misfortune

Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, 
and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one. 
Edith Wharton

If fortune favours the bold, who does misfortune favour? The mousy, homebound wallflower? That seems unlikely. I mean, if you’re just sitting on your couch, how can misfortune even find you?

Well, it turns out that it can. It rides in on the coat tails of loved ones, snoops around for what matters most, and starts messing about with its sledge hammer.

Misfortune is more insidious than an uninvited guest - it’s a goblin – hiding in wait until you’ve relaxed enough to think it gone. Just when you’re breathing again, it pops out. Usually with worse behaviour than the first time.

I sometimes feel one startle from shattering, but I hope against all reason that, like Lily, I’m actually becoming more supple.