We Think We Know Until We Know

Here are 10 things I could’ve sworn I knew…

until reality up and bit me.

1. I could’ve sworn I was a perfect specimen of physical health, until one night when my heart took off like Mario Andretti in the Indy 500…

2. I could’ve sworn I was destined for fame and fortune until age 50 found me alone and destitute…

3. I could’ve sworn I’d found the love of my life until I was served with papers seeking a pension alimentaria (a Costa Rican “no-fault” alimony, to which any undeserving woman is entitled…just by leaving and filing)…

4. I could’ve sworn that my country was exceptionally exceptional until I discovered the truth about what went on in Latin America at its behest…

5. I could’ve sworn to my talent for the written word until I spent over 6 years writing with no one giving the slightest shit about anything I had to say…

6. I could’ve sworn that I was a good person whose karma would pay off, eventually, until life (or, better said, my choices) handed me a lemon that almost seems damn near impossible to squeeze (still trying to squeeze that sucker though!)…

7. I could’ve sworn family ties were iron-clad until I realized, as Bob Dylan once said (Grammy acceptance speech 1991), “you know it’s possible to become so defiled in this world that your own father will abandon you and if that happens god will always believe in your own ability to mend your ways.”…

8. I could’ve sworn that my eternal (perhaps stupid) optimism would lead me to a brighter world, or experience of it, until events of late have all but convinced me that man is, for the most part, hell-bent towards self-destruction…

9. I could’ve sworn that my christian concept of god and salvation was the correct one, until it dawned upon me that it was actually only a select one, among many others…none of which could possibly be 100% true…

And after scraping all that “dogma” off my shoes, why in god’s name would I want to step in it again?

10. I could’ve sworn that life was about maximizing my income until one day I woke up to realize it was really about maximizing my impact…I hope for me, it’s not too late…

You know, it’s funny how we think we know until we know…that we were dead wrong.