We're not all equal, but do your best

Life is not fair.

This statement is as true now as it always has been. No matter how we try we cannot make it fair. Babies will be born with disabilities; the young will die, taking all the promise of their lives with them; young women will succumb to breast cancer; and soldiers will leave families fatherless. No matter how we scream at the heavens, there are things we cannot change.

I will never be an opera star. Even if a teacher would accept me, I do not have the ability to sing an aria. I cannot be a mathematician, a brain surgeon or a Buccaneers cheerleader. I couldn't be a cheerleader even in high school. I was not born with the abilities for many occupations or life choices. I was born with other abilities, and it is up to me to use what I have been given.

Many of our abilities just come with the package we are born with. Some things are enhanced or lost due to our environment or our early education. Many babies are born with talents and abilities. In some cases those abilities are either destroyed or damaged because of the food they are fed or because they are not given the love they need to thrive.

When we accept that life is not equitable, we are able to develop our own talents. As human nature would have it, when we look around and see others as more gifted or luckier, the tendency is to rage against the inequities. We are imperfect beings and it is with great understanding and work that we can come to terms with life's injustices.

Human beings are complex and have innate tendencies for good and bad. As we are raised, we learn by the actions of our parents how to behave. Early on we learn to share and play with others. We either learn to say please and thank you or we do not. As we go through our formative years in schoo, we hopefully learn that cheating is not right. There are so many lessons we have to learn and there are some we set aside as not pertaining to us.

Our president and his wife are great examples of using life's gifts. They are prime examples of what our country has to offer. We see other illustrations of courage and fortitude all around us. Young men and women who have lost limbs in the service of our country go on to win races and overcome their disabilities.

If you believe in the Judeo-Christian ethic, you are aware of the commandments about what we shall and shall not do. Those commandments are a statement about human nature. They recognize the inner turmoil humans have to be good or bad. We are given free will to follow or go our own way.

We cannot make the playing field level. We cannot make all people equal. Even in totalitarian societies, there are the haves and the have-nots. All we can do is hope that all people act with integrity, honesty and equality.

We cannot legislate good behavior but we do not have to reward bad behavior.

Mary Partington lives in New Port Richey.