A New Year Resolution

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover."

-- Mark Twain

Had I not tried out for high school football, I would have not learned the humiliation of having my 135 pound ass handed to me, repeatedly, by 220 pound lineman during scrimmage.  Had I run to Canada to avoid the draft during Nam, I would not have learned to be a supervisor, manager, and leader of a marvelous cadre of military men and women protecting the greatest country in the world.  Had I not taken the offered position with Air Force Intelligence, I would have not learned to "think outside the box."  Had I not been a "Jack of all trades, master of none," I would not have enjoyed the many different positions with the company I worked for after military retirement.  Had I not moved to Mexico, I would have missed another experience of a lifetime.  Had I not returned, I would have missed saying goodbye to my friends from work, before they left.

With everything I have done in my life I am still disappointed by those things I didn't do; the "bucket list" of items that may never come to fruition.  I live a bit vicariously, now, through my son as I see pictures he posts of lobster diving, visiting foreign lands, eating cultural foods, cooking his own culinary delights, and so on.  Yet, for me, the adventure is far from over.  I have the current Country Club project, ordination as a minister, my blog, plans to retire (again) to Mississippi at age 62, and heaven only knows what will follow after that.

I would like to volunteer time with a university to dig dinosaurs in the deserts of the southwest; I love the desert and the heat.  I would like to be a cook on a fishing boat, or for a logging camp.  I would like to mine for gold, silver or gemstones.  I would like to do a few months in Antarctica.  I would like to open a small sidewalk bistro serving soups, sandwiches, and strong "fifty cent" coffee from a large pot.  Since the aches and pains seem to stay longer now days, sky diving and dirt bikes are out.  My vision limits or prohibits many other desires for adventure, as it always has.  No scuba diving, firefighting, sniper school or combat, and my visit to Antarctica will probably freeze my contacts to my eyeballs.  But, one can always go along to help those that can,  and I can always dream of doing it myself 

Everything you do in life, no matter how small or insignificant it seems at the time, can be life altering if you let it.  Open your mind this coming year; be daring, take a chance occasionally, and consider the possibilities.  Like Mark Twain says, "Explore.  Dream.  Discover."  Do it alone or, better yet, with a friend.  Or, even better, with friends and family!

If you resolve to do anything this coming year, be more than you are.  Find a path that you can travel, and determine the destination remembering that what you do along the way has a great bearing on where you end up.  In discovering your path and undertaking the journey you just may find out who you are, and who you are is so much more important than any New Year resolutions.

I resolve to continue to post my thoughts; to continue along this path I have before me, enjoying every day of new discovery and danger; to love, and care, and try to understand and comprehend; to search for God, in everything!  

I would resolve to be less of a sinner, but I fear this resolution would make me more of a liar than a saint.  I resolve, then, to be more spiritual and thoughtful; to be ever mindful of the religious hypocrites around me; to never forget that, like the Pope Francis, I freely admit I am a sinner and, with this one admission, the Pope and I see eye to eye on many things.