The Matched Set

Sometimes, we look at our life with certainties in mind. I am sure my trip to the ballpark this weekend is going to be a lot of fun. I am confident our friendship will last forever. I am really looking forward to getting that new computer next summer. We all have both tangibles and intangibles that we count on, and we believe they will always be there.

Yet sometimes, we are cruelly reminded how uncertain and occasionally cruel life can be. Unexpected events can make our most significant dreams become lost and scattered on the winds of fate. These catastrophes will shake us to our core and leave us with massive empty gaps where happiness used to live.

For a time, it will feel that we have absolutely lost everything. And yet, as time goes on, we will find our way to pick up the pieces and once again move forward. No one can claim that this path is not hard, the fruits are bitter, and the roads jagged. Yet as we move forward, we find that our total gloom and darkness will start to ease. The mercy of distance in time will help us find a new norm where our loving past is remembered, and new opportunities exist.

We do not know what or when, how or why, only that life holds uncertainties that we do not expect, will not understand, and wish very much we could live without. Unfortunately, if we live without the pain, we live without joy. We cannot forsake one for the other, they seem to be a matched set.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof