To Be Sanguine

 

sanguine - adjective - optimistic or positive in a particularly difficult situation

I have a favorite saying that of late has become a bit of a mantra or at least, a refrain for me: "Everything works out in the end." To be sanguine in any situation isn't easy, but sometimes, to keep one's sanity, it is essential. It also may give way to a self-fulfilling prophecy if Fate is in your corner. 

Last Monday, I looked at my adult daughter's twenty-five-year-old, free-standing basketball set-up leaning precariously in the direction of the garage and decided to sell it on Facebook Marketplace. Within a day after posting the ad, a polite yuppy who had just bought a house in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in an adjacent, upper-middle-class town messaged me to say he would buy it. Although I forewarned him that he would need a large truck and a few friends to lift it, he drove into my driveway in his shiny new Ford pick-up alone, armed with minimal tools, and the desire to perform miracles. After working unsuccessfully for an hour, he pretty much threw up his hands in defeat, gave up on the project, leaving me with payment and a fallen basketball set-up, the body of which lay disabled, prostrate on the macadam. The next day, I called several junk removers who speculated that it would cost me $200 to remove the mess. Armed with my optimistic mantra (and a brief prayer), I kept the faith that someone else on FB might just be interested in it for free. I was right. 

A man, ironically named Jesus and just as authentically Christian as his namesake, arrived from the wrong side of the tracks with all of the right tools, a big enough truck and a precocious, teenaged son (named Lucas, close enough to Luke), who had all of the right questions and answers both in Spanish and in English. Between the two, they were able to eliminate the unnecessary weight in the base of the stand so that they had the remains of the set-up in the truck within minutes. Jesus handed me a twenty that I didn't want to take, but he insisted. The whole ordeal I chalked up to serendipity as I watched them drive off  with smiles on their faces and a lot of metal in the way back. If you are thinking what I am thinking (this woman is under the protection of angels), both of us are probably correct.  

The moral of the story is binary: 1. Sanguine individuals who put positive vibes out into the Universe (particularly around high holy days) are rarely disappointed. 2. "Everything works out in the end." 

Rest assured that everything does work out, one way or the other, in the end. 

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! 

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