If You Please

You were born into this world 

To live.

Nothing more is expected of you

Than to move from one day

To the next and exist.

Millions have done it

And it's comfortable to be the same.

Same events, same times, same ideas,

Until it all blends into one gray mass.

Then there are those who rise up

Taking those traits that make us

Separate and above the animals

And move forth to find experiences,

A day to day discovery of the

People, places, things and ideas

That drive our interest and our joy.

Yet in those things, there is also

Danger.

It is in the desire to avoid pain

That a man turns to the bottle

As his true, defining source of relief.

With an eye of an ever alluring

Excitement and enthusiasm,

One can be convinced that

The key to freedom can be found

In the many addictions of a drug.

It is in an attempt to find passion

And appreciation that a man is

Coerced to pleasures of the flesh.

In the attempt to receive those same

Pleasures and be without worry,

Man can be blinded by ambition

And walk a dark road to monetary

Independence.

To live is to chance never 

Making a mark to be remembered by,

While being alive is chasing the

Ever changing landscape in pursuit

Of the most enigmatic and euphoric

Four-leaf clover.

It is our chance to take,

And up to those who make

A pit stop in the movement of our lives

To understand and support

Or stay jaded and skulk away.

A dream is often just

A choice not yet made.

Does It Need To Be a Choice? Can't I Just Cake?

     Today, I was in a place to overhear the phrase, "Have your cake and eat it too.", and it gave me pause. In the traditional sense of how people use this phrase, the idea is that they have something pleasant and want something else pleasant as well. In reality, wouldn't this be a much more realistic (and common) "Have your cake in vanilla and another cake in chocolate"? When presented as wanting options, things take on a very different tone; not so demeaning and minimizing. However, the intent of the statement is generally to have the 'offending' party to come across as selfish and uncaring, especially when related to relationships and careers.in a broader sense though, is it really?

      I am experiencing my own form of this right now - I want a healthy body, but I also really want Doritos. My desire for a flat stomach does not negate my longing for delicious, cheese covered goodness. As such, the desire to meet both needs becomes an exercise in compromise. If I exercise more and eat less (but still some) wonderful chippy goodness, I can accomplish both things. (Have my Doritos and eat them too?) The long held idea of choosing one over the other need not apply, unless I decide to stay home and stuff my face with carbs when I should be going for a walk.

      Then there are the passive factors. When I first start working out, my body is so tired and wants to be lazy. In time, it feels great to have abundant energy and stamina, but the road there is a bumpy one. Sitting around covered in the sweet orange Doritos dust is ver relaxing, but obviously lends itself to the blasé feeling my body experiences so much of the time when I'm out of shape.  Add to this the conditioning that comes with the pleasure centers that junk food dances upon, and you have a very simple concept that requires a very large commitment quotient. 

     Who doesn't have multiple wants, some of which may conflict or seem mutually exclusive? Isn't the transition to figuring a way to meet these needs the very definition of the human condition?

The Road (No Longer) Behind

       After a year off, the road once again calls. In my chosen line of work, there's a great opportunity to make fast money as a traveling consultant. As a married man, it will be difficult to leave my honey and my home for (potentially) a months time; but it is a circumstance of a short term loss for a long time gain. Life offers us all situations like this in our daily lives.

      My desire was to get a job here in "The City", settle in for some 9 to 5 and live life with my wife. Things changed. My job list ME, I decided to become a (statistic) 40 year old student and take the time to dedicate myself to being a full time student and part time earner. With the support of my incredible wife; I had the faith to move forward with this plan. Yet there is still a need for some income from me over the course of a year. I thought long and hard about the advantages of a 20 hour a week job paying minimum wage for the year - or go on the road and make the same amount in a month. It seems like an easy answer, but sleeping alone, being in different time zones trying to communicate and living out of a suitcase are hard conditions to get accustomed to when you have a wonderful life with a leading lady. I was willing to do the year to have the glory of waking to her face each day and be at home. However, the road called and allowed me a way to easily see my son and friends; so I chose the road for the chance to have time with the boy and 11 months of studies. 

     Rarely does life provide us a cut and dried answer to any meaningful decision; and we can choose to embrace that fact.  Pizza or burgers? Date A or Date B? Chocolate or peanut butter? (I bet Reese's cups were created to avoid said dilemma!) To stay or to to go? Hell, even the idea to accept life's rhythm or continue searching for greater truths is a choice without a clear cut winner. My philosophy is to follow my heart, my instincts, wherever they take me. Some people plan and eliminate as much chance as they can from the equation. Others still just choose to fly by the seat of their pants.  My decisions will be a part of my history; but the time to choose is always in the now. For us, now is all there ever will be.