Monday; May 7

          Unless you listen to Bluegrass music, you probably haven’t heard it, but the other day I came across one of the best song titles ever – A Hard Life Makes A Good Song.  The song is okay, but the name is great.  Growing up listing to County and Bluegrass music I can appreciate the spirit of the title – the worse the story, the better the song.  Most of the classic songs were based upon the fact that somebody somewhere did something wrong!  In a lot of cases, the sadder the tale, the higher the song rose on the charts.
          While a hard life might make a good song, it still makes a hard life.  I don’t know about you, but the easier I can make it on myself the better off I am.  I may like listening to songs recounting tales of woe – but honestly, I enjoy times when things are good and life is easy (or at least easier).   How do we make for an easier life:
1.  Make good decisions.  We can learn a lot of lessons by making wrong choices, but if we are looking to make things go easier it often starts by being smart.  The adage says, “Good judgement comes from experience and a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.”  Let’s think first, act second and enjoy a less stress-filled life.
2.  Don’t live on the edge.  Some people seem to try to get as close to the line that divides safety and trouble as possible without falling off.  The problem is that the closer we get, the more danger we face.  Even with the best of intentions, living on the edge makes it awful easy to tumble into trouble.
3.  Learn from the mistakes of others.  We don’t have to make all the mistakes ourselves.  Observing (and learning from) those who choose to live a hard life can make things go smoother for us.  Wisdom can be gained through trial and error – and we can do ourselves a favor by learning from other people’s trails and errors.
          Boring may not make good songs, but it makes an easier life.  Let’s be wise and enjoy the good (quiet) life.
          Think About It!

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