All of Nothing

Nothing:

One word, too many possibilities.

When the Dr. Looks at an X-ray, or a lab report and sees nothing, it's good.

When you look at your checking account online and see nothing, it's not. Especially when there's a LOT more month left til payday.

When you ask how much extra something will cost with an additional option, "nothing" is great!

When you get nothing for your trouble, not so much.

Then there are times when nothing is, at the very least, ambiguous.

"What's bothering you? You seem awfully distant. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing"

At the worst, it's a seed that grows slowly into a large, ugly weed. A weed that creeps into your yard and takes over the flowerbeds. Things look alright above the mulch, but there's a weed lurking below all that, taking sustenance away from the flowers and plants, crowding their roots. You may wonder why your prized petunias aren't as hearty, then either think nothing of it, or worry about it. Rack your little head trying to think of reasons for the lack of Petunia Prosperity.

Then you come out one day and there they are... the weeds. Those Devilish vines have gotten their tendrils into the soil, choking out all the good growth. The only way to remove them is to either go through the soil, go digging in the dirt and attempt to remove all traces of the weed.

Or you can kill everything and start over. Just dump the weed killer of your choice in the soil, watch it all die, then rebuild it.

"Nothing" is easy. To use. To say. Like its cousins "I forgot" and "I'm sorry"

Nothing is easy. Experience teaches us that. "Nothing" is that sound your car makes one day. Nothing is all you have left in your wallet once the shop fixes that noise.

The nothing I hate most of all is the "nothing" that means "Nothing right now, but I'm thinking. There will be something later, and you WILL be the first to know about it." And regret it.

So, if you ask me today what's bothering me, it's "nothing."

Really.