It's All Good

Language can be a virus. Words are communicated through the population from one person to the next, and phrases are constructed, ever mutating and recombining to suit the occasion. Much of the time phrases are ephemeral, returning to the linguistic soup from which new phrases will give birth. However, now and again, one of these alchemies will spark contagion and suddenly you hear it everywhere.

I am hearing this everywhere: “It is what it is.” As in, “The situation is out of my control and there is nothing I can do to change it.” Que sera sera, without the good humor. It is a statement of resignation, and an implication that it’s just not worth the energy. What a downer. What ever happened to “Don’t worry be happy”? Or the more recent “It’s all good”?

Is this a slogan of our times? I wonder. It renders us powerless. It says, “It doesn’t matter what I think about it because I can’t do anything about it anyway.” It implies that we are just pawns in the hands of the universe, waiting to be swallowed by a cosmic tidal wave. Now don’t get me wrong, I am quite acquainted with the white water of life’s rapids. I know there are things we can’t control; we are faced with challenges every day. The difference between “It is what it is” and “It’s all good” is perspective.

Life gives you what it gives you, and then you have a choice. You can cry about it and get angry. You can stay there, helpless, dwelling and wallowing. You can sit in it, marinating forever. Or you can move through it. You can look at it (go ahead and cry too. get mad and feel helpless… then stop), and see the opportunity that has been offered. With every challenge is an opportunity to grow. Every single challenge is an opportunity for growth.

So don’t stand still. Grow. Move. Be uncomfortable. Dig your hands in. Get dirty. You aren’t helpless. Empower yourself. There is always forward. Life throws curveballs. Hit them! See what happens. Whatever. No worries. It’s all good.