When I opened my eyes this morning, I was sixty-five years old. Should I be shocked? I think not for it is, and has been, my time — a perception existing in my consciousness — for a very long period, at least since I awoke at 20 or so. It is the same for everyone, I believe.  

Wow, the new year is upon us. With this in mind, I would like to share some musings for the upcoming period. We live in truly narcissistic times, as has been experienced many times in history. (1) Images are omnipresent: we are asked to glorify the beautiful me as if it were an already completed project, as opposed to a work in progress. But what if I have a poor picture of the self, of myself? Can it not be ameliorated? The Internet is awash with completed portrayals of magnificent bodies or exquisite lifestyles. We are easily fooled into believing that our icons, our idols, have always been exceptional. They have invariably been special. This is just not true. Many times, they have simply been created by marketing gurus. (2) 

When asked, many people respond that life is routine, it is boring. Tragically, this is certainly one meaning of the term. A more powerful and, potentially, more redeeming meaning of the phrase is an activity which, when practiced continually, leads to a state of excellence — expertise if you will. At the onset, it is true that we do need to be thoughtful and imaginative when it comes to discovering our true calling, our intrinsic skillset.  

For every failure, there is a story. I recently had the opportunity to speak with a man about the suffering souls addicted to a host of substances. He was a professional working in the field of harm reduction. (1) The outside observer surely questions why an individual would throw their life needlessly away. This can only be because you believe that it has no value, there is no possibility of redemption or self-growth.