Questioning Luck, Life, and Success

 

“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”

-- Dalai Lama XIV

What is more important to manifesting luck than curiosity?

Nothing. You can’t manifest luck, but curiosity seeks knowledge, and the more knowledge you have about something will act as a foundation for whatever “luck” comes along, until the knowledge becomes enough to mitigate the need for luck, altogether.

What is your greatest career achievement?

Receiving the “Meritorious Service Medal” when I retired from the Air Force after serving 23 years with Combat Intelligence.

How can you gauge the amount of success you are having in life because of your mindset?

If your success is true happiness, then, yes, even if others don’t see it. Happiness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. One’s mindset should focus on being truly happy always and in everything one does. But, in order to gauge any success, you still need something to gauge it against. You need some form of context.

One’s mind does not always create a good context because an individual will make that context what they define it as and not what others define it as. “I’ve created a business after much hard work, therefore, I am a success. However, I have no customers because what I create is not needed, so I am a failure.” One’s “success” can usually be gauged against what one learns from their failure.

“Happiness depends on your mindset and attitude.”

-- Roy T. Bennett

Do you have something in your life you wish you did, but didn't because of certain reasons at the time, but now would do it if given the opportunity?

I wanted to be a first responder, fireman, policeman, special forces, SCUBA diver, etc., but I was small for my age and very nearsighted. The sight and size requirements have changed quite a bit, but now I’m at an age where I can only support the first responders and the vets. My career in military intelligence was my way of giving to my country.

Is it about following your passion or going after what you need?

You must take care of yourself first. Go after what you need, and then follow your passion.

How do you prevent something that already happened?

What? You don’t… unless you know how to go back in time. Now, the most you can do is try to mitigate the effects of what happened.

“. . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past."

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands."

-- Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Are you waiting for your dreams to come true and change your life?

I never waited for dreams, it was counterproductive and rarely bore fruit. I have always worked toward my dreams. They came true much faster.

Can you follow the same steps a successful person took and become successful as well?

All things being equal, most probably.

What is your greatest goal in life?

As I approach 70 years of life, my greatest goal is to continue being truly happy at all times. It is a lesson I learned after the divorce of my 25-year marriage and, now, I would have life no other way. Being constantly happy beats the alternative, hands down.

“Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.”

-- Sylvia Plath

What are the unwritten or unspoken sacrifices that come with success?

True happiness, if you haven’t discovered it before attaining the goal. True happiness is true success. If you aren’t truly happy before you attain your goal, chances are you won’t discover it afterward. Strive to be happy always, even in the face of adversity and failure.

How did you figure out what you wanted to be, how did you find your spark?

I fell into it. I wanted to be a psychologist, got drafted for the military, and joined the Air Force. They saw my psychology training and asked if I’d like to try Intelligence. The rest is a 23-year history. I never looked back. When I retired from that, a week later I fell into another 17-year job assisting to protect the rights of human research subjects. Again, I never looked back. I have been very blessed.

Do you think this is a good quote, "Know with wanting change, change will come and Through all change always remain humble"?

It’s a bit chopped up. “Know with wanting change. Changes will come and, through all change, always remain humble.” Change is the only true constant in the universe and, as such, we should all be aware it can happen at any time. Change usually comes with a lesson, and the lesson is usually patience. If I’ve learned nothing else in life, it’s that learning “patience” can teach one how to be humble. Not one of us is better than another; to each their ability, and in their own time. It really doesn’t pay to not be patient, there is always a time and place for change. It will happen.

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

-- Lao Tzu

Did you think at this point in your life you'd be where you are now?

It was my fondest hope! I wanted to retire early but had no idea I would retire three times. None of us want to be taking care of our parents in their later years, but I was brought up to accept that responsibility happily since they gave me 18 years of their lives to get me to this point. Dad built me a house next to them, several years before he passed. Now, I take care of my mother and enjoy my retirement.

If I didn't end up where I thought I’d be, I’d still be happy in my circumstances. It is what it is until it isn’t, and then it is what it is again. I strive to be happy at all times because the alternative simply sucks.

How should you live life, not knowing when you will die?

To the fullest possible, because you never know when you’ll die.

Do little things matter?

Drop a penny at the top of the stairs. It’s just a penny, leave it. Who cares? Well, the 87-year-old woman who slipped on it and broke her neck during the fall, might. Just saying.

“Sometimes the little opportunities that fly at us each day can have the biggest impact.”

-- Danny Wallace

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as a chaplain at the regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony:  tolerantpastor@gmail.com