Assume It's You

Fate is not a fun concept for a control freak like me.  The idea that something is “meant to be” makes me feel helpless. So like all other unappealing concepts, I’ve simply chosen not to believe in it. 

But maybe it’s time to reconsider. 

On Monday, I was walking my dog and baby in our neighborhood in Rockford, and I came upon the remnants of what I presume was a late-night party by a bunch of teenagers. (I remember those glory days: couple friends, couple cans of something, couple hours in a yard.) Anyway, I walked past the cans, wishing the kids wouldn’t have littered, figuring the owner of that yard would pick up the junk. 

Then I stopped. 

How many more people would see those cans and wish the litter wasn’t there?  How many more days would those cans sit there before the right person picked them up? Then the bigger question… 

What if no one else will ever pick them up, and I was the right person for the job all along? 

This idea puts a totally different spin on the fate concept, one that I can get behind. Maybe fate is just a presentation of correct situations.  And the sheer fact that we’re alive and in that situation makes us responsible for the outcome.  We don’t have to be good at a job to do it.  We just have to get it done.  

This concept is the opposite of helplessness; it’s empowerment. 

Needless to say, I decided that I was the right one all along. Adios, cans. 

When I think back on my life, I’ve been relatively ‘unfit’ to do everything I’ve ever done.  I’m not exactly a master at anything.  I don’t have ample experience in a field of study.  Still, Emily Hurd—average living person extraordinaire—is managing to take responsibility for a lot of things.  I rescued a dog with no dog experience.  I bought a historic building with no construction sensibilities whatsoever.  Why? 

Because I assumed I was the right person to do it. 

Reader, I’m off to grab the rest of this gorgeous spring day, and I hope you’re able to do the same. Wishing you your own feelings of empowerment during the week ahead. See you next Sunday. -Em

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