The Tricked and the Treated

Throughout my lifetime, I can remember different Halloween adventures. As we walked from home to home, we’d stop to pick up pears that had fallen to the ground. Word on the street would spread as to which homes had the popcorn balls or the best homemade cookies. Yes. Homemade.

In our town, you never heard of anyone tampering with candy. Halloween was fun and kids could count on being treated, and never cruelly tricked. The only trick for me was the upset stomach on All Saints Day from indulging in too many sweets the prior night.

Have you ever noticed that in life we know people who are tricked by life and others who are treated? Whether life brings rewards (treats) or disaster (tricks) doesn’t seem to have any correlation as to how deserving they are.

Good people get the biggest tricks of all—cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s. Bad people get big inheritances, win the lottery, and raise high in life by stepping on others. I’m not saying that all people who make it good in life are bad.

Badness comes from the core, not the outward trappings. Bad people trick good people because they have no conscience. They not only manipulate, they also revel in their power to sway gullible people. They bully and project their own shortcomings onto others.

Life doesn’t have a balance sheet. Good deeds for others doesn’t always produce dividends or reciprocation. Just as when someone cons you and takes advantage of you, don’t expect karma to bite them in the butt. Conniving a way to “get even” brings you down. Instead of revenge being sweet as Halloween candy, it’s more like biting into a razor blade hidden in an apple.

Personally, I’ve been both tricked and treated numerous times throughout my life. That’s the way it is for everyone. Maybe that’s where the balance is. Sometimes tricks turn into treats. I lost a job at a time when I couldn’t afford to lose the income. I found a much, much better one. When I was young, I had my heart broken. Then, I found my soul mate.

The thing about life is that when it hits rock bottom, it can’t possibly go any lower. Life is a cycle of good, bad, good, bad, good. Unless the rollercoaster flies off the rails, just hang on and enjoy the ride.

The choice is mine. Do I want to be one of the tricked or one of the treated? I choose to be treated.  

Copyright © October 2016 by L.S. Fisher

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