wealth and power. But in my own way, I am pleased with my existence: I believe that
I matter and I am making a difference in the world. My reality is dynamic and always
capable of improvement, but I have made peace with my actuality and my place in the
cosmos. In all of the above statements, I have focused on the “I”: how I see the world.
Isn’t this the beginning quotient to my being? I must place value on my life. If I
choose to identify it as insignificant it is; if I see it as adventurous and filled with a
sense of wonder, it also is. The key connection, I maintain, is that we are social
animals and can only find our ultimate connectivity to the universe through the
helping and nurturing of others. They, however, must “meet us half way.” (2). People
must also commit to their lives, their mission:
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day. (3)
What Longfellow (4) is telling us, of course, is to “get going,” just begin. Life is
about action, success we must leave to serendipity and to God. If we are not “in the
game,” we negate the opportunities for achievement. Norman Vincent Peale
(1898-1993), the great scholar and motivator leaves us with a thought:
Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result but
the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different
action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.