Economics & Life Cycles

Finally alive after about two months of workdeath.  Life is a continuous flow of ups and downs, no?  It's funny because tonight in class I was substituting and I'm having students in both of my classes (and also the class I subbed tonight) do this project in groups or pairs where they research an American historical event and present it to the class.  One group in the morning class and one group in the evening class did the Great Depression.  One question from a class member after the group presented on the Great Depression was if it was similar to the recession we are in now and so I had to explain how economies go through ups and downs and are cyclical just like life.  Everything has it's moments of goodness and ease and it's contrary hardships and sacrifices.  Can we say austerity?  Not a good plan...hello Latin America...and what is it Italy now doing economic austerity, too?  Idk...I stopped studying politics years ago and now hide under mounds of fiction.  Ok, but my point being that even economists who go to school for years upon years and get paid (I think) decently can't accurately predict the cycles so I guess we shouldn't be disheartened that we can't predict our own happiness-sadness cycles in life.  Plus, watching the documentary Happy, it said that studies show that people are actually happier during and/ or after times of adversity.  I guess difficulties give us a sense of what we really have and we appreciate our lives more when things are tough.  When you lose something or possibly could lose it, you see the value it holds for you.  Well, maybe you do anyway...my life is nothing but maybe.

During class, I rubbed my eye and I caught an eyelash on my finger.  And you know how when you get an eyelash, you should make a wish and blow it away...Usually I just wish for contentment or tranquility or for the happiness of someone I care about.  I know, I know, not very original.  But tonight, I just wished to want nothing.  It would be so nice to just want to have or think of or have hope for nothing.  Life would be simpler then, no?  Ha, but the irony of wishing for nothing (basically wanting to not want or wishing to not wish) still stands before me.  Life you win again.  Oh, how you always win...Or maybe no one wins...and no one loses...one just lives.

I might, shockingly, have a few days off soon.

I think our expectations just might ruin us.  I'm not going to qualify that statement.  Just going to leave it out there like a waving flag on fire and see what happens.