“Life is simple. You just have to stop trying to figure it out.” Marty Rubin
Question: What do you do with a blue monster?
Answer: Cheer him up!
This is one of my favorite jokes, told to me over 30 years ago. Obviously, I’ve never forgotten it.
Why? Because it cheers me up every time, even when I’m not blue. And because it reminds me how easy it is to make things far more complicated than they really are. After all, the answer is pretty obvious, isn’t it? It’s not a trick question. But I’ve never found a single person who could answer it.
Muhammad Yunus said, “Things are never as complicated as they seem. It’s only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems.”
I have a tendency to overcomplicate things. I like to think it’s due to my natural ability as a project manager, rather than arrogance. However, I’m pretty sure there’s a healthy dose of that character flaw mixed in as well.
Once, I took one of those Facebook quizzes to determine what type of “seeker” I am. My results showed that I’m a seeker of knowledge, that I need to know all answers to everything NOW.
I already knew this about me.
One other thing I already know is that, when we pass over to the Other Side, we will have access to the Akashic Records, which can be equated to the universe’s supercomputer system. This system is the central storehouse of all information for every individual who has ever lived upon the earth. More than just a reservoir of events, the Akashic Records contain every deed, word, feeling, thought, and intent that has ever occurred at any time in the history of the world.
As a seeker of knowledge, I’m really looking forward to browsing this cosmic supercomputer because I have more than a few questions. And I need answers, especially to life’s more complicated problems.
However, I must admit that there are times when I’d like to know the answer to some great mystery that I’m witnessing NOW. Not only am I arrogant, I’m also impatient. So given that I plan on living many more years, and given that I’m a seeker of all knowledge, I’m afraid there are times when I can’t wait that long for the answer.
Take, for example, someone who drives well below the speed limit on a road with no passing lanes, but plenty of places to pull over—and a string of cars have piled up behind, whose drivers are praying that the person will suddenly become enlightened, look in the rearview mirror, see all of us behind, and courteously PULL OVER.
These are times when I want to follow the person until they finally do pull over somewhere and get out of their car. I want to go up to that person and say, “I believe that the Akashic Records will be open to us, and I will know the mysteries of all things when I pass over. But, I’m afraid I can’t wait that long. So let me ask you this: Why didn’t you pull over?”
This doesn’t seem like a trick question, either. Perhaps some darker force is at work here? Somehow I doubt it.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth said, “I have a simple philosophy: Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. Scratch where it itches.”
I might add, pull over when you’re holding everyone up. Seems pretty simple.
And, don’t forget: the next blue monster you run into, just remember to cheer him up!