Aspirations

Every child, as they are growing up, is asked many times "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Answers fall over the spectrum, but the main idea of the question is to get them thinking about their future. Several weeks ago, my father asked me what I wanted to be and it has been something that stayed with me. On my morning walk I pondered the question and had a kind of revelation, an epiphany about what the question really gets one to ask oneself. "What do you think you will be doing when you have reached your full potential?" When I thought about it this way specifically, I give more credence to my past experience's, my life as a whole, and I'll honestly say, I can't answer the question. I don't know myself well enough to be able to speculate what I may become. Do any of us really know ourselves so well that the future holds no surprises for us. The answer is no. Partly because I don't believe one can know their self so that well, but mostly because the world can't help but throw a wrench in the work and in that crucial second, the world you knew is gone. An offshoot of your existence that you will never see again. And if we could, would we want to? Some say ignorance is bliss, but our own future, like it or not, is a subject our mind is naturally inclined to dwell on. In the end, this is how I decided to wrap things up: to some extent, life can be predicted. Not with crystal balls, tea leaves or the stars, but by knowing yourself. But don't have the audacity to believe that you can cheat fate of another end, because like the beating of a butterfly's wing, the smallest action in the world can influence our lives in an infinite number of ways.

The Picture Frame

When my Grandmother passed away, among the things I took for myself were two picture frames. For months I waited to find a picture that I would be proud to display around my room, but what to put in it puzzled me. It occurred to me that each individual person would have different reasons behind their choices and I don't know what kind of person I am. The first factor is what sort of picture is it that you are putting in: Whether it is a person/s, place, or thing. The next factor is "What makes this picture frame-worthy?" Does it remind you of someone, someplace, or something that you are fond of, or is it simply because it is appealing to the eye and matches the decor? Next comes the narrowing down of the available pictures to determine which one or ones will be framed. (Assuming there is a limited amount of frames and wall and ceiling space) It more or less comes down to what images mean the most to you, whether there is any correlation between pictures and other environmental factors. In this fashion, the framing of a picture of a significant other is a personal milestone, because it fills the space that could have been held by a number of other images representing your life. Inversely, the removing and or replacing of such a picture can be equally moving. To this very moment, I still have two empty picture frames, but an inclination of what to fill them with fills my day to day thoughts.

Rethinking Recompense

It is a common enough malady that when two persons have a disagreement of some magnitude, they will stop talking for a great length of time. The parties take advantage of this time to do one of two things: Wait until the other person comes crawling back so that they themselves can determine the terms of the relationship or wait until the other person comes crawling back so that they can pulverize the self esteem and repute of the other person further. When one of them gets too impatient, they go to the second person to try to get the next best options. They either go to swallow their pride or they go to deliver their ultimatum. When both people are stubborn enough to let it go on for some time, it can become unnecessary for a second meeting. The individuals involved move on, forget the offense, or have given up on the second person. It can be trouble though, when a person who has moved on is given an ultimatum. The "blast from the past" can open deep, old wounds. You start to think back over the time that has passed between the ugly past and the now ugly present. Bitterness sets in, and the words that were meant to finalize the matter only manage to make you feel worse. Guilt, jealousy, or anger could be the only fruits of having the last word. I will admit that there are some people really need recompense, people who figuratively spend their whole lives waiting by the phone for that last word. It would seem that the only way to avoid lasting pain and suffering is to not let issues fester, to get all issues out in the open and taken care of immediately. There may still be some pain, it may even seem extreme and unnecessary, but like taking off a band-aid, its better for a short sting than a drawn out pain.

Time: Does it Fly or Crawl by?

Remarking on the passage of time is something that man has been doing since before he was man. Since troglodytes lumbered across ancient plains, history was being made and kept. Though crude and vague their cave drawings give descriptions of their lifestyles and environment. The natives of ancient Choco Canyon spent their whole lives studying and documenting how the heavens changed over time, erecting massive monuments to mirror the cycles of the sun and moon. Through the ages mankind has been compelled to mark and represent every second that ticks by. And it is not a whim, but a divine calling. Without considering the past, one cannot fathom the future. There would be no foresight, no provision. Such an existence would not even be primal, but feral. Gorging and than starving, rather than rationing and surviving. To prevent this self destructive end, we take what we can from the past and use it to make a better future.

The Reality of Resolutions

A tradition of New Years is to make "New Years Resolutions." Weight loss, exercise, and other wise self improvement is the general theme for such things. Its nearing the end of February and the sad reality of the matter is that even now, many people have yet to begin following their personal "Yellow Brick Roads." For example: a mother of four who is no closer to fitting into her high school jeans than she way the day she made her goal to do so. Or a paunchy middle aged man who has aspirations of a triathlon, but has done no more exercise than walking from hole to hole at the golf course. There is a very apt American saying: "The best day to start a diet is tomorrow." What keeps us chained to our unsatisfactory lives? The unwillingness to change, the fear of failure, and the lack of resolve. Resolve is the key part of resolution, so you must first have the courage to climb your personal mountain, before you can expand your horizons.

Death by Monotony.

As of late, I am afraid I have been suffering at the hands of a most heinous foe: Monotony. It is quite a cliche to say that one is "dying of boredom", but until recently I have not had adequate respect for the idea. Being jobless, penniless, and stuck in the suburbs I feel that my life wouldn't even qualify for the seediest of sitcoms. On account that I don't get into nearly enough mischief. Without inspiration for literary endeavors nor capitol for adventures, I often find myself pacing about my chateau. Of course there are more productive activities I could put into practice, but because of my as yet youthful spirit I scorn such things unless indisputably ordered to do said tasks. It occurs to me that those who may be reading this article may indeed be suffering in a comparable manner so to these, I empathize with utmost sincerity. I would like to add as a parting request, that all those who do read this please post an activity that they partake in when at the end of their creative rope, as it were.

The Seed of Ambition

Through the course of history, ambition has taken many forms. Greed, Manifest Destiny, even the "American Dream" to some extent. Often times, though, ambition can be the heart of disharmony. In your climb to reach the top, you may drag others down. Was this not the case in all of the crusades and the exploration of the "New World?" Or in corporations when workers resort to back-stabbing and brown-nosing? Is it right that others should have to fall for us to rise? President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, once said that for us as a people to triumph, we must stand together and lift where we stand. That through unity, we may best further ourselves and our cause. This day, for the first time in the history of our great nation, an African American has been elected to the office of President of the United States of America. I imagine that at the start of his campaign, President Obama felt that perhaps he was being too ambitious, that our day was not the day, nor our time the time for such a revolutionary idea. But the people have spoken that this is the day and time for a man of this caliber. And with this decision they have high hopes for their future. I make no claim that I know what may happen over the next four to eight years, but I do hold firm in the belief that a strong will to overcome and rise is always in the public interest. Even if it only serves to inspire others to take a stand themselves.