Fortune Cookie Wisdom

If I Believed In Fortune Cookies...

I probably wouldn't be here talking about them.

Is there someone in the back of the Chinese restaurant whose sole job is to size up each customer and then make sure the fortune cookie with the most impact makes it to the table?

I've never worked in a Chinese restaurant, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Here's The Deal

Last week I went into town for something to eat. There are some days when I know exactly what I want and other days where it's more, "Meh," but my stomach is insisting I provide it with some kind of sustenance. I was going through the options available when I settled upon Panda Express. I'm not a big fan, but as I said, I was hungry and didn't want to drive around town all afternoon.

I ordered, picked up and paid for the food at the drive thru and headed back home to eat it, munching on a couple of spring rolls along the way. I also raided the fortune cookies. Yes, they gave me two (apparently I must have ordered for more than one person). :(

So, I'm driving, crunching on the first fortune cookie and glancing at the paper of wisdom inside. This is what it said:

Now That's Funny Right There

Career plans? I didn't have any career plans. The only thing I had going on was Steemit, and I wasn't sure if that exactly qualified as a career, let alone a career plan.

In fact, the only career I had in my life of any great consequence was the newspapers I published for 15 years. And even that wasn't a career plan. I'd consider it more of a business opportunity, tailored to my need to be my own boss and coupled with my desire to write and provide others with news and meaningful information.

I think of a career as something you study for, apprentice in, put in your time and move up through the ranks. I suppose it doesn't have to be exactly like that, but there certainly should be some kind of rhyme or reason to it. Making job choices that will advance your station, pay and prominence is a part of it.

Wa Wa Wa Waaaaaa

I didn't have any of that, other than a desire to stay my own boss and to write. A plan of sorts, but not a career move per se. Is Steemit what I'll be doing weeks, months, years from now? Who could say?

Somewhat perturbed but wondering how someone knew I might need some kind of confirmation regarding what I was attempting to do to make money, I put down the one fortune and picked up the other cookie. After cracking it open and eating it, I was left with the second fortune:

That's A Little Better (sniff)

Now if this didn't describe me, not much else will.

I've always been a head-in-the-clouds kind of guy. Fortunately, my wife is a feet-on-the-ground type with enough to spare, so she keeps me from floating away into all kinds of frivolousness. However, our two personalities will clash when there's something I really want to do while she wants to know what's it going to pay or how I'm going to finance it.

I don't know. I just know I want to do it. The way it works out comes after the pursuing of said goal, business, or project. You have to check things out, sure, but you also have to begin. Doors open, people walk into your life and the means appear.

Okay, maybe it's not like that all the time, and not without a lot of sweat, stress and tears, but it has happened to me before and I always think it can happen again.

In other words, I do have young hope. But now, it's coupled with experience. There are some things I would never attempt now that I tried when I was younger, because I know they won't work. It's applying the eternal spring of hope and the seasoned wisdom of old memories that keeps us young and moving on, instead of old and afraid to get out of bed.

Try To Take Over The World. Pinky.

I have to say that fortune lifted my spirits. If I was good at anything, it was picturing myself taking on whatever project I pleased and succeeding at it. With the experience to go along with that positive outlook, I should be able to go forth and conquer, right?

Well, I'm not quite a month in, but I'm still here on Steemit swinging away, launching what I think are home runs into the upper decks, hoping someone will see my word missiles landing there.

When I got home, after finishing my lunch, I came across this other fortune I've kept for nearly two years now:

Grumpy's Back

When I read that the first time, I thought, define friends. Then, I added, define many.

I can count on one hand the really close friends I've had throughout my life, and still have the thumb leftover for someone else. None but one remains close. I don't know if it's me, them, or a combination of both, but lasting relationships outside my family doesn't happen very often.

As I said, maybe I need to work on my definition of friends.

Nowadays, friends are someone you don't really know but you converse with over the Internet. A friend can be someone you're friendly, too, even though all you really do with them is say, "Hi!" when you pass them on the street. Sometimes, all you do is smile and wave.

I don't know. Friends should be more than just an acquaintance. Someone who cares for you. Someone who wants the best for you.

The Moral Of The Fortune Cookie Is...

Maybe that's possible to do on a site like Steemit, even if I'm more of a face-to-face person. Call me old fashioned.

I probably shouldn't hold onto these fortunes, but I probably will for a while longer. Just in case the person in the back of the Chinese restaurant actually does know what they're doing.

I'm not holding my breath.

Hope, however, springs eternal.

Now, where's that menu?