Dear children,

As I am midway through the 3rd phase of life, I feel compelled to write down the things I told you during my 21 years with you before you left my home to venture into the world. These short stories represent lessons I learned from my father, mother, friends, and books I read. Each story is meant to impart to you a guiding principle to lead your life—something for you to remember me by.

Love,

Dad

Introduction:

We often assume things are happening around us specifically to harm us or make us late. It is sometimes important to realize that the strongest physical force in the world is called entropy, the force that drives things apart and causes all organized things to ultimately become unorganized. You are an organized assembly of billions of cells. You are carefully put together into a human being. You spend your entire life fighting the force called entropy which seeks to disassemble you and return your ashes to the earth. For from dirt and ash did you come, and to dirt and ash you will one day return.

In life entropy has another name, it is called chaos or randomness.
It is calming for us to remember that more things happen in this life because of general randomness, then any particular design alighned against you specifically. The randomness and chaos of the world doesn't care about you. You are not important to it.

It's not always about you.

A teenager and his grandfather were stopped at a restaurant on a highway during a long trip. The teenager was tired and hungry. The restaurant was empty, but the sign on the front desk said, “Seat yourself, the waitress will be right with you.” So they entered, sat down at the first table, and watched the waitress, who was standing near the back talking to the cook. The two sat there for a few minutes, which felt like an hour to the teenager, who soon started complaining to his grandfather that the service was slow and that the waitress was ignoring them on purpose. The teenager’s frustration slowly simmered to a boil, and soon he was furious.

He was also very upset with his grandfather, who didn’t seem bothered at all by the poor service. His grandfather calmly asked him to relax, saying, "You don’t know what’s going on, and neither do I. But I assume there’s a good reason, and I am waiting patiently." The teenager began to think it was because the waitress didn’t like them and was purposely ignoring them. He stared at her, getting ready to yell the moment she arrived. The grandfather noticed his anger, calmly told him not to speak until he did, and insisted that the boy smile and be polite when the waitress came over.

When she arrived at their table, she apologized a dozen times. She hadn’t heard them come in, apologized again, and said she hoped they hadn’t waited long. The grandfather assured her they hadn’t been there long and that they were fine. He then asked her how she was doing and learned she had been up late the night before caring for her sick child. The waitress proceeded to take their orders and provided the best service they had ever experienced. The teenager felt sad when he learned about the waitress's sick child, and he felt deeply embarrassed.

He told his grandfather how much he admired his calmness and asked, "How can I be like you, Grandfather?" The reply was short and simple: "Just remember, it’s not always about you."

There are many reasons people may be late, rude, or in a hurry that stem from what’s going on in their lives. A spouse or child could be sick, they may have been fired, their car may have broken down on the way to work, or... the waitress simply may not have heard you come in.

Remember: "The most powerful phyical force in the world is Entropy. A better name is chaos or randomness. The world is filled with chaos and randomness. It’s not always about you."

✍️ Written by @shortsegments

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