Life isn’t fair. We know this. We know this every single day. As we know that the sun will come up and go down. Good things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people. Justice is rarely swift, nor is it blind.
The cards are stacked against you, either by the design of greedy people who think they control the universe or the unknown mystery of fate which does. There’s no escape for any of us.
Some days the weight of it all gets you down. And so defeated, you trudge home miserable and alone. Maybe you open a bottle a wine because a drink or two helps make the world a little less sharp. Exhausted and heart sick you retreat into the arms of Morpheus, wanting to stay safely asleep forever.
If you’re lucky, the miracle of sleep scours the pain away and in the morning light it’s dulled enough for you to restart the fight. If you’re not, then it lasts for days, walking around with you like your shadow self. Until a flower or a bird, a friend or a cat (or a friend with a cat) somehow crumples it, making it small and manageable again.
And when it is only a dull ache, you find hope again. And it’s equally foolish friend, empathy. They warm you and make you laugh; making the world full of light and wonder.
Hope makes you believe that it’s glittery promises of something better can be reached if you just try. So bright does it shine, that like a siren you cannot resist, and must move towards it, though something better is eternally one step away.
Empathy hurts and groans, as we all hurt and groan. We fail in empathy and feel the burn of it for others. The burning makes you angry that such unfairness can exist. And it compels to try and do something (anything!), to fight back against a loaded system, push the line slightly closer to the light.
And you relish the small victories. Because there are only small victories. A tiny shift happens every time you act against the unfairness. The ultimate win maybe not be yours but that’s not the point. It’s about standing up for what is right; about not letting the things get away unchallenged.
You feel sometimes that you are fighting alone, like a row boat against the power of a hurricane. But if you lift your head and look around, or call out, you see others fighting too. And as one becomes many, the line shifts closer, ever closer.
Life isn’t fair. You know this. But you even as you know it, you must also believe you can change things. So you stand up, fight, then fall, and then return again, in an endless cycle. You do so because it’s worth it, for the dream of what is good and fair and right, and for other people – even complete strangers. This is the point of life and it’s everything.