The Dreamers
The quickest road to mediocrity is to quit dreaming. Because the moment you stop dreaming is the moment you stop reaching for something more, the moment you stop growing and the moment you stop excelling.
A dream, as passive as it is, represents a desire, a fundamental wish to grow and to be more than one is. As long as the dream is there, the eternal flame is still lit and could erupt into a fiery inferno at any moment.
But without it, there is nothing. Just an existence from day to day that's as meaningless as a blank piece of paper. Sure you can be a contributing member of society, a good person and even a success in business without a dream, but what's the point?
Because dreams are not something to achieve, but something to live for. That's why they evolve and change to keep the true dreamer reaching, stretching and climbing for more. Like a mountain that grows taller near the peak, a dream must never outgrow the dreamer, but rather keep pace with him.
In turn, a dreamer must be someone who is always willing to meet that challenge, someone who is never frustrated by the constantly extending finish line or having the carrot pushed farther from his reach. The dreamer is someone interested only in the trip and not the goal and doesn't care when, or if, the road ends.
Because while it may seem to be a frustrating lifestyle, for someone with the right mindset, it's infinitely rewarding. And when everything is said and done, the dreamer can look back at how far he's come and smile knowing he's done more, seen more and lived more than those who let go of their dreams so long before...
Bitterness
People like to think that I'm just bitter, that the scowl I carry upon my lips is a sign of some general disgust that I hold for the world. But those who know me best, know me better. They know that I am not a creature filled with bitterness and hate, but a creature filled with love, who is simply selective in who he spends it on.
Why should I waste something as precious as love on those who would do nothing but take away my time? Why should I respond with anything but malcontent when they try to deprive me of even the smallest amount of what I hold dear?
I'm not bitter at the world, just the vast majority of it. People who want something from me, my money, my love, my time, my compassion, but offer little or nothing in return. Those who add to my life and enhance my existence, I cherish, those who would take away from it, I vanquish.
Most of the world is nothing but a dragon with a billion heads waiting to bite and strike. A multi-fanged vampire wanting to drain me of my life and the things I hold dear. That much I believe. But before you call me bitter, say it in front of those I love and who love me, say that before those who have earned my trust and my companionship, say it before those who will prove you wrong.
For I can assure you dear erroneous fool, I don't have a problem with the world, just you. Just you and those like yourself who would drain me of my time and resources. I hate that and why shouldn't I? It's my duty and my will to live that causes me to despise that. It's the same that causes me to love those who contribute to my existence.
So while I may be a bitter human being, at least rest assured that I don't discriminate, I don't blanket and I don't hate needlessly. Rather, I just choose my friends very wisely and those who are the closest to me understand the value in that.
Fear
Fear has gotten a bad name.
To say that one is afraid is like admitting a guilty pleasure, to dare succumb to fear is admit that one is of a lesser order than those who don't. Fear is seen as the enemy and fear is seen as the feeling that must be destroyed.
However fear is just like any other emotion, it serves a purpose. In fact, fear is the most important of all emotions because it is the first half of self-preservation. Without fear, the human race could never have survived.
Fear is also superior to other emotions in that it's instinctual, unlike most other emotions we feel it for apparently no reason, but more often than not, the reason introduces itself in a prompt fashion .Fear operates on that gut level that no one can explain but everyone know it exists and everyone knows it's real.
Those without fear die young as they should. For those who are stupid enough to ignore what nature has given them will certainly meet their end.
That's not to say that one should cower before fear like some frightened mouse. People who do that may live long lives but they will certainly be empty lives. However, one needs to use fear to their advantage, heed the warning and move forward with caution. Usually an awareness of fear and an acknowledgement of it's accuracy is all that one needs to avoid a bad situation.
However, despite the good fear bring to us, the many ways it saves us and the many ways we can use it, it will always be considered a bad thing. I for one see it as nature in action. If an animal flees at the sound of a shotgun blast, a human should feel no worse for doing the same.
So rather than condemning fear, let's use it like we would any other emotion, for the betterment and the prolonging of our lives. Because if we don't, then we WILL have something to fear.
Perfection
It's been said that the key to perfection is imperfection and that is very much the truth. The only thing that is perfect on this planet is life and life itself is riddled with mistakes, hills, valleys, times of joy and times of hate.
Some men still obsess about the idea of perfection. Some spend their entire lives seeking moral, physical, mental or even ideological perfection. Benjamin Franklin was one such man. He donated his entire life to being of perfect moral character and standing even resorting to keeping a diary of the sins he committed. Though Franklin was indeed a great man he was hit with perhaps the greatest flaw of all, an ego that was ten times too large and far too easily bruised.
If Franklin or any of the other countless questers for perfection were to achieve their goal and become flawless they would quickly find that their perfection is their greatest error. Think of the pressure, the focus and the energy it would take to be flawless, even at just one thing. Think of how those energies could be better spent, writing great books or songs, inventing new things or even achieving new heights in the athletic arena.
Though all of these achievements would be flawed in some way, their sum would be far greater than the accomplishment of a single perfection. We owe it to ourselves to accept us as who we are, flawed but in the end perfect specimens.
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