Life is like playing the banjo...

From the Jack’s Winning Words Blog comes this sage bit of advice - “Life is like playing the banjo—just stick with it.” (Steve Martin). Jack put some more words with that Steve Martin quote to make it even more meaningful. A lot of jokes are made about banjo playing. Maybe that’s why Steve Martin put it into his comedy skits. I read about a lady who played the banjo with a violin bow and made it sound like a church organ. Sometimes life looks strange and weird, like a banjo. But, depending on how you play it, beautiful music can be heard. Stick with it.

Good advice in these times of financial turmoil. I suppose how we all react to and play out the situations that confront us now will determine whether we are happy or sad, joyous or mad. It would seem to be a waste of time and energy to get mad at things that we can’t change and sadness just leads down to depression, if we let it get out of hand; so it’s time to try to find things to be happy about and to try to lead as joyous a life as possible.

My wife and I take joy in a variety of little things, like going out 2-3 times a week to see if we can spot any deer. We seldom get skunked (no deer at all) on our outings and quite often will see 20-30 deer on an outing. Occasionally; however we spend the whole time looking and maybe only see 1-2 deer (or maybe none at all). Rather than wallow in disappointment, we remind ourselves that it’s the hunt for the deer, as much as seeing them that makes going out worthwhile. Carolyn often says, “If we wanted a guarantee that we’d see one, we could go to the zoo.” See what a Pollyanna I live with!
Now, obviously some things weigh heavier than others on all of us; and, the current economic situation is something that no amount of deer spotting will make go away or mask over. For those things having faith can be the difference between falling into despair or making it through the situation. There are all sorts of self-help and management books on coping with situations in life, but I’m sure that Jack would tell you that the one book you can always count on for help is the Bible.

So, I’ll keep plucking away on the banjo that is my life; hoping to occasionally make beautiful music, but mostly just keeping on keeping on. After all the alternative is infinitely more unattractive. Maybe I’ll try that violin bow thing and see if a change makes a difference.