Recently, I’ve been thinking about the bad things that happen, and how some people seem to cope better with the hard things in life. I remembered a book that I’d read many years ago, Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy! by Barbara Johnson. The full title is, “Pain is inevitable but MISERY IS OPTIONAL, so, Stick a Geranium…” I found it on the bookshelf, and sat down to re-read it. I loved the book when I read it, and it’s still an amazing read. Although it was published 35 years ago, it’s still very relevant to modern life. This poem, The Pit, from an unknown source, is on p14.
The Pit
A man fell into a pit and couldn’t get himself out.
A SUBJECTIVE person came along and said:
“I feel for you, down there.”
An OBJECTIVE person came along and said:
“It’s logical that someone would fall down there.”
A PHARISEE said:
“Only bad people fall into a pit.”
A MATHEMATICIAN
Calculated how he fell into the pit.
A NEWS REPORTER
Wanted the exclusive story on his pit.
A FUNDAMENTALIST SAID:
“You deserve your pit.”
An I.R.S. man
Asked if he was paying taxes on the pit.
A SELF-PITYING person said:
“You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen MY PIT!”
A CHARISMATIC said:
“Just confess that you’re not in a pit.”
An OPTIMIST said:
“Things could be worse.”
A PESSIMIST said:
“Things will get worse!”
JESUS, seeing the man, took him by the hand and LIFTED HIM OUT of the pit.
-Source Unknown
Bad things do happen. Life is filled with pain and sorrow. And sometimes it seems as if no one really cares about me and my troubles. I wrote about this in Does Anybody Really Care?
Now, having re-read Barbara Johnson’s book, ‘Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy!’ I think I’ll have a lot more to write on her theme, Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.
God bless!
Note:
I.R.S = Internal Revenue Service. In Australia, we’d say the A.T.O.