Who am I?

The journey towards self-knowledge is a long and tough one. It needs a shock to start it, the sort of shock that comes from a brush with death, divorce or redundancy. We cannot wait for the approach of death to start the search.

Arthur Miller, the playwright, put it this way:

I see life as an endless, truly endless struggle. There’s no time when we are going to arrive at a place where the whole thing gets sorted. It’s a struggle in a way every plant has to find its own way to stand up straight. A lot of time it is failure. And yet it’s not a failure if some enlightenment comes out of it.

The moment will arrive when we are comfortable with who we are, and what we are – bold or old or fat or poor, successful or struggling – when you don’t feel the need to apologize for anything or deny anything. To be comfortable in your own skin is the beginning of strength.

Why are we here?

The search for the best in ourselves is only the beginning. We need a purpose for these selves.

First, there is this elusive question of where we are heading, what success might mean. It was said that those who have a WHY can endure the HOW, but it is the WHY that is difficult. Yet we all need a dream of what might be, to give us the energy for the journey.

Sometimes there is no explanation to our occasional willingness to fight for those we hold dear, be they person or causes. For example: –

· Our spontaneous leap into a river to save a drowning child

· A lifetime dedication to helping incurables

· A desire to work among the poor for little thanks and no public recognition

Yet, for some, these actions are the stuff of their lives, we should be grateful that it is so.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

- Helen Keller

George Bernard Shaw put it this way in Man and Superman:

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy”

My Friend

We cannot wait for the great visions from great people, for they are in short supply at the end of history. It is up to us to light our own small fires in the darkness.

"Do not be afraid your life will end; be very very afraid that it will never begin."