Even on a beautiful, sunny August day, a cloud can appear out of nowhere, and alone scar the flawless blue sky. Though the rest of the sky seems perfectly clear, our attention is drawn to that one cloud, and that one stubborn cloud looks pleased with itself for what it has managed to do. Some people are a lot like these clouds, upsetting the calm of a situation, and often leaving the rest of us frustrated and confused. So the question is: why do such "troublemakers" exist?

My answer is simple - they just do. Maybe that sounds too simple, but I believe that human nature gladly makes room for nonconformists, if only to make life more interesting. Perfection is fine to a certain degree, but let's use that blue sky as an example to prove that perfection can easily be overdone.

Big Beautiful Perfect Blue Sky is dandy for a few days, possibly even a week, but much longer than that, and Big Beautiful Blazing Blue Sky becomes Big Boring Blah Blue Sky. We can still appreciate the beauty, but the freshness and excitement have faded. Add that one Mysterious Provocative Cloud - and Presto! - the ordinary has vanished, and we have something new to become accustomed to. Soon enough, another cloud will appear, or maybe torrential rain, or perhaps hazardous lightning, and the sky will continue to change.

When a "troublemaker" enters a situation and instigates chaos, we often fail to appreciate the excitement. We sense the disharmony, the nuisance, the brouhaha, and blame the "troublemaker" for making our lives difficult. These days, we are creatures of routine and prefer a smooth, steady course to an unpredictable, bumpy one. When someone makes bumps, we curse them, but we should thank them and realize the good they are doing. These humans exist to make the bumps, to interrupt perfection, for the same reason that clouds appear. The troublemaking clouds of life help fight our battle against continuous conformity and boredom. ?