How Will It End

“A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don't know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn't even be worth reading.” ― Yevgeny Zamyatin

The last rites, in Christianity, are the last prayers and ministrations given to many Catholics when possible shortly before death. The ministration known as the last rites in the Catholic Church does not constitute a distinct sacrament in itself. It is rather a set of sacraments given to people who are perceived to be near death.

The last rites are meant to prepare the dying person's soul for death, by providing absolution for sins by penance, sacramental grace and prayers for the relief of suffering through anointing, and the final administration of the Eucharist.

In addition, the priest has authority to bestow a blessing in the name of the Pope on the dying person, to which a plenary indulgence is attached.

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_rites

You are probably thinking, "Wow, what a pleasant way to start a story."

My story is one of my father who is nearing the end of his run in life. His story is in the final chapter with only a few more pages to write. The above information from Wikipedia is because it is tonight that he has requested for a Catholic priest to administer last rites for him. Another paragraph in this chapter.

The details of how my father will finally pass onto what I believe is something different can not be written until of course time has given us the hindsight to write it. I do believe that something exists beyond this natural life for our souls and my faith eases my mind when I think about losing my father.

How will it end?

But all of us want to jump ahead to the end of a story to see if the bad guy gets caught, did the couple fall in love or did the hero ride off into the sunset on a horse. My thoughts of the end have always been inquisitive but overridden by my excitement of the journey. To see what happens each and every day, what is around the next corner, bend in the road and hour of life.

There is so much we can do while we still have a breath in our body. A quote that actually comes from the Bible and has been popular in many movies and stories is "Where there is breath, there is hope." Even when last rites are given, each breath we take provides us with an opportunity to experience something more in our life.

We can create a memory, we can create laughter, we can create love for those around us and within us. Everything you do until no breath exists within you writes what will be the end of the story.

Stay inspired my friends!

Living Out Your Dreams

“Leaving what feels secure behind and following the beckoning of our hearts doesn't always end as we expect or hope. We may even fail. But here's the payoff: it can also be amazing and wonderful and immensely satisfying.”
― Steve Goodier

Every year during the holiday season, that two to three period following Christmas marks a time when resolutions, grand thoughts and new beginnings get discussed. We examine what we may or may not have accomplished during the previous year. We then spend our time and high-spirited thoughts on what we will accomplish in the new year.

It is a time of year when nothing is impossible to us. We have high hopes and expectations. Many of those around us are encouraging and in the same frame of mind to explore new possibilities. We feel very empowered to march off and do those things we have always wanted to do and to make our dreams come true.

We are invincible at that moment.

We then get three or more weeks into the year. Our march towards the new has been progressing with varied results. The past enthusiasm of the moment begins to fade and life starts getting in the way once again. Others don't seem quite as encouraging. Your own excitement is dwindling because old thinking begins to creep back in.

This is a dangerous time to be in as we try to live out our dreams. The holidays, the new year excitement can start to leave us like a thirty second commercial on television. What was it we were selling ourselves? How did we come to a moment of clarity for our lives? Those moments are in peril of drifting away from you.

Hold on even tighter to them.

The expectation of doing great things and of having great change in your life are still possible. Just because the merry Christmas lights, pretty packaging and New Year spirits are no longer the spotlight, your own belief in possibility remains. It remains inside for you to unlock and carry forward.

Others cannot do the work needed to unleash your dreams. They can only encourage or discourage you from them. You are the one who moves forward and lives out your dream. You are the one to make your dreams become a reality. Without you believing and acting upon your dreams, those dreams will never be realized.

Raise the B-A-R in 2017. Believe, Act and then Realize the outcome of your dreams.

Stay inspired my friends!

What Of The New Year

“The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.”
― Arnold Bennett

The year we are about to leave behind has been raucous, contentious and full of surprise. Actually it was very similar to every year we go through. The unexpected happens right along with the fulfillment of dreams and goals.

And while there is much reminiscing we could do, my intent is not to provide a retrospective of the year. There are plenty of people, press and prophets all assessing what was predicted and what actually happened. Each provide their own spin to events most important to them.

A year in time giving way to new beginnings.

What has happened has happened and we move forward in life. The gate is open and we have an unknown path awaiting the tread of our feet. A path which will lead us to parts unknown in 2017. A path that might be easy or tough but nonetheless our own path.

I may have my disagreements and moments of disbelief in what is happening, but I will always have hope and belief in great things. As I quoted in a Twitter tweet a few days back, "Greatness has always existed. It was there before an election and continues after an election. We have always had it within us."

We do have it within us, regardless of what happens around us. Find it within yourself to let it be the thing which overcomes any obstacle in the new year. The year is going to happen whether we want it to or not. So make it a great one!

Stay inspired my friends!

Living With The Fool

“Ask a sage, he will explain. Ask a fool, he will complain.” ― Toba Beta

I have been on a self-imposed respite taking time to relax a bit from the rigors of work and life in general. My wife an I took a trip together and it was very good to revitalize my thoughts and concerns on many fronts.

There has been the presidential election, a multitude of work related activities and the normal, crazy family home-life that goes with having a number of children and grand-children. So off we went on our first ship cruise.

In the course of our travel, we came to port in a couple of destinations which have your typical merchants who are looking to part you with your money. It is capitalism at both its best and worst on display.

There are the standard tourist shops where trinkets next door to upscale fashion shops, each plying their wares to visitors on vacation. Most items are no better in quality or price then could be found at home.

But we purchase as proof we were there.

We also encountered the hucksters, peddling their fake or cheap goods trying to bargain for a price well above the value of those items. They do so in order to capture the unsuspecting buyer trying to garner a great deal.

For the majority of those voting with their dollars, they walked away from these hustlers who were acting the fool. Each person who walked away could see through the true intent of the carnival on display.

The remaining buyers were looking for something different and hearing of the promise that a great deal lay in front of them. So they bought, they paid, they listened to the fool and made their way home with the take.

But they learned they were the fool.

So much can be written about how a hawker with a good story accomplishes his task. In the end, he can go about his way with fresh new money firmly in his grasp. The buyer sits wondering why they bought the story, penniless in pride.

All of us can learn a lesson from the fool dancing his perceived value, his supposed story, his talk of greatness.

But we must also remind ourselves that if we have bought it, we must live with it and the consequences of having done so.

Stay inspired my friends!