As a young adult, I read an article head-lined, "Life isn't fair and systems cannot make it so", said to be a quote from President John F. Kennedy. The title resonated with me and has stuck in my head ever since. Before writing about this, I decided to investigate the quote on google. It was very interesting. Below is a summary.
JFK on the Vietnam War: 21.3.62. at a press conference:
"There is always inequity in life." (He then describes how some servicemen in a war situation may have quite protected postings, whilst others have horrendous experiences.) He ends thus, "It is very hard in military or in personal life to assure complete equality. Life is unfair."
This may sound a hard-bitten, even cynical, attitude to some, but I have found it to be, generally, a salutary view. It doesn't seem to matter how hard we may all try to be 'fair'. Somewhere along the line, even with the best intentions in the world, we seem to fall short.
We do not all have an equally good start in life or in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, or in the choices that we are given. That's just how it is and we all have to try to make the best of the hand which we have been dealt.
Then, there are the everyday events of life. Difficult stuff happens, often, with no rhyme or reason that we can fathom, and we just have to cope. To remind myself of this reality, as I would call it, that actually, life isn't fair, helps me.
