Conversations with Kevin - I: Choices

[A series of posts that stem from our random discussions.]

Which wields the most powerful sway over us, passion or habit? - Nikolai Gogol.

By the age of 24, most men and women have not acquired the wisdom of the World. We think we know a thing or two about it, but what lies beyond our grasp is always a greater force, a greater expanse of wilderness than what we carry in our souls. What we know. What we think we know. However, it is silly, and rather non productive to marvel at, or worry about how much you don't know. No matter how much you learn and for how long, there will always be something you don't know.

Instead, just make a vow in life to never stop learning. That does two things. First, your shelf of things that you don't know is constantly gets lighter. Second, you are never bored with life. Come to think of it, Life is so precious and so short, there really is no room to be bored. If you have room to be bored, then you are stuffing and squeezing some very important things out of sight, out of mind and out of conscience. Got it? Never stop learning. Never stop growing, experiencing, reflecting. Your mind is your greatest tool and your biggest enemy. An empty mind is the Devil's workshop, remember? Yeah, well, that is in your control. Your God and your Devil are all inside you, all the time. You choose which to bring forth.

So much for what we don't know. Now, what do we know? Among a few things, we know that Life doesn't always give you what you want. It doesn't let you do what you'd really like to do without making you go in countless circles first. Perhaps, that is how the phrase "standing the test of time" originated. If you can go through these countless circles, learning something worthwhile each time, then in due Time, you will be rewarded. Life tests you and you, again, choose who wins. Sometimes, the lesson to be learned is how to swim with the current and reach your true Destiny. To let yourself be. At other times, the challenge is to swim against the current to overcome the hurdles that make you less than who you are. Societal pressures, monetary pursuits. Been there, done that, right? Among us are many wanna-be, now wanted-to-be musicians, dancers, writers, painters, scientists, storytellers, sculptors, poets. Because a long time ago, we made a choice.

As years pass, one truth becomes more and more apparent and burdening on our shoulders: no matter who or what helped influenced our choice, the choice was ours. Hence, its consequences and its responsibilities are ours. Sooner or later, everyone runs out of someone to blame. Then the burden of the Choice, along with all its regret, rests on your shoulders alone. If you are lucky, you will have it in you to be okay with it, and be peaceful. Most of us, however, are generally unlucky.

Doing what you really want to do keeps you in touch with your soul. Your Self. Your identity. Everything inside of you that makes you, You. Just like the unique fingerprints on your fingers and toes, there are innumerable unique sparks within you, waiting to be expressed, unleashed. If not set free in due time, these die out. Sometimes, we don't even notice. And before we know it, it becomes a habit. It becomes a routine. Then, it becomes easier to just stay in the routine than to break out. So, we stay in the routine.

And thus, we wait. In our routines, in our little heads. For some inspiration, or someone, something that will break the routine for us. Make a choice for us, because by now, we have become too passive. We no longer like to make choices. Look around you, and look at yourself. Really look. Most human beings around us, including you and me, are really passive. They don't like to make choices.

So what is the point of me writing all this? Only that, if you do nothing else for yourself in this lifetime, do this: don't give up on making choices. You will not always make the right ones. Maybe you will only sometimes make the right ones. But you will learn. Instead of waiting for Life to give you what you want, you will snatch those moments from its hands, either on an impulse, or after some painful choices. But you will have gained something. From your choices, you will gain experience. From your experience, you will gain memories. From your memories, you will gain Inspiration. Inspiration to continue living for these moments, and learning with these moments, because slowly, you realize that these moments are the ones that make Life worth living. The reward for the countless circles circled countless times.

If nothing of us is ours to keep, other than memory (in the words of Ronlyn Domigue), we best have a lot of them, right? Our Life is nothing but a series of memories hung up on the string of Time. Like clothes on a line. What we get out of those memories is, well, our choice.

[Related, some-what long, truly exceptional video:Really Achieve Your Childhood Dreams.]