Good day to you reader;
Since I last wrote life was on the upswing. I am proud to report that it has continued to increase up to this point. This is mainly due to my lovely girl friend Aurora who's presence in my life is both inspiring and motivating. I have a few weeks until I move to Jackson Hole for the summer. I am excited for this change and for the new things I will discover from it. I am trying to focus my energy this summer to figure out what direction I should be taking my life. You see I have been less than successful in the world of academia and I feel like I need to know whether to cut the line and move on to something new or to give it another shot. I also feel that if I can manage to devote more time and effort to seeking guidance and counsel from the lord then I will become successful in knowing more fully my purpose in life. A question that has and, I'm sure, will continue to drive me up the walls till I die. I don't know what else to write today so I will leave you with a thought from a man who gave a speech at the University of Utah graduation ceremony this last Friday. The speaker, a highly renowned sports columnist, spoke of a relationship with a professor that he had started in college. The two had become good friends over the 4 years that they had together at the university. The professor, on realizing the speaker's impending graduation, asked the speaker to remain in contact. The speaker had all the intentions in the world to do so but, instead, let his life get in the way of remaining in contact. After almost twenty years the speaker was miraculously reunited with the professor, only to find out that the professor had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease. The speaker, knowing that his beloved professor had little time left made a point to visit him weekly. It was during these visits that the speaker learned many important things I will try to quote them as closely as they were given at the podium:
Giving is living, Taking is dying.
Roughly translated; We. as people, are increased and made happy through the giving of ourselves and our time to others. He pointed out that those who measure success with money or worldly possessions will not have much to smile about when on their death bed. "A dying man will not ask to be left alone with his big screen TV, but instead will ask for loved ones" Also listening is a supreme form of giving.
A man who works out at the gym will decompose just the same as some fatty after death.
Basically how good you look when you die isn't something you should be striving for or really caring about the world will try to sell you on the next thing you can by or look like or do. When, in reality, we are defined and carried on after death by those who we loved and served. He makes a point of saying; "we live on in the people we loved." Also stating that his professor asked him to come visit his grave after his death to talk with him, saying "After I die, you talk, and I will listen"
As a 70 year old I have the ages of 12 and 35 inside me so you as a 35 year old should be jealous.
Age is a beautiful and essential part of life it should not be viewed as a tarnish or degradation of the human but as something that brings even more to the person. Wrinkles and graying of hair are so frowned upon in our society. People spend their lives trying to escape them, but in reality they are badges of experience and knowledge. As a 24 year old I should use the vitality and curiosity that I had as a 9 year old because that is still me and still inside me.
The thing that touched me the most during the speech was the description of the professor. He was a man who could barely eat a slice of an orange struggling just to get it to his lips and to chew it. But this man would share his time with anyone and be a comforter to those who, before entering his bedroom, would be gearing themselves up to comfort the dying man. He needed no comfort he had the experience and composure that being old and wise bring. The people going to see him needed him. They couldn't see beyond themselves to know the professor didn't need their pity. It had no use.
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