9 Aug 07
I suppose it may be a good thing to offer a bit of insight at this juncture - and so I offer my "State of the Union" address, on this, my 31st birthday.
I think I'm a better man at 31 than I was at 30... or 29, or 28, or 19, for that matter (although 19 was a great year). This year has taught me so many things...
- there aren't many good reasons to stay angry at anyone or anything.
- the only thing we have to fear, is, fear itself.
- fear motivates more human behavior than any of us would like to admit
- it's okay to not have all the answers
- stop trying to fit square pegs into round holes.
- failure isn't fun, but when it comes as a result of having given something your whole effort - that eases the sting a lot.
- every event we call "failure" is really just the husk of a great opportunity
I have a scientific mind and a spiritual heart. They often don't get along. Part of me looks into the starry night sky and sees Lions, scorpions, and dippers. And yet I realize that there are no such shapes in the cosmos; these are simply patterns we have imposed into the happenstance position of heavenly bodies. I know that the human intellect by nature, is a pattern seeking machine. I realize that "reality" is much larger than our finite intellects can measure and comprehend. There sure seems to be something "bigger" going on out there.
What is the mystery? I do not know.
I've accepted the fact that I don't have all the answers.
My soul seems to know this one thing: as I listen to my inner voice, as I'm honest with myself, as I'm honest with other people, as I do everything I can to clean up my messes, as I strive to understand the world, as I savor life's experiences as I would a fine wine, as I exist with my dreams as my path, rather than a destination, as I respect and try to uplift my fellow travelers in mortality, as I leave each hour, each day, each year, each person - better than how I found it... When my day comes to transition from mortality into the next realm, I will do so without regret. Like a weary traveler leaving a favorite vacation paradise, I will be sad to see life end, and yet, I will leave with a smile and a happy heart, knowing that I spent my time there without reservation, with an open heart, open arms, open ears, open eyes - and in that day that I encounter the mystery of the hereafter, I know that my time on earth will have brought joy to the universe, and all will be well.
