Monday, June 12, 2006

Swords Crossed

Today, I was alerted to the existence of an entity I had not previously considered real. The good problem. On the off chance you're reading this, you're probably thinking, what in the name of all that is good and holy is this person talking about? He, she, it, or they are off their rocker! While this may be true, the fact that I have been converted to belief in the good problem has nothing to do with it. A good problem is like a crossword puzzle or a sudoku, if you work it out, you have a sense of accomplishment, but if you don't, all you really lose is the sense of accomplishment, and possibly the time you spent trying to figure it out before giving up the ghost. The example given was the one used in the plotline of so many romantic stories either in writing, on the stage or on the silver screen. Boy meets girl. Does boy like girl, or is he just being friendly? For that matter, does girl like boy? You can probably guess where this is going, but think about it, either way, they win. Either they've found a friend, or a love interest. It's nothing to lose sleep over, although it can be fun to drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. I expect that's where 1 hour TV Dramas came from. In any case, that got me thinking about how many of the good problems in my life I've treated like bad problems, and therefore made bad problems. There have been a few of them, and I suspect I'd be a different person today than I am had I recognized good problems and treated them accordingly.

Lately I've been thinking about my favourite mistake a lot, and I'm not talking about the Sheryl Crow song, although I quite like it. I'm sure everyone's heard the broken-record speech about how life's about choices, and how there aren't any wrong ones, just the ones we make. See, they say that, but they'll never admit it after you've made the choice and it's not the one they wanted you to make. But that is a rant for another day. In any case, my favourite mistake is part a person I used to know, and part a mental insecurity I couldn't overcome. Anyways, I've been thinking about the situation a lot lately, and I'm not quite sure why. However, I do know, beyond a shaow of a doubt that if I had acted in a way that would have avoided making the situation a mistake, the person involved would relate to me differently now than they do presently. I try to avoid making regrets for myself, but this is one of the big ones. Mainly because this was at one point, the mother of all the good problems, but I treated it like the mother of all bad problems, and so here I am. Lately I've tried to talk to the person I used to know, and they've changed, or I have, or we both have. Granted, it's been a year and a half since we've looked each other in the face. Even so, I used to think we'd have the kind of friendship where we could just pick it up again after that long, or longer. I guess I was mistaken. It is my favourite mistake after all.

Keep dreaming

Daydream Believer