Murphy’s Law: Positive or Negative?

While scrolling through Twitter yesterday, I stumbled upon a very simple law of "nature" that I surprisingly hadn’t heard of before then. It was called Murphy’s Law. Simply put, it states that:

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

At first, I was startled. How can something so negative become a 'law’? How can such a negative premise be compared to popular laws of nature, like the law of gravity and the numerous laws Newton came up with?

Then it hit me...

It’s not negative at all.

Then it "unhit" me...

It's totally negative.

The problem was that I am a very realistic person, with hints of optimism here and there. The realist in me thought the law was correct and infallible. The optimist in me wanted to smack my head with a red hot iron for even considering the possibility of its correctness.

For a while, I examined my life and carefully analyzed my realistic and optimistic viewpoints. Then I realized how the law can be a negative approach to life, and at the same a positive one.

Let me explain…

If you live your life every day knowing that anything that can wrong, will DEFINITELY go wrong, you might see it as an excuse to not do anything about situations you find yourself in. If you believe everything will go wrong, you might have a very laid-back attitude about life. You will just be like the guy who thinks "what will be, will be" and simply drinks Irish beer and binge-watch Netflix all day, hoping for a big miracle to pop out from his chimney.

There’s a girl you like?
"Aw, it’s gonna go wrong anyway. She’ll leave me anyway and I’ll be back here, all alone."

You see an opportunity?
"I know it can go wrong? It might fail and I’ll lose money."

You encounter a problem?
"It’s going to get worse. What is the point in trying to fix something that’s doomed to fail?"

If Murphy’s Law makes you this laid-back about life, then your interpretation of it is not exactly wrong. The problem is, you will end up missing out on so many beautiful things about life because you refuse to take charge of your own life...

So what’s the alternative?
Thanks for asking!

If you live your life knowing that what will go wrong, will DEFINITELY go wrong, you can go on doing your best every single day. Huh, how does that relate to the law? Well, instead of worrying about how life will turn out for you, you just keep striving to be better. When a part of life goes wrong, well cool because it was doomed to go wrong anyway. But when it goes right, it’d be so right because you have spent time and energy carving out the kind of life you want for yourself.

There’s a girl you like?
"I’m going to talk to her. What’s the worst that can happen?"

You see an opportunity?
"I’m going for it. If it goes right, I’ll be happier. If it doesn’t, I’ll learn something new."

You encounter a problem?
"The fact that it’s still fixable means it hasn’t gone wrong yet. I’m gonna find a way out of this"

You strive to be better, but then you accept the fact that nothing lasts forever. Eventually, life messes with everything. A new car becomes old. Strong muscular bodies become wrinkled skin. Someone you love leaves, or dies. Wealth gets redistributed. Knowledge, forgotten. People die.

This kind of approach to life ensures that you strive to be better daily and hope for the best, whilst preparing for the worst.

The positive standpoint is how I see things, but I finally accepted that both perspectives are valid. I realized that two different sets of people can live their lives on each approach and they’ll both be right. I understand why each group sees things that way. Perspective changes every day, and I hope the persons on the negative side come to realize just how much they can use an understanding of this law to their advantage and strive to be better each day, whilst mentally (and financially) preparing for the worst that might come.