The Way Things Are

in Feb 26, 2020

Just the other night after a long day I was aimlessly scrolling through Instagram, as I’m sure most of us do before knocking out and came across somebody’s caption that caught my attention. Below the post, which was a picture of a book with the word Justice written across the middle, read “The way things are does not determine the way they ought to be.” - Michael J. Sandel. This of course was a quote from the author of the book… go figure. I instantly put my phone down and just as I began to think on the truth of this quote my attention was caught by the movie Purple Rain I had been rewatching in the background. The scene of the movie just so happened to be when Prince’s father commits suicide. Prince is left overwhelmed with emotion on what he just witnessed his father do. I immediately was taken back on how Prince and the quote I had just came across couldn’t relate more. “The way things are does not determine the way they ought to be.” Even though this tragedy has taken place in Prince’s life I wonder how will he move forward and better himself.

State Of Flux - Justice - What's the Right Thing to Do? - Book - Michael J. Sandel - The Way Things Are - 1State Of Flux - Purple Rain - Movie - Prince - The Way Things Are - 1

I believe Prince took what he saw from his father’s behavior and actions and realized he didn’t want to grow to be the same way. Prince was able to set aside his stubbornness and differences with his band and perform the song Purple Rain which just so happened to be created by two of his band members. By the way if you haven’t seen the movie, performing a song that Prince himself didn’t create would not be performed or even listened to by Prince. But that all changed after the death of his father.

See we’re all faced with adversity and hardships at many times in our life but that does not mean this will define us. We have the ability to change the way we think, the way we grow and the way we carry ourselves. Whatever the situation or circumstance may be, we are in control of the next direction we move. That’s what being in a State Of Flux is all about. We may not know our next move but being idle is not an option. So just like Prince, whatever comes our way we should plan to move forward and keep progressing for the better. Because the way things are does not mean they have to stay that way.