A mantra for all seasons

I DON’T REMEMBER exactly when I first heard it, but it was several years ago. It was a new phrase introduced into the family lexicon. I don’t recall the circumstance when I first heard it, but I do know with certainty it was my Mom  first uttered the expression. It has since been spread with winking humor among my sister Kris, brother George, my daughters Erin and JoAnna, and some of my grandkids. This succinct line has become somewhat of a family punch-line.

            

I like it much. It’s a universal phrase that seems to fit right in any language. The words fit quite nicely in situations when you don’t know what quite to say, or when you don’t know what to cough up when you disagree. Suffice it to say that…

            

When you get the notice in the mail from the IRS and you feel the dragon blowing fire up through the esophagus when you learn for the second year in a row you’ve underpaid. They want their money now and you ain’t got it. Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            

You’ve been separated from your significant other for a few months and you get the latest car-insurance premium that’s higher than Cheech and Chong on meth. It’s been adjusted because you’re considered single. For you see, your former significant other told your agent in private a few months before leaving you that the “divorce should be final” by the next payment period. Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

You come home from work and discover the dog has hawked up a reeking pike of gut-yummies from the bowels of Hell onto the kitchen floor. As you curse the mutt in between your dry retching, you remember – Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            

The neighborhood water park is feeling pretty refreshing and you’re standing knee-deep in the drink, sucking in your gut and watching the swimmers come down the slide. Your teen-aged grandson quietly ambles up next to you and humbles you with a whisper, “I hate to tell you this, Grandpa, but I don’t think the women are checking you out.”  Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            

Suppose you are using a new leaf blower, for the sake of argument, and some wet leaves get stuck to the front of the nozzle. As you look down the plastic barrel your finger accidentally pulls the trigger and blows the muck at hurricane force into open mouth. Well, I guess Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            

A former incompetent boss at a magazine accuses of you for being insubordinate because you corrected a number of mistakes he made in conflict with editorial policy he devised. Then you’re called to Human Resources where a friend tearfully informs you of your termination after 13 years of service. You refuse to sign a forced “letter of resignation” written by the chowderhead  boss because it is smeared with typos and grammatical. Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            

 You’re attending a corporate meeting, listening to a presentation that would put all occupants of an animal shelter to sleep. You look around and noticed all of your colleagues have the same “Jonestown” glazed look and have saliva streams running from the corners of their mouth. Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            T

The mechanic looks up from the open hood of your car, shakes his head a few times, and says, “Woooo-weeee!! This gonna take some real fixin’, buddy!”  He chuckles when you ask what kind of break he might be able to give you on the price. Grease-monkeys understand that Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            

Years ago, a minister seems to stare at you during his homily about the Ten Commandments and the blazing consequences of disobedience. More than anyone, the Almighty understands that  Everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do.

            Y

You finally come to believe that many folks are trying to do as well as they can, putting on their best game faces and are attempting to do the right thing most of the time; and that accidents, screw-ups and ugly karma sometimes are just unavoidable. That they don’t have all the answers no matter how smart or wise they are; that they must balance in all of their best hopes and dreams and desires in a world that’s not always rational, fair, just – or agreeable. And it’s a realization that we are all fundamentally and majestically spiritual beings on an all-too-human journey.

            

After all even the best-intentioned souls just gotta do what they gotta do.