Do events happen or do we manifest them?
Teenager Robert Widerman (stage name Robert Clary*), sat on the lumpy bunkbed. He was in yet another, drafty, dilapidated, over-populated concentration camp ward. Some days felt that there was no end in sight. Other days, Clary busied his brain with thoughts that removed focus of his 31 months of hell.
Imagine, if he could have been clairvoyant, to know that he would one day be a key part of a TV show about POWs held by the Nazi’s. How that would have made his eyes pop — to one day be cast as Corporal Louis LeBeau, a member of Hogan’s Heroes.
How could he have imagined what twists his life would take for that seemingly incongruent, bizarre turn-of-events to happen?
Sometimes, a life awaits us that is incongruent to the one we live now. We can’t imagine how we would ever find ourselves living in such a different state. But many of us have had that complete evaporation of the life we knew, where all lifepath’s landmarks seemed obliterated. We had to keep living, but we went on to live a different life, one we never imagined. Somehow, it makes us appreciate life’s joys more, because we have a clearer understanding of their value.
Is it like Scarlett, in Gone With the Wind, who vows to “…never go hungry again”?
My mother married a man who grew up in a poor household where there was an inconsistent supply of basic items, like toilet paper. When I met him, he had professional success and made it a point to always have an excess of toilet paper. The volume was so great that the linen closet had to share its shelves with TP.
Is it being in the right place at the right time?
Oh! To be a fly on the wall of the room where the TV show, Hogan’s Heroes, was being pitched. How, just a few decades after a horrific attack on humankind, did TV producers get a green light to create a comedy series about prisoners in a German POW camp? It’s beyond amazing.
Well, not really — this is beyond amazing. While not a huge ensemble, Clary wasn’t the only actor with connection to the war. The cast included two Jewish actors who fled the Nazi’s before the war — John Banner (Schultz) and Werner Klemperer (Klink). How ironic that these actors portrayed the Nazi’s.
Did fate or life choices land those actors in their roles?
Whether its intuition or dumb luck, we make decisions that drive outcomes. Outside influences delay, rush and re-route our actions but, ultimately, we make our choices.
Not a victim of the tides — able to see the chain of thoughts, actions, and outcomes
This is why I pay attention to my thoughts. Thoughts are the seed of action. Action yields outcome.
I pay attention to outcomes because I can consider how, if I chose different actions, I would have had different results.
All of a sudden, random occurrences seem less so. I may have only bumped into the first domino but the 20th domino to fall is also because of my action. I find I have more say on outcomes than I realized.
It’s all connected
Our thoughts lead to actual events. Some people consider how fast and far they can get from painful experiences. They are like the kid who is hospitalized, wants to heal and then move on. Another kid will lay in a cancer ward and determine to devote his future to becoming a doctor.
Everyone has awful life experiences and blissful life moments. Some have more of one than the other. Interestingly, the happiest people and the saddest people are a mix of everyone. This is proof that it’s not what happens to us; it’s what we do with it.
Maybe that’s how a concentration camp survivor became an actor on a TV show about prisoners in a Nazi camp.
* Read more: Robert Clary, last of the ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ stars, dies at 96 | AP News
