Things are only things.

"Everything in life is relative. I'm short compared to Shaq, yet I'm tall compared to a child. I'm old compared to a baby, but young compared to my dad. I'm a dunce compared to Einstein, yet fairly clever compared to most house pets. How we feel about our possessions is also relative. Relative to what? To the possessions of our friends, of course."
~David Chilton

Somebody broke into my son's home and stole some of his possessions. They weren't my possessions, but I was furious nonetheless. Livid! I sympathized with him, and then felt incredibly sad for him, then stomped around the house flinging curses into the air, sending the nastiest of vibes and evil thoughts to whomever the thief or thieves were. Let me tell ya, if any of my Irish blood has the power to curse, then these thieves are done for. Done for!

Then I calmed down somewhat and was thankful that the dogs were OK, and that no one was home at the time, and that it was his empty house (other than the dogs) and not one of the older folks who live nearby...it didn't turn out to be one of those horrible home invasions that have such tragic endings. Not that I am forgiving or feeling sad for the thieves, who are probably drug addicted and brain addled. On the contrary...I hope they rot in Hell.

But he will be able to replace most of the stolen goods, and the things that cannot be replaced, like my father's watch, which wasn't even valuable, at least not in a monetary sense, well, that's where "everything is relative" comes in. Maybe not even that so much as "the power of perspective."

Sometimes nothing is better for a case of the blues than a dose of perspective.
I was proud that my son, while most assuredly being pretty pissed, was also of the mindset that: "Life goes on" and "My dogs are OK". I'm not so sure that I would have such a good attitude. (as a matter of fact, I know that I don't. Every time I think about it, I can feel my blood pressure rise and that vein in my neck start to throb.) So, the following is really a reminder for me.

"Frustrated that your HD TV isn't there and you have to use a more normal one? Remind yourself that more than nine hundred million people across the globe don't have access to safe drinking water.

Annoyed that you don't have stainless steel appliances? Keep in mind that one in six people go to bed hungry every night.

Is it really a big deal that you can't locate a high-speed wireless connection? Remind yourself that more than a billion people don't even have electricity.

Our pets, our pets, for Heaven's sake, live more comfortably than half of the world's population.

We obsess so much about what we don't have that it affects our ability to enjoy what we do have.

~David Chilton.

And when I think about it, forcing the thoughts to the back of my mind of how I'd like to punish the people who had the nerve to come into my son's home, touch his belongings and take my father's watch, I think of my father, who was so very casual about belongings. His favorite saying was "Don't cry over spilled milk." He would have been just so grateful that no one was hurt, and he actually would have been a little horrified at me for being concerned about "stuff."

So I'll take a deep breath, remind myself that what goes around, comes around and be pleased that my father lives on in my son, no matter who has his possessions.

But I still hope the bastards rot.