SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE

MMP: What would you do if you liked someone who didn't like you?

Me: What do you mean...like, romantically?

MMP: Exactly.

Me: Well, I guess I'd first try and figure out why...

MMP: Stop right there. Why on earth would you want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with you?

Me: That wasn't your question. Your question was WHAT would I do. Not IF I would do anything.

MMP: And there she is...Ms. Logical.


Logic. It was one of those classes in college I 'got' from the instant I sat down in class on the first day. It all made sense to me. Interject the word "if" and "then" and it blows the possibilities wide open. Options become endless. And as well as I did in that class, I haven't fared so well in applying all the rules of Logic to my life.

And I know exactly why that is.

Somewhere since my attendance in that class where I subjected both sides of my brain to breaking down the alternatives of various scenarios and statements, my heart entered the equation.

I graduated college, started my career, got married, had two children (after many, many failed attempts), got divorced, lost many 'things' since then ... and through all this, my left brain and my right brain weren't the only things making the decisions in my life.

And they aren't in your life either.

The fact of the matter is, logic works really well on paper. It's very black-and-white. If it's not 'this', then it must be 'that'. Which is why it works so well with our brains. Our left and our right. Again...black-and-white. One side is a particular way and the other side, well...you get it.

But in life, an invisible organ pops up above these two very different sides of our brain and introduces us to the gray area in life. It helps distinguish between what doesn't exactly fall on either side, but somewhere in the middle.

We all have a heart, and I'm not talking about the one in our chest, but the that 'invisible' one I'm referring to. The one that carries all our emotions. In life, there's more than just two answers. We have to use emotion. It's unavoidable. And it's in this very place where things get complicated.

Because while you want to base things on fact, sometimes you know people and circumstances deserve more than that. They deserve empathy, compassion, forgiveness and love. Those don't even have a place in the laws of logic.

But in talking with my ever-so-smart nine year old daughter yesterday, she reintroduces me to some much-needed reality, logic if you will, while we are watching television (a commercial, of all things).

Belle: I would never put up with someone treating me that way.

Me: Well, sometimes Belle, people say and do things they don't mean to. That's when we are called to be forgiving.

Belle: I didn't say I wouldn't forgive them. I would. I just wouldn't put up with it anymore.

Me: So what are you saying?

Belle: Just that if they keep doing it, then they probably aren't going to stop and by putting up with it I'm basically saying I'm okay with it. And I'm not.

My head surrounds the words 'if' and 'then' in her sentence. Mind you, the word 'probably' completely negates the actual logic of the statement, but I've gotta say...the stinker made sense with her very, clear brain that has not had to 'put up with' (her words) certain situations yet, being that she's nine years old.

It reminds me sometimes we absolutely need to use our heart to pitch in and assist us with decisions. But sometimes, we need to weigh the left and the right and look at the logic. Best case scenario, we merge all three.

I believe it's what we call living a balanced life.

Like that's not a feat within itself right there!


Always remember and never forget: Life is a balance of both holding on and letting go.