Along Came Polly

During the recent holiday season I took stock of things done and of things I want to do. In doing so I noted, where they come together, a certain truth:

We expend a lot of energy and effort on things we think we need.

Understand: We need certain things such as food, shelter, and sex, but the amount of energy expended on these things is, relatively-speaking, a lot.

A lot.

Why? Why do we expend so much effort and energy on such things as love? Better still, why do we go to such lengths to avoid such things as love?

During the recent holiday season I found myself on the receiving end of letters, telephone calls, and e-mails from persons I have not heard from for some time. (In one case, twenty years; how it was he came to find me remains unknown, and I am not certain, at this moment, if I want to know how it was he found me.)

All of these inquiries had one thing in common: Every single person who contacted me had gone through a rather messy divorce, and was now of the opinion that the best thing they could do was to avoid anything resembling Love.

So, of course, they contacted me. (No. That doesn't make sense to me, either.) As to why it was they contacted me? I am not entirely sure, suffice it to say they were of the opinion I could assist in staving off Love, or anything resembling it.

My response to this was simple: Why not embrace Love and see where it can take you?

Why not, indeed?

But getting back to what I first asked herein: Why is it we expend so much energy and effort on such things as Love? Is is because we are willing to take a risk that could have a life-long payoff? Or is because we believe in something else, something beyond ourselves, our mortality?

Such questions are no doubt asked of an individual the likes of Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller), an expert risk-assessor, whose job it is to know the risks of every situation.

Irony here: His marriage to Lisa, (Debra Messing), should be a sure thing, risk-free, but quick proves otherwise.

But I get ahead of myself and the movie at hand, "Along Came Polly". As noted, Reuben Feffer is a risk-assesor, who is recently married, and life seems good. But the second day of their honeymoon in St. Barts, Lisa cheats on Reuben with a scuba instructor (Hank Azaria), and he goes back to New York, ruined love-wise. There he meets Polly (Jennifer Aniston), an old school friend, whom he doubts he can become involved with since they are so incompatible, according to his assessments.

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