Imagine a life that had no end, no finale, to punctuate the symphony that was your accomplishments. What would be the motivation to accomplish anything armed with the knowledge that you would never die, never run out of time to do all the things you wanted to do?
The truth is many of us would continue to put those things off and habitually say that we would get to it later. How would the beauty of the world have meaning if we had seen it before, whether that was 10, 100, or 1000 years earlier?
One of my favorite quotes on this topic comes from the movie Troy. When speaking with Briseis, Achilles gives her some insight into the lives of the immortals:
"The Gods envy us. They envy us because we are mortal."
The thought that an immortal, with all the power, wisdom, and omniscience that they possess could envy a mere mortal is astounding. In many ways it makes sense though; they would live on year after year. In their eyes our miracles would be commonplace and everything we see as unique would be repetition.
I guess the lesson I am trying to get at today is that we should all think twice about how great an immortal life would be lest the very things that define our human nature would be lost.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Saturday, September 13, 2014
My Puzzle
Hello readers,
As this is my first blog post, I think it fitting to start at the beginning. Not at the beginning of my life, Gods no, that would take forever; let us begin at a time when self-discovery took center stage.
Quite recently, events have occurred in my life that have made me feel more complete than ever before; like putting in the final piece to a 1000 piece puzzle. While I would not trade this feeling for anything - it is especially euphoric - it made me question how I survived before finding my final piece and where she fit in the mosaic that is me. The truth is that I was not ready to handle the myriad of emotions that came with a complete puzzle. When solving a puzzle, you cannot focus on the whole picture, but rather you must focus on sections.
When I met my wife, I knew from the first conversation that border to the puzzle was complete. She would be the boundary upon which my adult life was built. Our courtship happened quickly, so quickly that for many years we questioned if we were meant to be. It took us six years, but we finally hit a point where the questioning stopped and the acceptance began. We accepted that fact that we were right for each other and that we would be together forever. And so the border to the puzzle was completed.
Next came my wonderful daughters, the powerful focal points of my puzzle. They inspire me everyday to be a better person. Much like the focal points in any puzzle, they draw me in and challenge me to never give up. The accomplishment of seeing them grow into adults drives me forward each day, providing for them and teaching them how to survive the harsh landscape of the real world. Now the border is complete and the focal points are in place, yet the most complex section is to come.
Finally, the background of the puzzle must be completed. In many puzzles, including my own, the background is the most difficult to complete. Deep down I knew along that my mosaic was not complete, I had my foundation in life and my reasons for continuing forth, but the sights, the sounds, even the tastes of my everyday life were just not complete; I had more love to give. Being a man with so much figured out already, I knew completing that final part to my puzzle would require the right woman to guide me. In just a couple weeks, she has defined the tone of my days; the same as the background of a puzzle can define the tone of the whole piece.
And so my puzzle has its final piece laid and the picture is complete. I can see the big picture now and know what my limits are, what I am fighting for, and have the right tone to make every day better than the last.
As this is my first blog post, I think it fitting to start at the beginning. Not at the beginning of my life, Gods no, that would take forever; let us begin at a time when self-discovery took center stage.
Quite recently, events have occurred in my life that have made me feel more complete than ever before; like putting in the final piece to a 1000 piece puzzle. While I would not trade this feeling for anything - it is especially euphoric - it made me question how I survived before finding my final piece and where she fit in the mosaic that is me. The truth is that I was not ready to handle the myriad of emotions that came with a complete puzzle. When solving a puzzle, you cannot focus on the whole picture, but rather you must focus on sections.
When I met my wife, I knew from the first conversation that border to the puzzle was complete. She would be the boundary upon which my adult life was built. Our courtship happened quickly, so quickly that for many years we questioned if we were meant to be. It took us six years, but we finally hit a point where the questioning stopped and the acceptance began. We accepted that fact that we were right for each other and that we would be together forever. And so the border to the puzzle was completed.
Next came my wonderful daughters, the powerful focal points of my puzzle. They inspire me everyday to be a better person. Much like the focal points in any puzzle, they draw me in and challenge me to never give up. The accomplishment of seeing them grow into adults drives me forward each day, providing for them and teaching them how to survive the harsh landscape of the real world. Now the border is complete and the focal points are in place, yet the most complex section is to come.
Finally, the background of the puzzle must be completed. In many puzzles, including my own, the background is the most difficult to complete. Deep down I knew along that my mosaic was not complete, I had my foundation in life and my reasons for continuing forth, but the sights, the sounds, even the tastes of my everyday life were just not complete; I had more love to give. Being a man with so much figured out already, I knew completing that final part to my puzzle would require the right woman to guide me. In just a couple weeks, she has defined the tone of my days; the same as the background of a puzzle can define the tone of the whole piece.
And so my puzzle has its final piece laid and the picture is complete. I can see the big picture now and know what my limits are, what I am fighting for, and have the right tone to make every day better than the last.
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