The Ides of March

Well, not quite....but soon. I know now that spring is just weeks away, thank God! I not much of a winter person. I grew up in the cold and snow of Idaho, and that was enough for me. My sister has her birthday in 2 days.....wow....do I feel old. Time sure is flying by. Funny how that works. When you are young...it seems to take forever to grow up. But, when you are older.....time speeds up exponentially....it seems like it anyway. It seems like just yesterday that I was still a spry 32 years old at the INS Academy. Yet now, I am edging toward 46. Where in the hell did the time go? Those daisies and worms are getting closer with each passing year.

Over halfway to the old "pine box". Is that what I really want....no.....so I am thinking of cremation when that time comes. I mean.....it is not like you will crawl out of the ground sometime down the road in your old decomposed body.....horror movies aside. Death.....the only sure thing in this world. Everyone has to die.....yet not everyone pays taxes. So in this sense....death is the only certainty in life. It is a trip we must all take alone. The rich and poor......the gifted and the slow......the hindu and the jew.....the black, brown, yellow and white. None are exempt from this fate.

The only real question you should ask yourself......is how I lived my life and what I did with the time I was granted? Was it a good life...full of compassion, understanding, empathy and love? Or was it bitter life filled with hatred, sorrow, prejudice, vengence and grudges? No one knows the answer but you alone. Only you will have to live with the consequenses of your actions. I know I am living with mine right now. At least I know that I tried to act in good faith.....to show compassion to my fellow man. I may fall....but my spirit will live on knowing that my intentions were good.....that my heart was in the right place. I may be damned and condemned by those who were around me for the rest of eternity....but at least I know that when this life is over.....the only one I have to answer to is God himself. I have that type of spirit.....forgiving, compassionate, non-judgemental and understanding. I understand that we all have faults....for none are perfect. So it is that I cannot hold a grudge for long. Even of my enemies. In personal relationships.....I can say this with truth....but when it comes to corruption of power, greed and selfishness among the ruling elite.....it is quite another story.

My time on this earth is extremely limited.....as it is for us all.
You only get one chance....one short life.....one set of dreams in which to act upon. Once it is over.....it is over.....at least in this realm of existance. I may not have material wealth, power and status.....but I know that I have a good soul.....and that will go a long way in the hereafter. Whatever that may be. The Ides of March are coming for each of us....sooner than we expect. That is the nature of the human condition.