction of seeing you bleed to death all over it. If you do, I promise you you'll be missing a lot. So, there, Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, as the Yoruba like to say, life goes on bra.

Friday, April 17, 2009

On Possibilities, Risks and Apologies

Life is full of possibilities.

But possibilities aren't always positive. See, we miss that little detail, the fine print so to speak. Blinded by that ignorance, we blame fortune, ourselves or whoever it is the reminds of that small and often overlooked disclaimer. But hey, we should know better right?

Who dares, wins, that's what the Aussies say. Face it, we won't go anywhere if we don't gamble. The idea of winning big and getting lucky is so appealing that we forget the definition of risking and gambling. Odds aren't always in our favor and more often or not, stacked against us.

What comes after is a negativity that we may carry on longer than we should. Someone once told me that real pain lasts only 12 minutes, the rest self-inflicted. Bullshit? No. Truth. What hurts the most is we knew better, we saw it coming and we knew that probabilities were against us. Yet here we are, broken down, downtrodden and in misery. Tough. That's life, that's how it is, no choice but to accept and suck it up champ.

But what if we succeed? Everything is forgotten and forgiven right? That's just wrong. We fail to realize that we still lost something in the process. Alienated people perhaps, maybe even lost someone's trust. Stepping on people and mowing down obstacles in our way, we lost sight of those who supported us, got our backs and called us friend. Maybe they're right, and they're better off, after all, what kind of idiot does that?

It is even doubly possible that we burn all these bridges and in turn still fail at the objective. Who then shall be there when we fall? There are no excuses, fix what needs to be fixed or accept that we screwed up big time. Then stop, say "Thank You", because even at the tail end, these people were there for you and looked out for you. Get your head out of your ass and at least acknowledge that.

Remember what is possible, what is worth risking and apologize sincerely for our trespasses. After that, just hope for the best, but expect the worst.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

3:16

A man gives up his life so that millions' sins would be forgiven. What does that mean really?

Christianity has told the story countless times, focusing how the sacrifice of this man, who was the son of a god and, bizarrely the very god himself, saved us from our trespasses. John 3:16 goes with the ever memorable "For God so loved the world, He gave us his only son." It seems most of my fellow Christians memorize this scene by heart and yet fail to see how significant this alleged deicide, if one could even call it that, he did take up a mortal coil after all, and miss the underlying message (at least to me) of it all.

Whether or not you believe in the Christian Doctrine, or the Catholic Church or it's many variations, the crucifixion story lends wisdom, albeit an ideal one. Even the godless heathens, the agnostic and those of atheistic tendencies could learn from such melodrama. It's not a story of sacrifice personally, but a culmination of what the man, Jesus Christ stands for. That he was just that, a man (be it true that he was the spawn of a divine being or not) and very much like us. He was subject to the frailty of humanity, the faults and the glory that goes with our very existence. A man who inspired by spreading belief/lies to people who desperately need to hold on to something–faith, hope, illusions. He proved that one man can make a difference, for whatever those reasons and what the difference is is subject to our own personal interpretations.

More importantly, the entirety of his life wasn't just performing miracles or preaching life lessons to the people, but showing us that a man can be good. That with faith, and love, any man or woman can strive to be better than what is expected of him or her. That, to me, was what Jesus Christ represented. Either as a true-to-life inspiration or a lovable character of a story of fiction, he was for all intents and purposes, good, but human, meaning we too, can follow his example.

Yes one could say it's easier to put in a story, but if the idea exists, then perhaps the possibility does as well. After all, what else can change the very nature of a man (or woman) but ideas?