cracked

whenever we have sushi for lunch, the group usually opens fortune cookies together at the conclusion of our meal to read our individual messages aloud.  today, my fortune was: "the surest way to have nothing to give, is to give nothing."

i didn't like it.  i thought it sounded cynical.

this started up a discussion about what the saying meant.  one of my coworkers had the same reaction as me, but the other 2 thought that it had to do with being open to giving, that it is more rewarding to give than to receive.  there is no doubt that i agree with that, but my brain was wrapped around the 'give nothing' part of the sentence and its overall literal meaning.  i could not figure out the correlation between the message and their interpretations.

after i got back to my desk, i googled the phrase to see if there were any other thoughts on the subject.  one person explained that people who give nothing will receive nothing in return, so that kindness matters.  when it was clarified that way, something in my brain clicked, like i had found the key to unlock a secret door.  suddenly, i completely understood what my coworkers had been trying to convey to me.

i had been looking at the phrase verbatim and not in the figurative sense.  once my mind could get around the flipside, the implication became clear to me, unraveling like a present.

funny how a fortune cookie could possess such words of wisdom.  i guess you can say we 'cracked' the code.