Life might not be the best journey for many, but it's the ONLY one we have.(wow, didn't know he was going to go all philosophical on us today)
The reason I say this, is because life is that all too brief time allotted to every single one of us, to do with as we will.
I would wager that most people spend their lives making the MOST of it.
Others...not so much.
You tend to think about stuff like this as you get older...I mean "more seasoned" (now he's talking about cooking?)
Case in point, an irresponsible adult that left seven children alone in a house in Fort Wayne, only to have three of them die when the house caught fire (due to food cooking on a stove, FWFD spokesperson stated). Fortunately, four lives were spared, but three lives will never reach their potential, and all because another person's life seemed more important.Life is many things...weird being one of them.
We succeed...we fail...we laugh...we cry...we love...and we hate.
Like I said...life can get pretty damn weird at times.
Still, the time we are imparted should mean something...to someone, or else we've effectively squandered our life.
We can pursue greatness, with absolutely NO guarantee we'll actually make it. But we enjoy the pursuit, nevertheless.
But we cannot make it in this life without paying attention to a few of the "road signs" along the way. lest we wind up falling asleep behind the wheel, or we miss our exit.
Luckily, along the way, there are people that matter to us, usually our parents, relatives, and friends. We also have mentors; those whose tutelage we come to embrace, because they have shown us something in a way that makes our journey through life more meaningful.If we stopped and counted all the souls we've met in life, and how they have affected us, we'd probably be astounded. Likewise, if we stopped to ponder on all those who may have benefited in some way from knowing US, we'd be equally astounded.
Life is certainly one thing if nothing else...it's interesting.
How we choose to manage our time in our life has been one of those nasty buggers that's been getting harder to chase down in the last few decades. We never seem to have ENOUGH time to do all that we need or want to do.Well, the simple answer is that time has not gotten shorter...we still have the EXACT SAME AMOUNT of time we had before, it's just that our "management style" has eluded us.
People have trouble prioritizing these days. What with all the technology at their call, we've made things a tad more complicated.
People are too busy texting to watch the road, or just have to carry that cellphone every damn place, like it's another appendage.
We're becoming unwilling servants to that which was designed to serve us in the first place.
We're seeing the erosion of what my generation used to call "manners"...
Personable behavior is falling by the wayside, as is attentiveness.
Curiously enough, these are a few of the "things" we truly need to make it in our life.
For example, those "people" in my neighborhood quite literally HAVE no life to speak of...simple as that.
They waste every day doing the exact same things.
Now Dean Wormer (Animal House) might have said that "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son", but these people have taken that to a whole new level.
The constant bombardment to our ears from their damnable car stereos is proof enough to substantiate that.
Or perhaps it might be the lack of accountability they exhibit.
It might even be the reckless and irresponsible behavior they display with pride.
As the "Dean" said...no way to go through life.
But meander they do, and it becomes disheartening for the rest of us that ARE trying our damnedest to make life worth something.
Life Can get weird, but that's dependent upon HOW weird you choose to allow it to become.
Many feel that life is just a ride. It's all about being entertained,. You pay the fare, climb aboard, and scream your ass off, until the ride comes to a complete stop. Some don't even bother to strap in...sad to say.I've always looked at life as something to enjoy, but never in a "carnival" sense.
Life is a learning curve...a teacher...a way to achieve, on an intimate personal level.
Life is designed to make you more today, than what you were the day before.
And whenever there is a day where you learn nothing, that day has been wasted.
No one ever said life would be easy, least of all my parents, but if there is one thing that IS true, it's that we CAN make life harder FOR OURSELVES.
Sadly enough, there are no real "do-overs", unlike the BOARD game version.
I try to make every day count...and in some way, it's an atonement for those days that I DID waste.
We all wasted some days...right?
But we learned that we did, and sought to rectify that error.
So make today a re-committment to yourself, and others.
It doesn't have to be a "religious" thing...just a PRACTICAL thing.
And in my life, practicality will always trump technology.So it might also be with your life.
Life is complex, as are we, so perhaps we should go with THAT flow.
It's just something to think about...and on a MONDAY, no less...LOL.
Stay safe out there, America.
6 comments:
I look forward to reading your blog every morning and you never fail to make me think. Another well thought out, well written blog. Good Job!
Darn, I knew I forgot to add THINKING as a major part of our lives...thanks for reminding me...I just wasn't "thinking", I guess.
:)
I only attempt to "share the wealth", as it were.
And every one of us has within us, the type fo "wealth" that money just cannot buy.
At least we do when we listen to what life has to tell us.
Thank you very much.
B.G.
Wow, that's deep for a Monday.
I view every day as an adventure. Something new is out there just waiting to happen, to be learned, to be learned from. Life isn't always a bed of roses, but even a bad day means you are still alive. And the next adventure is just around the bend.
Yesterday is dead and gone. Tomorrow never gets here. So enjoy the heck out of today.
You're right.. we don't get do-overs..and no matter how much we'd like to go back, and erase what has happened, we must go on - we can only change what is in our future, not what is in our past. So grit our teeth, and struggle on. Put our pasts behind us, and make a new path - one that is bigger, bolder, better, and one that gives more, reaches more, and actually DOES something instead of wasting our days just surviving. I feel sorry for those who never come to the realization of that. As I've gotten older, I've really switched my thinking around from what it was when I was younger. I never thought of politics, I never thought of anyone else but myself, or how anything affected anyone else but myself. Now it's totally different. Just the other night, I was watching a program on Nat'l Geographi channel about compton.. the worst of the worst place to be - for a young black male - to break out of that pit of hell.. and thinking.. I've got kids in my sparks group that might be heading down that way, if someone doesn't give a **** about them. Their mom isn't. It really pisses me off, how their mothers can just let this happen, not take any action about their children, or care, or even try to make a difference in their childrens lives. Suffice to say, just thinking that kids I know, and happen to like, even though they are little boogers and drive me CRAZY and WANTING TO SCREAM.. I don't want them to turn out that way, I want them to succeed in life, to grow up and move onto high school with good grades, to achieve in life. Do their mothers do that much? I don't know, and I'm to the point of "I don't care if their mothers care or not, I'm taking an interest in them, so they don't turn out that way". So they're not turning out dropping out at 16 and becoming an absentee dad of someone else on welfare at age 15, living in gov't housing. Taking pride in themselves, what they can do, what they can achieve. DARN I didn't mean to go off on a rant on your blog in comments :P
E/L:
Yeah, it was a bit "deep"...musta been that lack of Canadian Club in my morning coffee...!
Life IS an adventure...well said.
ANd how we take in all that this adventure allows us, is who we will become.
Thanks for commenting.
B.G.
Diane:
You bring up a good point:
When we ALL were "young", we WERE self-centered...call it an offshoot of our infancy. Then, we depended on everyone ELSE for everything. As we got a little older, we swung completely in the opposite direction...all for US, and nothing for anyone else.
When we get older still, we swing back again, but stop in the middle, striking that balance between self-serving and helping others.
Many people become too comfortable in that "all for me" area, never leave that part of their lives, and when THEY have kids, the kids become another "item" in their vast collection of THINGS.
They SHOULD be growing the hell UP, securing good values, and then passing them along TO these children.
That ALONE would stop a LOT of this rising tide of criminal activity at earlier ages.
Ranting?
I don' see no steenkin' ranting.
(shades of the Treasure of the SIerra Madre)
Say what you feel...and mean what you say.
That's all I would ask.
Thanks for stopping over.
B.G.
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