Devil’s Alternative a God-Send
“The blows that a life of self-control
Spares to strike for the common good,
That day, giving a loose to my soul,
I spent on the unimportant wood.”
“Two Tramps in Mud Time” by Robert Frost
Adding insult (chopping wood) to injury (a bruised psyche), Frost experiences an otherwise elusive freedom, peace and exhilaration.
Dateline November 3, 2011 “Dear Abby”
A contributor writes that her daughter, who hated practicing piano, had a major change of heart on being given the “Devil’s Alternative” ultimatum of doing “chores” or practicing piano.
During an extremely busy time in my life, I faced two “inconvenient truths”: The shower needed cleaned and I wasn’t getting any exercise. So I constructed a “Devil’s Alternative”: Any day I didn’t exercise, I would have to clean the shower. I began getting a truck-load of exercise! Ultimately, the shower got so bad I couldn’t take it anymore. But, rather than eliminate the exercise, I finally carved out a Saturday morning and completed the dirty deed.
One could do worse.
“Pessimism is more soundly based than optimism. Left untended, things will get worse! Our job is to keep them from becoming so to the best of our ability with everything that’s in us.”
Lewis Kelly
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