It IS getting better

There is a spray-painted message on the side of an overpass that I pass under on my way home from work every day that says, "It can get better". If the creator of this message intended to inspire or lift a person's spirits then they were successful. The first time I saw it, I smiled and things felt a little bit better. Each time I saw the message I felt a little bit better about life in general.

Then one day it dawned on me. What did this person mean by saying is 'can' get better. And, now that I think about it, that's not really all that positive a message. It 'can' get better? Well that doesn't tell me it WILL get better. Hmmm... Maybe that's what the person really should have said, "It will get better." To which my inner brat immediately said, "When?".

Okay, NOW. There, are you happy? It IS getting better.

So, maybe that's what this person should have sprayed on that overpass, "It is getting better". And when I thought about it I realized that no, that wouldn't work. If I had to drive under a message telling me that life is getting better I would have been indignant and thought, no it's not.

Perhaps the message is perfect just the way it is and it is up to every individual person to have that kind of response, or not, for themselves. Perhaps it is my reaction to that statement that makes all the difference.

All I know is that life and things ARE getting better. For that, for that message, and whomever managed to lean over the edge of the roadway and paint it upside down, I am grateful. And, that's all that matters.