True Destiny; If Life is a Journey, Why go it alone?

Having taken a few days off to clear my thoughts and relax, if you can call it relaxing, I thought it best to get right on the blog this morning and see what comes forth from the vastness of my imagination. Well maybe vastness is not the best descriptor, come to think of it maybe imagination lacks something as well. Either way, here I go with my attempt to motivate, inspire, and otherwise impress the daylights out of you with my wit and personality. You can be the judge of how well I complete the task.

I was talking with a dear friend the other day, a conversation that was very appreciated on my part, and one that I needed to hear. I have been struggling with what to do with my life the last few months. Maybe struggle is an understatement, let's put it this way, life has kicked me in the ass, and I am still sailing across the known universe from the kick. It was one of those kicks that you can't plan for, you sure can't position yourself for, and "Please Sir may I have another" never ever came out of my mouth I can assure you. I have had set backs in my life before, both from a job standpoint and a monetary standpoint. But this setback has hit me in a far different place, that being a confidence standpoint. I always thought that I had my stuff together. Knew what I wanted, knew what I could accomplish, and knew that it would happen. Today, truth be told, not so much. Now don't get me wrong, I still know what I want to do, and to some degree how I want to do it. What I don't know right now is if this is the right time, or maybe I need to put it on the shelf for a while and see what it looks like a month from now, or even a year from now.

I think we all have our own pity parties from time to time. Why has this happened, or that happened? Why aren't things going my way? Why do I doubt this or that? Why, Why, Why? If I had the answer to all the whys I would be a very rich man. I can't tell you why certain things happen to certain people. I can't even begin to explain why certain things happen to me, and why I'm in the middle of shit storm once again. Now let me say I am fine, and the things I contend with are more associated with emotions then anything else. There are days when I wish I could walk away from situations and not feel compassion. Not worry about other people and their problems and concerns. Walk away from individuals who are hurting because they have no one to go to and not the foggiest notion of what to do next. I wish I could just walk away, but I can't. You can't turn compassion off like a light switch. Compassion is not always convenient in terms of time, when you feel it, when others need it, when you need to display it. Compassion is either you have it or you don't. If you have it use it, if you don't, well screw you.

I've said before that life is too short to be taken seriously. But life is also too short to be selfish and not give of yourself so others can benefit. There have been times in my life where I didn't feel I had anything to give anyone. My feelings of emptiness and loneliness were only exceeded by my feeling of total obscurity. It wouldn't matter if I had been blown off the face of the earth and never come back, at least that was what I was feeling at the moment. Truth be told, that those that loved me may have had a different opinion on this matter. But I have felt lonely and unappreciated. I have had moments of doubt and unbelief. I have even had that moment in time where I didn't care whether I lived or died. We all go through these moments, some have a more difficult time with them, others never make it through them. I am here to tell you that on the other side of these battles and struggles is an awareness that you can achieve all that you were designed to achieve.

If at first you don't succeed, join the club. Very few people get it right the first time, and even less get it right all the time. I'm not even sure I know of anyone who has gotten it right all the time. Oh yea there are people out there who think they have gotten it right all the time, but you and I both know they are full of crap. We all make mistakes, we all fail, we are all human. Being a human means we all have shortfalls and shortcomings. I know this may come as a shock to some of you, but none of us are perfect. The sooner we come to that realization the better we will all be. The key is to turn our shortfalls into opportunities to improve, grow, and mature. We all should learn from our mistakes and those of others. Heck if someone wants to plow the field ahead of me, more power to them. I would much rather have someone else do the heavy lifting and let me come through the field with less effort and stress. It's not that I'm lazy, just smart.

One final thought: Doubts will come and go. Struggles will always be a part of life, and for the Boston Red Socks, there's always next year. OK that last bit was my attempt at lightening the moment, although to die heart Red Socks fans, well I digress. We will always be contending with something in our life. At times it may be small, at other times monumental in size and scope. The key is to take it one day at a time, one step at a time, and don't worry about the things you can't control. Worrying about things out of our control is nothing more than putting water in a bucket with holes and wondering why we can't put out the fire. We have to play with the hand that is given to us and that's all we can do. Reach out to those around you who are there because they love you, appreciate you, and believe in you. If life is a journey, why would you want to go it alone? Think about it.......