Treat Each One as though it Matters

Many people think they have a thousand chances to get it right -- rather than understanding that they have one chance to get it right, and when they do, may earn a thousand more chances -- further on in life, but if they get it wrong one time, may never have another chance.

That is the simple lesson of life -- that one earns all their future chances -- or may be eliminated entirely from the game of life by just the one bad choice.  So it behooves one to err on the side of caution and prudence -- rather than being overconfident that luck and God will always be on their side.  That's not how the game of life is played -- and plays out.  That's why it is often noted in a bad end, that Darwinism has once again proven itself -- as some survive, and many perish -- even at the same challenge.

The proper understanding, is not that one has a random chance of anything happening for them, but that each decision and choice, predetermines the next.  So even a baby step, well done, can lead to many others, and then, to a bigger step -- but one thinking only to make a giant leap without any practice, never learns how it is done.  Instead, they will think that it is sufficient -- just to imagine that success, and enjoy the fruits of victory -- without ever putting in the hard work to get anywhere.  Invariably, they think somebody else should do all the work -- but they should share equally with the fruits of that success -- equally, and even, a little more -- because they cannot do it for themselves.

The wise teacher would then offer to show them how it is done -- systematically and methodically -- so they can achieve it for themselves, as well as for others.
But unfortunately many, do not want to achieve it for themselves -- or any others, but are only interested if it is "free," and costs them no money, time or effort.    That is the world they were raised in -- and think explains everything -- that all that is required, is to press one's demand for an equal share -- regardless of their contribution.  In fact, often, they try to discourage everyone else in making those efforts --  as foolish because everyone is entitled to the same, in the end.  In such a world, nobody makes a difference -- and it is the same outcome, no matter what.

Of course, that's not the real world -- where everything makes a difference, and has significance -- though some argue mightily that nothing does, and nothing ever has.  Clearly that is a wrong understanding of effort -- and its ability to make a difference.  And for that reason, such people live in constant despair, hopelessness, and dysfunction.  Nothing seems to turn out right for them, and they have no idea why.  That is the mystical outlook -- that nothing happens for a reason, and there is no cause and effect relationship.  Bad things, as well as good things -- merely happen, and so life and its outcomes, are just one big crapshoot -- and one can waste all their chances, because it doesn't make a difference.

Contrast that with one who tries to do the best they can -- as though their very life depended on it -- and their future -- even the future of the whole species.  Meanwhile, the masses are merely preoccupied with where they stand in line for all the goodies.  Instead, they castigate those taking the risks and doing all the work to produce that bounty.

That is the groundwork for societies and conditions that don't work -- emerging on the fringes of societies to greater prominence, because societies cannot discriminate that essential difference.  Instead, they are totally self-absorbed in things that do not matter -- like whether they can control what others think of them.  That has become the major disease of these times -- that people want others to think of them as more important than they actually are.  So now, everyone is an award-winning something or other -- and is a major influencer on thought, even if they have nothing to say, or contribute.

They are totally delusional -- and simply become more so with age.  So is it any wonder that they become deranged and demented ultimately?  It is only revealed more clearly and obviously, because they become more helpless and unable to support themselves in their delusions of competency.  It may strike one at any age -- and some in the prime of their lives.  Most battle back, but some never do -- and just go completely off-track, into their own private worlds.  That is the darkness of mental illness -- that most are largely buffered from.

But as many more survive who in previous times would have perished, that population becomes naturally more evident -- with all its problems.  However, the road back is to get them to do one thing right -- and then another.  That is the essential skill-building exercise one needs to grow stronger and more competent.  That should be encouraged -- and not vilified.   The answer is not how much more others can do for them, but how much they can do for themselves -- and are given those opportunities.

Basic hygiene and self-care, are primary skills -- even in the apes and other animals.  That keeps them healthy and competent -- beyond any other.  If all they do is look very good, they are well on their way to restoring a mainstream life.  Mere appearance is the objective -- actually manifested, and not just trying to convince others of that competence and ability.  That is not superficial -- but the actual -- particularly as people get older and care less and less about those things.  The person who at 100 still looks good, has achieved something everybody else has failed at.

Many simply give up trying -- altogether, and those who should know better, think it shouldn't matter.  But otherwise, there is no measure by which to shoot for -- and verify their progress.  A person who is just expected to get worse, will most assuredly do so -- because there is no standard for achievement and distinction.  Many cannot take care of the basics of their own hygiene, and are not expected to do so.  They simply require caregivers to do it for them.  Predictably, they lose those capacities -- and capabilities, and go on that way for years.

Those insisting on maintaining their own competence in self-care -- are admonished from doing so.  That is what the professionals of every stripe are for.