On Newton's Third Law.

Inspired by an old Facebook "note" I wrote back in 2010.

Who is it to say that you or I deserves anything or something? We have been taught to believe that when we do something, a certain effect must happen. The third law of Newton states that a certain force equals an opposite but equal force. Despite how we know this to be true in the physical world, how true is it in the intangible?

Is it that when we do a certain deed or act a particular way, we must await a certain reaction to our actions that compensate for it? For example, if I were to do something good, would I then have to believe that something good will return to me? Or vise versa, if I were to do something mean to another person, should I await the terrible consequence since it'll 'come back' to me in the end? The reasoning behind cause-and-effect bothers me. Frightens me, really. I hate to believe that what I do in the past will have a certain reprimand to it. People guise this as karma but that's not enough. Because the reality is, we've all fucked up at one point. And yet, despite those poor choices, we have been granted some break, some sort of grace from the universe - and even for us sometimes, a second/third/fourth/and counting..

Everything is not quid pro quo with the world. What are we to do then, if our world is so inconsistent? Maybe that's the beauty of it. The reality is, if we were truly 'awarded' for all the dings that we've created in the world, we would be screwed. We're aren't perfect. And because of that, to resolve the inevitable, what are we left with? To forgive and forget when we screw up - when others screw us over. Is that the force that we are supposed to reckon with? Reconciliation?

But Newton said, paraphrasing here, when something fucks you over, you push em right back. That's what the F's stand for, no? F = -F ... I wish I could. "Return to the favor" I never do. Unless I'm driving.. Because even after all that is said and done, particularly the situations I've had to deal with in the past months - whether it was the ex-boyfriend, or guys in between, or even worst, the one crossed the line - I'm still their friend. Seriously. Like I just had coffee with one of them the other day, sent an email to another. Oof and I'm sending back my ex-boyfriend's stuff that he left at my apartment on my bill, after he had left me for another girl. The hell is wrong with me? I actually still genuinely care for them. The hell. Even after all that. Shouldn't what they've done - cheated on me, stopped speaking to me, done things without my consent - come with much more heavier consequences? I should be the enforcer to this, hold back my time and my energy towards them. But I don't. I should equally hurt them as much as they hurt me. But I don't. Why would I provide not only my forgiveness but also a friendship to people who just don't care. About me. What does that say about me?  Am I the sucker, the pushover, the idiot? I would hate to think that this act of benevolence to forgive another makes me stupid. Vulnerable, yes. Stupid, no.

Forgiveness is the only compensation to our shortcomings. For others, for ourselves. Its like a hidden catalyst, a secret weapon in creating a swift, unpredictable change to our current predictable system. Much has happened in my life. Much. That required me to yield such regard. For my uncle, my grandfather, my 'friend' that went too far and most importantly, myself. Should we enjoy/fear what might happen to us because we 'deserved it'? Or do we hope to fall in this net of forgiveness? In the end I strongly believe there is only one option. I actually do not think that because I am willing to forgive others that I'm lame. I get it; it does make me defenseless against the dumb actions of others. Yet, I wouldn't have it any other way. I guess the reason I do this is, is because I know that I've messed up in the past and will continue to do so: act like a fool, fall on my words, regret my actions (goodness, I feel like that now). I just hope when it does, when I do mess up - someone will meet me with same amount of compassion along the way - not that I deserve it but because we all need it at many points in our lives. So, I guess in a way, it all does sort of balances each other out like Newt's said, when one force must equal another. Except this time, the "g" comes not from a direct recompense of equal malice but instead a place of kindness and compassion. That I can easily quite accept. Wouldn't you? A world balanced, grounded in much sweeter restitution. I most definitely would.

On Others-Love.

Promise, this is my 'last' entry on Love for awhile. I know I've hit my quota.. just bear with me on this last entry. The other possible title for this was, "On Two Kinds of People".

I spent way too much time trying to figure out what love is. Self love, value, etc. Yes, ad nauseum. I'd like to believe that the reason that I did so was because it was the month of February. A time of Love, VDay, and all that sweet, that nasty, that gushy stuff (Hova). The nice thing is that I figured out the answer to my riddle. From the voices that surround me, my family, my God. What is Self-Love. It is about awareness, acknowledgment, acceptance and anything else that seems to start with an "a". It is all those things and the ineffable. But the point of this entry that I'd like to focus now is, what is on the other end of the spectrum. The love for others. 

We are, as I see it and what I have been told, is made to love. We'd like to argue that we are also made to be loved but the only problem with that is that the latter is dependent on others. So what do you do? Continue on, as you were doing? What were you doing? Genuinely caring for others or sitting there, relishing in the idea that you are being loved by x, y, z people. Now, don't get me wrong, both things are good. To love and be loved are just glorious. They feel so good. And through our lives, we lie on different parts of this spectrum. Switching back and forth of giving and wanting adoration and attention. There are some, and at times it is our ownselves, that sit more towards one end than the other. And the problem is, the crux of the conflict is, when the person that loves to give gives to another that simply loves to receive. 

My aunt told me that there are two kinds of people in this world: those that offer their love and those that only want to receive love. But if love is an honest exchange, an equal transfer of one self to another. Wouldn't this ability to love serve its own purpose? That by loving others we in turn fulfill the need to be loved. This global symbiotic relationship. And yet, what would we do if the world was filled with only those that want to be loved. What happens then? Major fail. 

Now I'm not saying go whore out on the world and love everyone. The reality is, not everyone deserves you. Because. There are those that will extract every part of you, given the opportunity to do so, because they want that thing from you. Not you. But that something you can give them, that thing you offer them so willingly. Whether it is their ego stroked or a pat on their back. The hand is far more important to them, than the face of the person before them. So, be selective. Because when you decide to love another, as a friend - as an acquaintance - as a lover, it should be in its most genuine, authentic form. Without the need or expectation of something in return.

We have this heart, this emotional component, these tear ducts, the ability to have sex for joy, these arms to comfort one another. And yet we question if we are capable of love? Don't you get it? We are love. Created from it, inspired by it, downtrodden when it all goes to shit. So, if we are made to do this. To make action of this. Then, let's do it. We all want love, but let us do so in a form that is honest and enduring. And hope that by doing that, doing what is most natural to us, to love - that we in turn will be loved the way that we offer it. The Golden Rule. Freely, with joy and no need to fill an ego or a lonesome heart. 

So I end with this wish, like two dots connected by a line, that we as people construct a direct thread of compassion and sincerity, in the name of Love.