Some days… you just sort of have Humpty Dumpty on your mind.  Relentlessly.  I’m sure we’ve all had these tumultuous times in our lives.  You just can’t get the dude out of your thoughts.

This is one of those days for me.

So, I say we break it down, so we can all rest easier, and go on living our lives.

The most common modern text follows:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Whatever could it all mean?

First item of note…. the obvious.  I really don’t think Humpty Dumpty was an egg.  Nowhere in the poem, new or old, does it make such a claim.  So, why I ask you… WHY is the Humpster always depicted as an egg?

Humpy Dee could be anything, really.  A tea pot.  A lamp.  A glass of water, for all we know.  Heck… a Chia Pet.  But… it doesn’t specify egg.  Anywhere.

Next on the agenda.  A lot of people say that Humpty Dumpty didn’t fall…. Dumpers was pushed.  Again.  Speculation.  The poem clearly states….  Humpty had a great fall.    Light headed?  Clumsy?  Vertigo? Trying to tie those shoes and spilled over?  Or perhaps pushed?  I’ll tell you.  The mystery continues.

Who is Humpty?  Boy or girl, animal or inanimate object?  Argggghhhhh.  This is just getting worse and worse.  We are no closer to a solution.  It is all a big puzzle.

One thing is certain.  It is clear that Humpty could not be put together again.  The King’s men tried.  The King’s horses tried.  What the heck?  The horses tried?  Soooo… what do I make of all of this?

I think Humpty Dumpty was just THAT….. some kind of a puzzle….. say……  like a jigsaw puzzle.   The thing just fell off the wall… perhaps on a windy day…. and down it went.  So the King’s men and horses gave it a shot… but… no dice.  You see, in that strong wind… some of the pieces blew away.

And THIS is exactly what we can learn from Humpty.

Everything changes.  Sometimes we fall.  And we fall so hard (or even light)…. that all our pieces go all over the place.  Eventually, we get them back together… but not quite all the way.  A couple of pieces blew away.

It doesn’t mean we aren’t okay…. or that we aren’t complete.  It doesn’t mean that we aren’t put back together.  It simply means that we have changed… as a result of that tumble.  We are different.  We have become a new puzzle.   Just missing a couple of pieces that we will never forget.

So maybe it isn’t such a mystery after all.
Then again, maybe he was simply  a Boy Egg on a wall…. who got pushed.

Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes.  —  Hugh Prather

I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.  —  Stephen Hawking