A PATH, NOT THE PATH, BUT AN INTERESTING PATH NEVERTHELESS

A truly lovely man once told me he had to sell his boat, because when he walked by, it yelled at him to take it out when he had other things to do.  And it was so stressful, he sold the boat.  And yes he liked the tranquility of boating.  This is a man tuned to the harmony of life, experimenting with it. I can't imagine a living in a world that stops because I've told myself I'm overwhelmed. Why, if that were the case, I'd never circle big challenges before leaping. I'd just quit.  I'm wasn't built with the divine in mind.  That came later, after I turned away from stereotypes and began questioning. The media assaults my sense each minute of each day with alarm. Advertisers or politicians, it doesn't matter, they attempt to manipulate. Except with people like me, they forgot; I can turn it all off in an instance. All of it. And you are right to ask, if you step out of the mainstream, what's left?  What's left are decisions about decisions.  Better to find the best influences than to make it up as I go along. Discovering I was a man of faith but not of organized religion took time. I had little idea why I was drawn to fountains and quiet spots, why I could wile away time with a thermos and a book or fished with an unbaited hook.  I guess like you, I can admit I needed confirmation. Higher level education is life long. University taught how to study, how to digest and organize thoughts, how to research and best of all, how to read a subject. Though at the time you could not convince me a year was short, but as an old man I can tell you a single year is like the blink of an eye. Time passes quicker even for old men who take their sweet time to die.  Faced with ideals, we have much to think about. Can we trust our own senses to invest our valuable time to make the examination of the world a craft?  I'll let you know when I'm done.