Funny thing happened on the way to........

It's one of those things that happens from time to time.
Groups of like minded people tend to see the end result as THE unmissable opportunity and mess up any chance of getting to their goal by falling off a cliff on the journey.
Its easy to toss everything you believe in (in terms of how you live your lifef) and with an eye on the ultimate prize, behave in a manner less to do with what you believe in and more about everything you detest.
"At any cost" is the phrase that comes to mind.
You lose even if you win though it may take some time to realise that.
This applies to everything I think.
Sometimes a bit of shit in your life reminds you that there are bigger things to contemplate.
So the question then becomes..........
Are you going to stay the course?
And do so with the original inspiration driving you forward?
OR
Are you going to do that without reference to the reason you eyed the prize in the first place?
And become a sad little prick?
Hmmm.
Compassion is something we all need to keep us in check.
Not easy I grant you.
If you're like me you need a sharp stick in the eye to remind you that those suffering around you aren't all lazy lay-about free loaders.
Or worse yet.....people who deserve what they get.
People rarely deserve what they get at either end of the spectrum.
There's no Karma or cosmic levelling of the ledger.
We all want to believe that but it's simply not borne out by the evidence before us.
It is what it is.
Bad stuff happens to good people.
Good stuff happens to bad people .
Vice versa both ways.
A little bit of shit in our lives tends to remind us of that.
I'm not talking about the fact that you can't slant the results in your favour.
Quitting smoking.......... drinking.
Doing the right thing as advised will make the result a better place for you at least.
However........and in addition...........
Whether you're gay, straight, Black, Brown, White, Born Again, left wing psycho or right wing wing-nut.
You have no lock on the truth or justice or whatever floats your boat.
Whether you're crazy or sane, you'll be right some of the time and wrong most of the time.
THERE IS SO MUCH YOU JUST DON'T KNOW.
The more I travel the more I realise how little I know.
All very heavy I know.
Let's understand one thing:
Trying to do the right thing is always right.
As long as "the right thing" means having compassion for others.
That seems to transcend the one issue politics many of us unconsciously adopt.
You do, just admit it, this will all be easier if you do!
Think about that for a moment.
Here's an example all you yanks will understand in your simple minded , "right or wrong" sort of way:
Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat;
Questioning Sarah Palin's Down syndrome baby (or who the real mother is) or her kid's pregnancy, or Barack's religion is the stuff of morons and people that none of you'd engage in.
But you do and you will continue to do so.
Just think about something in a tongue and cheek sort of way:
Its easy to judge and throw shit at someone.
Chances are some of it will stick.
No one is without flaws.
The point is to never adopt an all or nothing position.
"Israel right or wrong regardless" is always the route to backing a lame horse.
If using Israel as an example offends you, re-read the post.
Whether the horse wins or not is irrelevant.
Take it from a guy who keeps his job by winning every month in the most black and white terms.
Winning sometimes is losing if the end result isn't the right one.
The "right one" in terms of results brings us back to the point at the very beginning of the post.
That's the rub huh?
Love T