Existentialistic cerebal crisis

I figure I have at least 10, maybe 20 more years of good life left, barring any unforeseen maladies, situations, or events.  Of course, that could change in a literal heartbeat, but right now, this seems like a solid range.

With a hard number on the table, I can prioritize what I would like to get done or accomplish during that time. Do I want to read as many books as I can and learn as much as I can? Should I focus totally on my physical self with torrid exercise routines? Maybe I should use my limited resources to travel around the world and see as many exotic places as possible. Or maybe I should focus totally on my three grandchildren to ensure they have some memories of their crazy, relatively soon to be deceased  grandfather.

I am pretty certain I am not the first to have confronted this dilemma nor will I be the last. If you think about it, I do not have hard facts available to determine my course of action. There is no set of rules or guidelines that are not tainted by an individual’s opinion. So, the way I see it, these are choices that I have to make, for what I want to do. That does make it sound easy. How come it doesn’t feel easy, or said another way, why should I even concern myself with this issue? What will be, will be, or in today’s language, it is what it is.

Here lies the crux of the problem, I have no clue what the right answer is, or if there is a right answer; never have, never will. It all boils down to what I want to do. I am the captain of my ship! I decide where and what I want to do!

If I want to sit in front of the TV, drink wine till I doze off, run a couple of miles, take my bike for a ride, work on this silly blog, build something in my shop, read a book, travel to some exotic island, write a children’s book, feed the poor, do my taxes or just about anything I want to, that is fine. It is my decision!

In the end, my legacy will be the memories I have created, the friends I have made, the people I have helped, the children I sired, and an urn filled with vitamin enriched ashes.

To finish this exitentialistic rant, the man yelled to the universe, “I EXIST”….the universe replied, “I THOUGHT I HEARD SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING?”

Care to do a little mind game?

When he was old enough to start learning, Jacob’s parents told him this object above was a cube. There was no reason to question his parents, so this must be true. Most everyday the idea that this was a cube was reinforced so in Jacob’s mind, it was a cube. As he grew older he may have heard that this was not a cube. Jacob simply ignored such fanciful ideas because he knew this was a cube! Time passed and his parents began to talk about the magical properties of the cube and how if he believed in all these wonderful things, he would be rewarded greatly in life and afterlife. Once a week he attended a large building where everyone shared his belief that it was a cube. How could it be anything else?

Time passed and many people questioned his belief in the cube but he held fast to his beliefs, no amount of persuasion was going to alter what he had been taught to believe. Along with this was the guarantee that unquestioned belief in the cube would give him eternal life! That way he did not have to fear dying! This seemed like a no-brainier.

One day in class his teacher showed the class a picture of a cube and wrote the word sphere under it. He laughed quietly to himself thinking, this teacher does not even know what a cube is. The teacher noticed the look on his face and asked him what he was thinking. He quietly and respectfully said “you have made a mistake, that is a cube”. A little confused, the teacher repeated, I’m afraid you have made a mistake, it is a sphere. Class continued and nothing else was said about the incident.

When Jacob went home he told his parents of the incident with the teacher, they seemed mildly upset. Jacob did not know this but the following day his parents made an appointment with his teacher to discuss what happened in class. The following day the teacher called Jacob into the hallway and told him she was sorry for embarrassing him in class. Jacob responded, I was not embarrassed, but you are misinformed about the cube. the teacher said it was time to return to class and moved away.

There are many ways this story could end. Jacob would someday realize that this object was a sphere or he could spend the rest of his life thinking a sphere is a cube. He could carry that image to his grave. Regardless of what the outcome was, the damage done to Jacob was forever.