My girlfriends always emphatically implore that I take the “high road” when my relationships go sour.
“It’s the right thing to do,” they say.
Well, it doesn’t always feel right to me.
Or, “You’ll have good karma.”
Do you know how many times I’ve heard that? I would guess that it’s probably the most overused statement in our society today, other than the word, “organic.” How do my girlfriends really know that I will get good karma for taking the high road? Will I truly be a better person for it? Will I enter a different set of pearly white gates than someone who takes the low road? Is bad karma really going to happen to my boyfriend who treated me like kr_p?! Because right now, I can pretty much tell you, he’s basking in the California sun right now, sitting on his pot of money, and chasing after women more than half his age! That doesn’t sound like bad karma to me!
I’ve always taken the high road and for once in my life, I thought long and hard about taking the low road. The path just seemed so much more satisfying. We all know the scenario. When you break-up, inevitably there are things – usually clothes – that you need to return. But, in this particular instance, I didn’t feel like sending his clothes back to him? Why should I spend my hard-earned money on postage to return his clothes when this is a man who left me stranded at LAX Airport, and I was stuck paying a $40.00 cab ride home not to mention the dollar value of the emotional distress I had experienced! (Rashes on my skin, stomach problems, depression…and trust me…the Health Insurance in the United States doesn’t even cover half of those costs!)
As I wished hateful thoughts upon his gnarly existence, a soft voice in my head desperately chanted: Take the high road. Take the high road.
But, a louder voice chanted: Screw Karma! Take the low road! He’ll get what he deserves.
So I sat in my bedroom, staring at his button-down shirts – and thinking that perhaps I can still make a compromise? What about the ‘middle road?’ Maybe I can donate his shirts to Goodwill? After all, I would be creating good karma in our distressed economic times? He’s so rich that he doesn’t really need these shirts and if he buys more at the department store, he’ll be boosting consumer sales! It’s a win-win situation! Don’t ya think?
Just as I was looking up the address for the Goodwill nearest me, another voice – this one loud and deep resonated in my head:
“An eye for an eye is wrong! Bearing a grudge against those who hurt you are wrong! Hate shouldn’t even be in your vocabulary.”
Then, the voice gently reminded me, “Plus, they are his shirts.” The darn voice kept repeating itself as I teetered on the edge of goodness versus evil. Finally, the voice ceased as I reluctantly consented to do the right thing:
Which was to suck up paying for the postage and return his shirts.
None of you readers, or I, will ever know if my good actions are truly worth something at the pearly gates, but I suppose if we all strive with that hope, that hope is all we truly need. (at least that’s what I’m trying to convince myself)
But, I do have an itsy bitsy confession. You can bet your bottom dollar, that my ex-boyfriend didn’t receive those shirts ironed and folded!
