Hockey does an interesting thing - if the puck bounces off a defender's stick or get stolen from a defender by a member of the opposing team who then scores - they credit the defenseman with an assist on the goal. Now at first this can seem a little bit cruel. No one wants to end the night with their contribution to goalscoring being for the other team. But if you think of the broader picture, the idea behind it is to credit all of the things that lead to that goal. Sometimes the thing that puts you in position to score is someone who is actively working against you. It's kind of an interesting idea when you think of it like that. People often say living well is the best revenge or some other variation of that, that you shouldn't mind the haters or the people who are working against you. I think it is possible, of course, to take this idea too far. Some people who work against you might end up accidentally helping you but the world would be easier if we were all working to support each other. If we use hockey as an example of an idea where the stakes are potentially life changing but no one dies. My team may not win, but our fight, if you will is over who is the best hockey player that night, and not, say, who is a person. So we can allow for graciousness in both victory and defeat.
Rants About New (and old) Things