Friday, August 26, 2005

Somewhere over the Rainbow...


"Time seems to fly when your having fun," is the old adage that I remember from days gone by. However, as I've gotten older, I am finding less fun as time flies by. It amazes me how most folks think I'm leading some kind of charmed life. "You know, Cornelius, you are so lucky and have such a wonderful life," they easily quip. Well, I not sure what they deem so damn lucky about an individual who has persevered through a great deal of cow dung to find some level of satisfaction within himself and his surroundings. I can't imagine that working in dead end jobs, striving to be respected in the hospitality arena and crawling my way through the mine field of the new "PC" alternative lifestyle, all that lucky. Yet, it seems that my destiny is to survive and I now know that this is my God given mission in life. To offer to others the message that you can survive despite life's shortcomings or your own. I've decided that at 44, I'm going to do more to find inspiration in life and give that away to those who can't seem to find some crumbs of peace in their respective lives. The idea is not new, nor the message, just the honesty of the messenger. I'm going to pursue those goals that I thought unobtainable or beyond my ability. For too long, I've neglected the diamonds in the rough that have littered by pathway. It's time that I pick them up and polish them to their true luster. Despite all that has transpired in the last few months, including a totaled vehicle and the subsequent nightmare that goes with settling the matter, my impending hip surgery, sojurn through the Social Security maze and my entreprenurial dream that seems to be slowly slipping away, have made me aware that pain can propel you to greater heights. It is through this pain that you can find some of your greatest strength and I should know. Amen.