I found it comforting, when stumbling on to the blog this morning, to see the blog that Leena wrote last night, as it tied in nicely with what I wanted to talk about today. But before I go on, if you find yourself wondering at this very moment, what blog is Nick referring to? Then I want you to stop, scroll down, and read Leena's blog before proceeding with this one.
Whenever I visit my parent's home in Northern California I seem to learn something knew. Last time I learned a lesson about revisiting old literature, but this time it was entirely different. It all began one morning with a couple of eggs. I had woken up early to go for a run, and while making some eggs for breakfast was greeted by my eldest brother. We began talking and eventually he (who is studying as a paramedic) told me what one of his teachers had recently told him. His teacher, now 57, had recently attended a funeral for one of the founding paramedic instructors who had just died of cancer. His instructor recalled the sheer number of people at the funeral, most of whom were not direct family. My brother told me that his instructor had told him that the reason so many people were at this funeral was because the women who had died had touched so many people's lives in a profound way. The instructor made one comment that really struck my brother, he said “when you get to be my age and look back on your life, it is as if it all happened in about ten minutes.” When my brother told me this I began to think about my life. Now I have not lived nearly as long as the paramedic instructor who made the comment has, but I can attest that even the times of my life that felt so long and so tiresome, times I never thought would end, actually seem like they passed in the blink of an eye in retrospect. With this in my mind we continued the conversation. The conversation turned and twisted like any other would, and left us at an interesting conclusion; one I feel worthy of sharing with all of you today.
During the conversation, we began talking about all of the dreams we had when we were younger, and how these dreams had been changed into fitting the lives we currently live today, much like Leena said. I had always wished to grow up and become a rock star, yet the career path I am on today has nothing to do with music. However, I do find the time to write and play music almost every day. My brother always desired to become a police officer, and though he is not there yet, he is currently pursuing a career in law enforcement. My overall point is that we all have dreams from when we were younger, or maybe some that we have developed in more recent years. We often settle with the idea that these desires of ours are unattainable, or aspects of our lives that we will put off for future years, but when the future arrives, we still never get around to doing what we postponed. So, with that said, what is important is to take the risk, and explore the frontiers of our lives that we often leave only for dreaming. Whether it be literature, writing, poetry, music, photography, drawing, you name it, what's important is that you go after what you believe will make you happy. Sometimes what seems the harder path at first, ends up being the better decision later on.
With that said, I leave you with a quote from Mark Twain:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Until Next Time,
Nick
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