There seems to always be so many possibilities in my life ... some new and some not so new ... while some are good and some not so good. And with each possibility I know there is always choice.

I was not always sure who was responsible for all the good things and events that happened in my life and who was responsible for all of the not so good ones.

And I know now that I have always been the “who” that has been responsible for all those things during my life’s journey … my life’s past, present and especially for the things yet to come … my future.

And taking responsibility of all the things in my life has been in wonderful ways both nurturing and empowering for my heart and soul … and I like it.

Yes, for it has been me and only me who is making the choices in my life ... and it is me and only me who is taking responsibility. And it is me whose heart and soul are smiling a little bit more now every day … and for this I am grateful.

    Blessings on your Journey.

Painting by Mark Shasha

As I write these thoughts I am listening to Debussy’s Claire de lune calming and enchanting melody being played on the piano.

And me … I too am doing well ... but still on the same old journey I have been on for a while … and now after all this time ready to say enough … there is nothing more I need to learn from this journey again  … time to move on. And I will soon leave the dust of the old warn out path behind … and begin a new journey on a fresh path to a yet-to-be-determined destination.

A phone call yesterday from my brother was a catalyst that allowed me to say out loud and observe what I refer to as “it” … some of my deep inner feelings that have not gotten fresh air for a long time … and for some it was the first time … that have been locked up inside me.

Please know that I am never sure of what the “it” of the moment is until I take the opportunity to let these feelings free to surface and observe. Talking with my brother was such an opportunity for me and so without thought took advantage of it.

For most of my life I have stuffed lots of “it” inside of me over and over again … and only recently have been willing to acknowledge and observe “it” with a purpose … to identify “it” and then as needed create an action to support the process of changing or getting rid of “it”.  I recognize that only by observing and then choosing an action is there a possibility for change.

Making such observations authentically is important to me so that I can take a meaningful look at those chunks of my “program code” that has been running my life … and then determine how and if the program code needs to be reworked or debugged … or if this program code happens to be so tangled up that it has become what I call throw-away-code … which means I must replace the old program code and write new program code as I choose it to be.

 And then I get to see the results of my actions … sometimes immediate and sometimes over time … sometimes with desired results and sometimes not. And I also recognize the importance to regularly take the opportunity to observe myself and how I am assessing the world around me … so that I can continually stay grounded and evolve into the person I choose to be.

For me, I know I will continue to evolve until my last day.

(more to follow -  Part-II "Transparencies")

(Note: Transparencies are beliefs in your life that what you know is how it is ... and the possibility that it could be any other way is transparent to you.)

-- Transparencies --

I now understand the fact that in too many ways I have not become my own person … letting my family and environmental transparencies I have unknowingly accumulated over the past 60+ years, overlay the “who” that I have become and allowed this “who” to inadvertently remain buried underneath them.  I now find I have allowed such transparencies to unknowingly block this “who” from freely expressing itself whenever there was conflict between the “who” and the transparencies.

Here’s an interesting thing. The mirror exercise you suggested I do is a challenging one for me … you see, often when I look in the mirror, I am reminded of you my brother, as we have many facial similarities. But I did take a good look at my unshaven face this morning while brushing my teeth. I looked deep in my eyes and thought something like, “Ronald, you are an incredible person … not perfect by any means … and thank goodness you are also a little crazy. I love you for who you are … right now … you. Now go out there in your crazy way and share your Joy with those you see today and accept the love you get from anyone who chooses to give it to you.  And for sure … do me a favor, when you look in the mirror, stop seeing Herbert and start seeing Ronald.”

This all leads to another observation that I need to fully check out. You being my older and only brother … a person who I have always held in my mind, high on a pedestal … are a huge source of my transparencies I have lived with for as long as I can remember … thus a powerful overlay on defining who I am. Now some of this transparency is imaginary of course and some not ... with some good and some not … but regardless, all these transparencies I am discovering are very real to me. And I now understand that none of this makes any difference … nor how or why this has happened … as I can’t change the past.

Hope you don’t mind, but I want to share one more thought that is in my heart of hearts.  Often when I’m with friends we spend hours trying to figure out all the answers the world problems … and sometimes I think we do actually find those answers … but the only real answer I consistently find is this … “Invite and appreciate Joy in your life every day and share it unconditionally with those around you.” I ask … as human beings, isn’t this what our existence is really about? 

And now I will make a declaration of heart … “I declare I will share this possibility of Joy with those who are in my world … some known to me and some unknown.” This is the consciousness of possibilities and opportunities I will share … so that others have the opportunity to choose … one at a time … a consciousness that embraces and appreciates Joy in their life every day. 

So what’s left here? If you already have not guessed … the need to define “What really is the domain of Joy all about?”  (Please note … that’s Joy spelled with a capital J.)  My hope is perhaps one day we as brothers and as friends will have the opportunity to be in the same space and share our answers ... and maybe after some dialogue even find that we agree.

 And so that’s how “it” is for me. And now that I have written my thoughts and have read and re-read them … I find such beliefs a little bit closer to transforming themselves from a virtual reality trapped deep in my soul to that of becoming a reality in the here and now … a reality I will cherish and experience with those around me.

Continued Peace and Love ...

If God's gift to Human Beings was Planet Earth ... 

Then does it not make sense … 

what we Human Beings do with Planet Earth … 

is our gift back to God.