Rewriting Murphy’s Law By Turning The Tables On Murphy, One Day At A Time
ADVANCE CONFIDENTLY!
“If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.” ~Steven Wright
I consider myself to be not only an Inspirationalist, but also inquisitive. As a matter of fact, I would submit that I Am insatiably curious. My curiosity, just like a cat’s, often gets me into trouble, but since I’m writing this right now and since hopefully at least one other person will read it, we know that I have not met with the same fate as the cat…
In all seriousness though, what prompted the writing of this article was a mysterious text message that read as follows:
“Complications from Murphy’s Law may prevent me from attending today’s Zoom.” The message was also adorned with one of those upside-down smiley faces…
This message got me thinking about the potential effects of what might happen if we made an error in judgment and embraced a Murphy’s Law mentality. Is it possible that if we believe that things will most likely go wrong that they will? And if there is indeed any truth to this idea, what might the possible exact opposite thought be regarding this idea or concept?
This question is what led to my discovery of a little known and perhaps even secret law that I was unaware of…
Yhprum’s Law, according to Wikipedia, is the opposite of Murphy’s Law.
“Everything that can work, will work.” ~Yhprum
“Yhprum” is simply “Murphy” spelled in reverse.
For an interesting read on this topic, I recommend going to Wikipedia after you finish this article and look up Murphy’s Law. You will find that “Murphy” has managed to garner the attention of a political economy professor from Harvard University which is no small accomplishment.
If you now refer back to the title of this article you will find I intentionally used the phrase “turning the tables on” which I discovered is an old figure of speech referring to table games, or in French, the game of tables, or jeu de tables with an inference to the game of backgammon. It should be noted however, the term backgammon did not come into common use until the mid-1600s. A backgammon board was divided into four sections, each called a table and so there were four tables on a backgammon board. To turn the board around, then, was not to turn just one table, but all four tables. This idiom has also been used to describe turning the board around as it relates to the game of chess.
The most common use of this phrase would be when someone turns the tables on someone who in the moment appears to be in charge or in control of the conversation, but by introducing new information or a new idea to the conversation, suddenly finds themselves in the “driver’s seat” of the new conversation. Therefore, turning the tables, is about gaining a position of power. Hence, the cheeky reference to the “driver’s seat.”
Do you see where this is going yet? Good, I will stop now and stay on task. Let’s see if I can exercise some discipline and self-control to avoid the squirrel of temptation, “driver’s seat” and stay focused on Murphy!
Where was I? Oh yes, the text message. Does the acknowledgement of Murphy’s Law potentially invite him into our lives for a visit? If our mind is indeed the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of our lives, then perhaps we might consider installing an anti-virus program to prevent the possibility of any additional bad actors finding their way into our home (our mind) through the front door.
What do you suppose might happen if we left the front door of our home open while we went on a two-week vacation to some exotic destination? Well, I guess it all depends on where you live but I think you get the idea. And instead of going immediately to the dark side, let’s just entertain the idea that you live near the forest where there is a healthy population of bears who we happen to know enjoy discovering interesting and unique smells like the food in your pantry for example… You get the idea.
If we wouldn’t leave the front door of our home open for any of nature’s intruders to find their way in, why on earth would we leave the gate of our mind open to the possibility of whatever and whoever Murphy might be bringing along to have a party in our head while we’re not home?
Sometimes we must be willing to look at something from a different perspective to gain new insight about what a simple lapse in judgment could mean to the way we open ourselves up to unnecessary potentially devastating consequences.
Here’s an interesting follow-up to the first part of that text message which came the next day:
“Murphy’s Law prevailed! What time Tuesday?”
Fortunately, as far as I know, there were no devastating consequences, this time. But what about next time? Or maybe it will be the time after that? Is it possible the reason some people experience challenge after challenge and difficulty after difficulty is because unbeknownst to them, they’ve invited Murphy to come and hang out and he brought some friends with him?
What if Murphy brought along a couple of his best friends like self-doubt and insecurity? And I’m sure you’ve heard of the infamous “Doubting Thomas” and his girlfriend “Negative Nellie” and her friend “Hesitant Helen” right?
Now I realize you know I am making fun, but perhaps when it comes to something as important as our well-being and the well-being of our families, we can at a minimum make sure to at least close the front door, even if we don’t lock it.
Here’s a unique idea. What if instead of locking and bolting the door we instead sent out invitations to a completely different new and interesting group of friends? How about inviting over “Enthusiastic Edward” and his girlfriend “Confident Claire” and their friends “Optimistic Oliver” and the ever exciting “Inspirational Isabella” and let’s not forget Yhprum’s cousins “Happy Hal” and “Grateful George” and their best friend “Determined Delilah.” Imagine the party we could have with a guest list like that!
It has been said that metaphors are magical, and I think today we were able to turn the tables on Murphy… What do you think?
Advance Confidently is the title of my next book. You will have to wait to celebrate its release as I celebrate my 60th birthday. I have concluded the world doesn’t need another self-help book from me right now, so I am listening to my muse and writing a sci fi personal growth story of self-discovery instead. I believe you will be INSPIRED with the story that chose me to write it! I never saw it coming but now that it’s here, I can’t wait to share it with all of YOU! I know it will be worth the wait because that’s my commitment to you, my readers. Thanks in advance for your trust and patience!
In the meantime, I released a special audio short story on Twitter to commemorate my Independence Day and my 31st year of sobriety. You can watch/listen to the story here ( https://youtu.be/9zP4kk5OTlo ). You can find me on Twitter @bobby_kountz
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
If you enjoyed and found value in this article, please share it.
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
