The Relentless Pursuit Of A Life Lived Better

It starts with Rod Stewart singing Young Turks and the knowledge that those who read this twice will start singing along with it silently in their heads.

“We got just one shot of life, let’s take it while we’re still not afraid.
Because life is so brief and time is a thief when you’re undecided.
And like a fistful of sand, it can slip right through your hands.”

The Relentless Pursuit Of A Life Lived Better

“I see through you. I know what you are doing.”

“You only think you know. I am in relentless pursuit of a life lived better.”

As soon as the words leave my lips I wonder about how we can be so transparent to some and inscrutable to others.

It is one of the most fascinating aspects of life and people. There are those you know and who know you in ways no one else can or does.

And then there are those you expect to know you who just don’t get it and you can’t tell if it is because you never trust them enough to let them really see you or if it is because they are blind.

Maybe it is both.

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Rod is singing Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? and I am smiling for a million reasons most of which I won’t share here.

That is what happens when you know things and can see with parts other than your eyes.

****

The relentless pursuit of a life better lived isn’t just a line or marketing copy that I use to impress people.

It is as authentic and honest and as anything you’ll ever hear. It is a driving force and the older I get the louder it rings inside my head.

In part it is because two more people I knew died this year at ages 42 and almost 51 that once sounded old and now are so very young.

I can’t stomach the idea of just settling for what I have when I know how much more is possible and that is recognizing that what I see is just a tiny inkling.

So I extend my hand wide open and ready to grasp or be grasped because you can’t turn possibility into opportunity without trying.

You Can Only Fail

The boss congratulated me on hitting a particular mark and I said thank you.

It wasn’t something I ever questioned happening because I can be relentless in all areas. Sometimes I tell the kids to just go for it because you can only fail.

That is not easy to do or to hear, especially if you think of failure as the worst thing that can happen. But if you have fallen down and failed a few times it is not the same.

You find yourself unfettered and you jump off of cliffs.

Still there are moments when doubt creeps in and I find myself wondering if maybe I am the greatest fool that has ever lived.

An idiot who chases dreams, unhinged and out of touch with reality he does battle with windmills and invisible giants.

A dupe who asks if maybe some who say they loved him never did and wonders if they would notice if disappeared or died.

And then the moment passes and the fool hears Ulysses and rises up again because that is the kind of crap that he can rally to.

Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

And sometimes when challenged the fool on his merry quest will throw out something more modern and say he can use it to be inspired too.

Tell me Willie is not cool.

In between the heartache, heartbreak and all the other challenges and hurdles that life tosses our way is the chance to go for that brass ring.

People will always call you crazy, dumb and or stupid for doing what makes them uncomfortable and uncertain but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

Sometimes it is that one moment that changes everything. You might fail and you might fall.

Or you might rise up and fly.

I hear and feel the tick tock of the clock but it doesn’t mean I don’t see. My eyes are wide open and I am dancing to the echoes of the future and doing my best not to trip over the mistakes of the past.