Fortunes

This was my fortune from the local Chinese place a few days ago when we went out to lunch. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it excited me a little. (As the only single guy in the office, it also got a lot of laughs.)

It also made me think of how eager we are for some sense of fortune in our lives. Disregarding the obvious religious implications, I think that we want to believe that we're a cog in a larger machine, working towards something amazing as part of a master plan. I think that's why we're so enamored by fortunes and horoscopes, because we want them to be true; we're enamored by kismet and karma.

It may seem utterly preposterous to give more than a seconds' thought to something like this fortune, but I'll freely admit that I did. And I don't think it's a bad thing at all, because everyone sees in their fortune what it is that they want to see -- the things they most want out of life, and the fortune can give them hope, which may just be the catalyst that they need to get to work. That's really what it's all about, I think, our sense of fortune helps us keep motivated, so that we're ready whenever our ship decides to come in.