Tango on

If you are not religious, and don't believe that there is some greater power to draw on then unless you are stronger than anyone I have ever met you look elsewhere for support. We draw most of the strength we have from family, friends, colleagues and anyone else we spend lots of time with.

So we rely on empathy and stories. Metaphors. The problem is that life is so fuzzy, so grey, that no one can really understand exactly what we are going through, because each story is a little different. On top of that we can't understand it ourselves or be completely honest about things because it is so damn hard to articulate things that we can't even get it right in our own heads.

So as Al Pacino says in Scent of a Woman... 'If you get tangled up, tango on'. We just have to take snippets of what some of these people say, some of what we read, some of what we believe and just make an attempt to move forward.

Some people ask me when I mention my athiesm whether I don't think it is comforting to believe in a greater power that has our interests at heart. I do think that. I just don't think it is true, which means that in order to gain that comfort you would need to convince yourself to believe something you don't believe. Like convincing yourself because of Pascal's wager even if you don't believe.

On the other hand though... I think there is another source of comfort. One that I can bank on. The fact that large parts of the world are completely random and can not be controlled no matter what I do. But... large parts are within my control. And I have some great friends and family to help me when I don't have the strength I need. Even when the stories they tell don't quite capture everything. Even if I know that full well.

Action matters. We can do something to change some things.