A Tale of Possibility

You know you are getting old when you do more reminiscing when you should be paying attention to the present time. Yes,everyone wants to relive a very special time in their life that stirs warm memories of  years gone by. It's hard to forget the past because of it's significance in our lives. Of course we can do away with the unpleasentries and focus on life changing events which we fondly remember. If I were to ask any of you what your best years in life were your most likely answer is either during the time you met your first love or the independence brought about by your first car. If you really sit down and think about it these two epic moments in our lives signify all that is beautiful in youth. They represent our thirst for freedom and our quest for true love. And if you were to REALLY think about it, nothing epic has happened to you lately if you are approaching your middle years. Nothing grand can be said about work or mortgage and bills and even the kids' college tuition. Then you come to the sad realization that you need to recapture some of that magic or vitality back in order to try to make sense of getting old. Sounds familiar? Of course it does. Take a seat and join the club. 

How much possibility laid before you then and although you may not realize it, the same chances present themselves to you now. You do not have to be bound by circumstance or obligation to the point of helplessness. You have a choice to CHANGE all that is around you and recapture or relive all of your memories of what used to be good. It all depends on what you are willing to accept and change, and eventually give up. What I am trying to say is life doesn't have to begin at 40, or 18, or 21 or even 50. It begins NOW, this MOMENT. It's what you choose it to be. I don't understand why people continually live with their burdens and, in the process, make anxiety and stressful living a daily routine in their lives. You have to ask yourself if it is really worth it. More importantly, to whom does this suffering afford the greatest benefit to? Let me tell you a story about two little boys and before I get  into what this particular story entails, let me give it to you plain and simple- the lesson of this story is about Possibility. It's about Opportunity. It's about taking chances and living  by the "choices" we make. Note that we can easily interchange "choices" with "mistakes" in the previous statement.

So, here goes...

Once there lived two little boys on a seaside town in some unnamed country during an unnamed time. Of what year this event transpired is really of no importance, just that these two boys were dearest of friends. They shared many interests, these most unlikely of friends, and consequently, as boys often do, they have spent many a summer day just laying around a lone tree in a field overlooking the vast ocean just over the horizon. Let's call one of the boys Charles, and the other Richard. Charles came from a well to do family 

coming from a lineage of educated merchants and business professionals. Just like his father and kin before him, Charles has honed an eye towards skepticism, economy, opulence, and security. In other words, he is a realist in the very sense of the word. Richard, on the other hand, comes from a family of farmers. His fathers knurled hands is testament to the hardships they must continually face in order to survive. To Richard, halls of splendor or even dining on a long table lined with fine linens and silverware is a thing of the books, a world away. Richard would spend most of his days daydreaming about a better life. To him, any life must be better than the present one. It was because of this polarizing difference that made the two boys the best of friends. Richard would listen with eager ears and fervent eyes as Charles would narrate a recount of the dinners and parties held often at his family's manor, as if he was simply blurting out details of a stone he found, unfeeling and simply disinterested. This "good life" added more fuel to the poor boys daydreaming and wishing until he often found himself staring into empty space, imagining, and wondering, and hoping.

One fateful day they encountered an old graying man sitting under their meeting tree, fanning himself, desperately trying to ward off the miserable summer heat. Cautiously, they took their place in their favorite "spot" and Charles, being the bold one, asked this seemingly hermit-looking figure of a man, what he was doing sitting under their tree. 

"Why, I am simply resting these old bones, my lad. It seems being old does has its setbacks after all.", the old man answered coyly.

After several minutes of hasty introductions and some background inquisition on both ends, they settled into a leisurely pace of  telling stories amidst a number of fancier tales. It was after an hour or so when Henry, the name the old man gave to be his, asked Richard why he isn't sharing much and was simply contented being an avid listener.

" What's to tell about a poor boys life?" blurted Richard. 

"There isn't much to eat at our house. On some days we have to make do with reheated broth and molded bread.", he added further.

"Well, I am terribly sorry to hear that my boy." replied the graying Henry, with saddened eyes.

After a long silence Henry broke the veil with a question.

" Let's suppose for a minute that we forget about your way of living, the both of you. Let us start anew, a clean plate, if you will. Let me pose a question to the both of you and I want you to be honest with your answer. I want you to speak of what your heart tells you. Now, suppose I were to ask you that if you had a choice to start a new life what sort of life would you like to have and why?"

Another long silence, longer perhaps than the one it replaced.

" If I were to have a new life I want to have one like Charles. I don't ever want to sleep with a rumbling tummy ever again and I want to wear better clothes, not these worn rags tethered together by more rags. I want to be able to afford the things I only dreamed off and not just see them in pictures.", Richard said with much gusto.

"I want a life like Richard.", exclaimed Charles, much to his friends surprise. "I am tired of this life where everybody isn't real. They only want me to be their friend because of my family's wealth and they don't even appreciate the things I truly want. I want a simple life. I want a life where I can still taste the salt from the sweat falling from my brow after a hard days work."

