We live in interesting times, but there are a number of things that I just do not understand.
And I think in a sense, that’s a good thing.
Socrates, famously, at his trial, was accused of being the wisest man in the world, and his rebuttal was that, yes, I am the wisest man in the world, because I know that I know nothing.
You may think you know something, but you know nothing, but I know that I know nothing.
So, if you approach life in that way, it becomes quite curious, to be quite honest.
One of the things I do not understand, for instance, is why many of us do not accept the life that we have been given, where we are right now in life.
If I think back over my own life, there were certain seminal moments that I made a choice, and all of those choices have produced the now, the moment that I’m speaking with you, the person that I am today, I am thus because of those choices, and it’s the same for all of us.
Recently, I was on an airline, and I spoke to the purser on the airline, and he was going to retire in another two years.
And I said to him, what are you going to do once you retire?
And he said, I’m really not sure, but I’ve always loved architecture.
And I said, gosh, at school, what did you study?
And he said, I studied computer science, which I thought was a little bit odd, given that he was a purser on an airline.
But that being said, okay.
So when you retire, are you going to study architecture?
Because obviously he’s still a relatively young man.
He’s maybe 55, something like this.
And he said, no.
And here are the famous words, I am too old.
And I said to him, no, you’re not.
Not at all.
But it will take some time to go back to school and get your degree in architecture, or perhaps don’t even do that.
Just get a job.
I mean, this is what famous architects, I’m sure have done in history.
They’ve just gone and started out.
And did their very best, and eventually became famous, like so many professions.
They didn’t go to school, they worked into the job, and etc, etc.
Steve Jobs is the classic, right?
Apple.
So why am I not willing to accept the life that I have been given and improve upon it?
Because given that I’m a man, given that I’m 69 once again, certain amount of money, certain amount of intelligence, sort of white, then everything else is possible.
And this truism came to me during my Camino walk during the recent summer.
And I realized this is 100 percent true, but I have to believe it, and also I have to work towards it.
I just cannot have a goal or a dream and say it’s going to magically drop out of the sky.
And yes, there is the possibility that the man will not eventually become an architect.
And perhaps life will be gone before he finishes, but get on the path, babe.
Come on, get down to work on this piece of life that I’ve been given because at this moment where I am right now is the net sum of all the choices that I’ve made in the past.
And they cannot be changed.
They happened, and that’s the truth.
They are history.
But given the tools that I possess today, I can move forward and alter the trajectory of my life because that’s inside of me, for sure.
Everything is possible, as I’ve just said.
So when you think to yourself if this is true, then I don’t have to worry about my life.
I’m happy with the piece of life that I’ve been given, because it has produced the feeling that I have today.
Now, there are many people, of course, if you walk down a street in some Canadian cities, and you see the homeless and the victims, et cetera, et cetera, these people, I’m sure, will not accept their life.
It’s the poor me phenomenon.
Oh, life is cruel, I’ve been treated poorly, I’m the wrong sex, I’m the wrong age, I’m the wrong ethnicity, whatever it is.
But there’s no excuse for my life, tragically, because it is my life.
I don’t understand why people poison themselves with alcohol, with drugs, bad relationships.
Why?
Why would you do this to yourself, unless you had a mental illness?
And I think that’s a good thing that I don’t get it, because some things cannot truly be understood.
They just have to be allowed to be in any society.
But gosh, have some gratitude for life, my life, and go forward.
This last summer, we took a long walk across northern Spain, and what I realized as I was walking is that there were not many old people like me.
Most were about 10 or 20 years younger, and I thought, why?
My body is not an extraordinary body at all.
It’s just an ordinary body that I’ve made an attempt to look after, like an old car.
Why would there not be people my age walking?
And well, we know the answer, because many older people have resigned themselves to the fact that they’ve put on weight, or perhaps they’re lazy, or perhaps they just don’t want to experience hardship for six weeks, sleeping in a dormitory with strange people on a daily basis.
But they could.
They’ve made a choice in the type of life that they want to lead.
But you don’t have to.
As you age, life is ascended, if you want.
You can literally do anything with the time that remains for you on this earth, if you want.
And of course, if you don’t want, this also is up to you.
But the anxiety that exists supposedly amongst the young is equally replicated amongst the old.
And I’ve read that addictions amongst elderly people, especially elderly men, off the scale were drunkards, we like our booze.
And you ask yourself, how are you ever going to get close to God?
You’re God, as you define him, if you’re altered.
Well, the obvious answer is, you can’t.
And this is why people are, I think, sad and angry as they age.
Totally unnecessary, I feel.
You should be happy with the life that you’ve been given.
And yes, you want to improve it, sure.
Why not?
You want to improve your body, exercise?
Of course.
But don’t wish that you were someone else, or you could have been someone else, or you should have been somewhere else, because you’re not, babe.
You are where you are today.
And that’s the truth.
So once again, I probably will never understand many things, because we know that we do not know certain things.
Like Socrates said, I’m the wisest man in the world, because I know, I know nothing.
The corollary being, I’m always open to learn.
So you know what they say.
You know what they say.
Critical thinking is everything, especially if you’re going to accept your piece of life.
And critical thinking is great, truly great.
You take care.
God bless.
Bye bye.