Unfolding

I've been thinking a bit lately about my recent post on a striking passage from the book The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears. A former university professor reflects on why she quit her job. Saying the same things over and over to kids who aren't really paying attention anyway.

Then today I read a fascinating post over at a blog called Waiter Rant. It's a bit long but I'll share a couple of excerpts that I liked:

It’s the tail end of the lunch shift. I pretend to watch the office girls walking past the front window as I eavesdrop on two of my customers. I know that’s not very polite but it’s an interesting conversation. Besides, I’m bored.

“I don’t know,” the younger of the two men says. “I thought I’d be happier at this stage in my life.”....

As I’m listening a quote from Sun Tzu floats into my head. “Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends, hit him where he does not expect you.”....

The two men finish their coffees, pay the check, and leave. I go outside to catch a breath of fresh air. I watch the younger man climb into an Aston Martin and drive away. As I stand on the sidewalk I think about what makes people happy. Kids? Money? Sex? Power? The right job? A nice address? Many people looking at my life would say I’ve made all the wrong choices. Sometimes I think they’re right. The demons of loneliness and failure are never far from me. But, in my less anxious moments, I realize my life is probably unfolding as it should."