Connected Strangers

Sometimes when I'm driving, especially when it's dark. And especially when I drive through a crowded city or neighborhood, I wonder what kind of lives I'm crossing. What kind of events did I pass through without understanding? What emotions are being shared, thrown, or help out of the light?

It is almost too much to comprehend that as I travel on whatever journey I am on in that moment, that I pass thousands of other journeys on my way. Though I don't interact with the people I pass (we don't even see each other), I wonder if they are okay?

I wonder if we will ever meet, and if we do...would we know it?

Queen Wishy Washy

Since I can remember I have had a very hard time making decisions. Whether it be about food I want to buy for lunch, or what career path i want to persue. No matter the magnitude of the decision, it has been a constant battle.

I used to believe the struggle was due to the pressure I feel to make the right choice, impress upon those important to me that I am competent at selecting the best option. As I have grown older though, I have come to realize that whether a decision is "right" or not depends entirely on the attitude of the one making it.

Once you choose, you have to put full confidence behind the choice and force it, will it, make it be the right choice for you. Take every advantage of your decision and use the benefits it leaves in its wake.

And let's say, by chance you make the wrong decision. Is it really wrong? How can it be? Wouldn't a bad choice lead you in the direction you needed to go in the first place? The direction needed to gain knowledge to make a better decision in the future? Help you grow in the ability to know what is best for you as an individual...If that is the case...are there even such things as mistakes?

The Power of IF

What: [Interrogative pronoun or determiner)-asking for information, specifying something. [Relative  
          pronoun] thing or things. [Exclamation] emphasizing something surprising or remarkable.

If: [Conjunction - introducing a conditional clause] on the condition, supposition, or event that. Used 
     in expressing a polite request or opinion.
                                            -Oxford Dictionary-
How interesting that two words in the English language, both with concrete definitions and guidelines for application to our speech, can immediately transform into a cloud of uncertainty when they come together as a pair.

What if.

Six characters. Two words separated by the smallest of spaces. What if. Insignificant...all powerful. "What if..." in its tiny presentation, whispers the promise of success, the threat of failure, the fear of destruction. It holds the hope for change...the knowledge of opportunity or wonder at opportunities missed.

"What if..." a simultaneous motivation to try and warning not to venture too far past the unknown. It carries with it the capability to weave doubt into belief, draw relief out of a dream. What if, can twist support through an idea or write doubt into any imagination.

"What if". An infinite amount of opportunity...a travesty in it's truest form.

The Science of Happiness

I once saw happiness defined in a book as an equation R/E or, Reality divided by Expectation. While this seems logical enough, can happiness really be broken down into a scientific equation? According to R/E all it would take to be happy is to either improve your reality...or lower your expectations.

R/E allows for the assumption that happiness is relative to the individual. Good. However it also leaves room for people to sell themselves short by having expectations so low that there is little drive, little motivation, to be the best of what you are. And couldn't it be as simple as that? The understanding that every minute you do all you are capable of, you are the best? Would that be enough to improve reality?

Take pride in all the good you do, the potential you have, and the beauty you see.

Life and Chess Part 3: Bishop

On either side of the king and queen stands a bishop. The bishop has no restriction in distance when they travel from one place to another, but are limited to diagonal movement. As a consequence of its diagonal path, each bishop remains on either the white or black squares. This means the bishops are able to assist in a limited number of conundrums. They are focused and efficient, but creativity is not the strength of a bishop.

In life, the bishops represent various people you may meet in your life. people who may cross your path, right in front of you, without you even noticing. More often than not, you may not even notice they were important to your development until they are long gone.

And isn't it a shame we are so many times blissfully unaware of the workings around us? That we cannot adequately appreciate those who put their stamp on our development?

Though the bishops realm is limited, in chess by the color of the squares they stand upon and in life by the connections and ability to be in the right place at the right time, the capacity to be helpful will never be in question.

The [Virtue] of Patience

The popular sayings and quotations advocate that "patience is a virtue", or "good things come to those who wait". And so it is true in many things. Patience is needed when baking a pie, waiting for a picture to develop,   or a letter to arrive. There is no amount of pacing, action, or coaxing that will make these things go faster.

Is patience always the right remedy though? Are we forever expected to sit patiently and wait for whatever it is that is supposed to happen next? Is there such a thing as too much patience? What if we wait to long and the thing we were waiting for passes like a whisper without us ever knowing it was there.

At some point, with some things, it seems that patience is a weakness. Waiting for the universe to put the pieces together, instead of working to find the ones that fit by yourself.

When is it time to stop being patient, to stop waiting, to stop expecting that what is meant to happen will happen on it's own? When is it time to take the initiative and make your future? Start the fire? At least point yourself in a direction...even if it isn't the right one...at least you would be traveling. Making progress.

At what point is patience no longer the virtue. No longer the right answer.

Soul Mates. Or. The Other Shoe

How do we know when we have found the right one? The one who is the perfect compliment for ourselves? The one who has everything we lack and lacks everything we have? How do you know when to say..."yes, you'll do, you'll do just fine".

I think probably, it goes like this:

One day, you decide you need new shoes. You know what you like, and from experience you know what you don't. You will already have found out what styles pinch your toes, which ones make your ankles look funny, and which brand seems to fit perfectly at first...but once you walk around for awhile, they make your feet hurt so much you could cry.

So, you go out on a search and finally (perhaps after 1 store, perhaps after 23) you find shoes that fit you just right. They are the perfect color, they hold your feet like a hug. "These will go perfectly with all the pants I own" you will say in elation. " I can wear these to any occasion if I want". You think for a moment that you wish you had found something with buckles. The thought is fleeting though, and disappears almost before you knew it was there.

You pat yourself on the back with pride for finding the perfect shoes. "Won't mother be proud" you say to yourself, "won't my friends be impressed".

You take your shoes home with the knowledge that there is no need to search any longer. You are giddy with satisfaction that you have found the perfect pair.

Sometime later, while you are strolling along in your shoes, you will catch a glimpse of something in a window across the street...you will stare through wide and hazy eyes at a beautiful pair of shoes...with buckles.

Be warned dear one, don't look too long. You have already spent all your money on the first pair of shoes.