It's A Wonderful Life

Some days you feel good about yourself, and other days you wish that you had never been born, like Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Thankfully, I am happy to be me most of the time. I make me laugh, I have wonderful insight into the world at large and I always like the same things as I do.

I love Frank Capra movies in general and Wonderful life in particular. For most people it is a holiday movie, but I can watch it anytime of the year and I am moved each time I see it. I suppose it makes me wonder what the world would be like if I had never been born. There are at least five people that wouldn’t be on the planet and from my point of view the world would be a lesser place without them. I think that I have touched people through out my life and I hope that I influenced them in a positive way. You never know though.

Sometimes it is the things that you don’t pay any attention to that may have the most impact. A few years ago, at around this time of year I received a facebook notification from someone from my past. I replied and she said that I probably didn’t remember her, but I broke her heart in high school. She was right; I didn’t remember her, which is very strange because I wasn’t one of those guys that dated a lot. I was a shy kid back then and in certain ways I am still that shy kid. I looked her up in the yearbook and once I saw her picture my memory kicked in. I still couldn’t imagine breaking her heart, or even breaking up with her. Weird. The point I guess that I am trying to make is that I touched a life in a negative way (in this case) and had no idea that it had happened at all.

I wonder what good I have done in this life. Some I hope, but I guess that I will never know and perhaps that is the way that the great power in the universe wants it. If I knew all the good that I did, assuming that I did some good, I more than likely would be pretty obnoxious about it. I am not a very good winner. Yeah, I better never find out.

Over the years I have heard people parrot back my opinions and I just smile to myself and think that this small corner of the world just became a better place. Well, they agreed with me didn’t they?

One of the things I have been trying to sell over the years is my belief that hockey is fixed. If I was in charge of a multi billion dollar industry there wouldn’t be very much about it that I didn’t control, down to the size of the cups with beer. I can think of ways that the games could be nudged in the direction that the owners wanted and I am not really that smart. You couldn’t involve the players, because that many jocks could never keep their mouths shut when they were drinking. It would have to be the officials. We are talking about a very small group of people whose lives are centered on the game of hockey and what is best for the sport. They would just have to make a bad call here, or give a penalty there for something that they normally wouldn’t call. God knows they make enough bad calls. This wouldn’t be a fool proof system, but it would work in a subtle way to steer the sport.

This could be paranoid and delusional, but I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, it shouldn’t take away from anyone’s enjoyment of the game. Besides, it makes me feel good that someone is in control and trying to make the world a more balanced and better place. It’s a wonderful life!