"Well,well,and well. It seems the both of you don't talk much about this after all, judging from the way the both of you exude surprise. It seems you both want a better life than the one you lead but don't know HOW or WHERE to begin. Am I correct for assuming so?", Henry posed. "The answer to your problems is rather very simple, my lads. You have the power to harness the possibility in front of you and explore where your humility may take you. Charles, all you need is to share to the less fortunate, be the answer to their needs. Richard, all you need to do is strive to work for your dream. Make it a reality and not just a dream. Work hard, develop good work ethics, educate yourself, and make your fortune with your bare hands."

And yet another long silence broken by Henry's abrupt preparation to bid these two boys farewell. After disappearing into the distance, he left two boys behind wondering if what just transpired in indeed real. 

Under the setting sun, the two boys walked alongside each other deep in their own thoughts and lighter hearts. Tomorrow is indeed a chance to begin. A new life awaits.

When I first heard of this story it didn't hit me as rather life-changing. I thought it was bland and didn't quite get the picture in it's entirety. When viewed from a different angle, that of from an outsider's point of view, I began to understand it's depth. The power is indeed in the choices we make. We can choose to remain in this way of living,  or we can choose to rise above our struggles or conditions and strive for something better.  Until our next post, you guys take care. JowelMD signing off, but not signing out.

See You Around The Bend

     Hey, everyone!! I figured I might as well take some time off and just write about what it means to live in today's world. Have you ever thought of how people must have lived, say, around the 18th or even the early 19th century? Well, let's just take it all in perspective. For sure technology isn't as it is today and the leaps and bounds we experience in medicine that we often take for granted wasn't available to people then so we can pretty much expect their life expectancy to be much lower without the advent of antibiotics. People back then didn't really have the creature comforts we have at home like heating and pretty much have to do with spartan accommodations. Travelling meant either via horseback or carriage. You pretty much get the picture, right?

     Well, fast-forward to today. Have you ever wondered what sort of pressure we have to constantly cope with just to keep up with the times? If you aren't proficient in almost anything it's hard to keep abreast with the goings on with today's fast-paced living. I guess the most  obvious question I would like to pose is this," Is technology imprisoning us?". Are we so dependent on it that we simply can't live without it? Imagine losing your cellphone for a week and the stress you have to put up with trying to update contacts and replying to messages. Is life really easier this way? Well, let's step back for a minute and try to see the whole dilemma on a more natural light. Technology is in and of itself a tool. A tool we devise and utilize to make our lives easier, to say the least. Yet, as we progress and as the world's population continues to grow we find ourselves facing more diseases, more wars, more epidemics than before. Yet we tiptoe on the belief that there is always a cure, somewhere, around the bend. Are we really finding more solutions to problems we ourselves incur? 

     There is no real answer to the question when the question itself seems rather inadequately asked. Life is full of mysteries but certain things in life are immovable. These truths do not change regardless what timeline you wish to live in or what type of lifestyle you aspire of living. Don't be caught up so much with the world around you because there is so much more out there. So much more for you to see, to feel, to experience. There are parts of the world where television, the internet, or even cellphones are non-existant but people still live in harmony with nature. A place where people listen to what nature tells them, where they still tell time by the seasons and not by the hours of a day. They are more intact, more real in their relationships with one another, and there is a rather discreet genuine aura around them. When we picture a society like this we immediately associate it with tribal groups of people or people closed off to the world outside. 

     In my travels I have met some of these people and my first assumption  of our encounter was they would see me in awe. A man with a camera and a medicine bag, with stethoscope in vest, must seem rather strange to a group of people who still pound tree barks or dry deerskin for clothing. I assumed wrongly. Yes, they were curious and no they weren't awed by our presence. They simply asked a lot of questions and although, try as I might, answer their questions to the best of my abilities and somewhat limited understanding of what they actually understand about 21st century living, I probably induced more confusion than clarity. It was until my interpreter told me that they couldn't quite grasp why we have lost our connection to mother nature, why we need to drink medicine in the form of tablets or capsules when the leaf of the plant I was sitting next to can do a better job curing my indigestion. Where have we gone wrong? Why don't we harness knowledge like this? 

     Sometimes I think it is we who are primitive because we simply can't live in a world without technology. If we were thrown back to the byzantine age we probably still don't know how to start cook fire with primitive tools. Heck, we can be thrown back to the 15th or 16th century and we still couldn't do it. We have lost a lot of skills and knowledge when we became slaves to technology. Most importantly, we are beginning to lose ourselves. We feel less connected with the world and one another, less accessible, and less available. We simply run out of time to connect with the people we love and the world in general. The internet has made it easier for us, albeit less genuine. We need to feel more, hug more, pat each other on the back more, shake each others hands more. A connection more real and tangible than emails or even social media can provide.

     So when I see you around the bend in this road called Life, I'll make sure to ask you how your'e doing, if your travels have been light, and if the road you are planning to take ahead is easy. You are never alone. We are also fellow travelers, and it makes no sense travelling alone when we can share a good story or two along the way. Until our next post, folks. Take Care.