How To Deal

This is the first article in an editorial series I plan on publishing in a book dealing with different aspects of society (especially life and relationships).  All articles in this series are factual, with names changed.  No non-fiction here.       

              Betty and Sue can be found shooting the breeze together every Tuesday and Thursday.  From 10 to 11:30am (and long after I’m sure) Betty and Sue sit on the same bench outside the same building discussing the same subject: life.  Legs crossed, cigarettes in hand, these two ladies do no more than recall the miniscule adventures of everyday life in hopes of leaving this world behind.  I never linger very long for fear of becoming another participant in their “This Is My Life And I Just Want To Talk About It” series.  I do, however, pick up enough dialogue to raise some interesting questions.
         Is life so blatantly present that there is no escape from it?  If that is the case, why do people spend thousands of dollars every year to go on exotic vacations specifically designed to steal us away from the mundane?  Considering that life is our circumstance, are the escapes we do get just a tease, or are they major accomplishments?  Betty and Sue have come to the realization that the only way to avoid life is to constantly talk about it.  Betty explains how higher gas prices have driven her to shop closer to home, and therefore sacrifice quality goods for quality timing.  Sue complains that her new sweater shrank in the dryer, an obvious attempt by The Man to profit by forcing her to purchase another sweater.  The conversation rolls on with like and little stories taking their turn in the proverbial spotlight.  As much as these two have invested in this theory, are they right?
         Are we—the citizens of a consumer driven society—so infected with life that the only cure is to totally immerse ourselves in it?  To protect the immune system from the flu, doctors give shot containing the flu so that the body will learn to fend it off.  Is life akin to a flu shot?  Is the only way to experience less to inject ourselves with more?  I beg to differ.
           I prefer to live by what I call the “Live life or it will live you theory”.  Why sit around discussing life when you can live it?  Believe it or not, life does give us a choice.  We can either face the music or sit idly by.  Dance or sit it out.  Get in the game or sit on the bench. The metaphors go on.  The point is, people have a choice as to whether life controls them or they control life.  When circumstances are not in your favor, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!  By taking action you can take back your life.  How do you that?  That, my friends, is entirely up to you.  You choose the path you venture down.  Take on life in your own way, just as long as you do so with style.