Prescribing Life Lessons: Once in a While We All Need to Step Off The Cracked Asphalt Street
The smooth sound of trumpet floats through the room as I calmly sip my cup of coffee. I watched as the leaves outside my window slowly change into an illustrious array of color. They sat against a setting October sun. Bluebirds and robins chirped, they sang in unison, melodies rang through the damp air. Another year has come and gone, autumn brings the beginning of it's departure. Slowly but surely, I will move toward the rising horizon of my future. It is the only real goal that I have, the one thing that always lingers in the hallways of my mind.
We climb into the night with dimly lit streetlights showing us the way. It's getting cold. The type of cold that chills every bone in your body. Pretty soon I'll walk through the deep snow of the future, leaving my footprints behind like a wolf in the dead of night. With red cheeks and glassy eyes, my breath pours out of me like I'm smoking ten Marlboros. My boots carry me down a path that I've never walked. I'm searching for my voice. I can't seem to find it, and it's about time that I discovered it. I'm afraid that I might crash and burn if I don't. The better part of my soul has transcended into an ideal mixture of adventurous ambition and wondrous wisdom. It will eventually turn weary if I don't feed my howling passion. My heart and mind make me feel like I can do anything, but at times I don't even remember what it feels like.
Limitations aren't set in stone, they are constructed within the confines of your mind. As human beings, we have the infinite ability to break down barriers and live outside the societal standards of common thought. It's our duty to pursue our passions.What is the point of living a life that you hate? Is money the be-all end-all? Expensive sports cars, designer clothes, and a house that a kindergarten class could live in - are these the things that your spirit seeks? Is this what your truest self strives for? Is this what you consider success to be?
Many people have set fine lines between their deepest dreams and rawest realities; they have accepted the fact that they will never cross that line. Dreams will stay locked away in a vault of subjective fantasy. Realities will be placed behind a magnet on the fridge and under a stack of bills on the dining room table. It's a shame that this is what some of our lives have come to.
I believe that the mind is the most powerful weapon known to mankind - every single battleship, bomb, fighter-jet, firearm, rocket, tank that you're thinking of right now can be traced back to the mind. Great thinkers actually think, without being told to do so. They dive deep into the ocean of the past and flow freely in the river of the future. The present moment is a combination of both, it flows both ways like the Hudson River, in and out of the ocean. The bottom line is that the present moments that make up our precious lives are all we really have. And guess what? They're disappearing like raindrops into a river of memories. Beliefs, emotions, and ideas are the real things we need. Material objects are not real. You may be able to buy them, touch them, build them, break them, sell them, and use them but they're not real. They'll be there for your instant benefit and eventual demise though. Don't chase after the things that won't be with you when you die. If you do, you'll spend your life doing things you don't love with people you don't like. Another model of the modern consumer.
Everyone can be a consumer but not everyone can be a truly great thinker. One must remove themselves from their comfort zone in order to flourish. When this occurs, we can start to learn about our true needs and false wants. It's no easy task. I'm far from completing it, but I've stepped off the street and onto the path. It may be simple but it's not easy - always remember that there's a difference between the two.
Once in a while we all need to step off the cracked asphalt and onto the dirt path.
