The person next to you is the greatest miracle
and the greatest mystery you will ever
meet at this moment.
The person next to you is an inexhaustible
reservoir of possibility,
desire and dread,
smiles and frowns, laughter and tears,
fears and hopes,
all struggling to find expression.
The person next to you believes in something,
stands for something, counts for something,
lives for something, labors for something,
waits for something, runs from something,
runs to something.
The person next to you has problems and fears,
wonders how they’re doing,
is often undecided and unorganized
and painfully close to chaos!
Do they dare speak of it to you?
The person next to you can live with you
not just alongside you,
not just next to you.
The person next to you is a part of you.
for you are the person next to them.
Prissy Galagarian
Today at work someone said something that caused a pause for thought. She told me that another server found it strange that I seemed so at ease with students, that they never would have thought I was a "family" man. Of course this person knows me not, other than the guy walking around in the white jacket. And certainly my profession has an image that has been cultivated over a long period of time and truthfully, one that serves me well from time to time...don't be pissing the chef off is all we're saying. So I don't blame him for coming to that conclusion, it just made me chuckle to think what "others" may think. Those that know me will get a laugh at the idea since it's pretty well recognized that I'm pretty easy going, much like my personality doppelganger cat Boots. Life is far too short for all that other nonsense.
Like that person next to you, I have a lot going on both externally and internally. Battles won and lost, battles still going on. But I'm here, next to you and next to many others, just like you are next to many people. It would be quite easy to get overwhelmed with the everyday and lose site of the truly important. Think of what you're going through and consider, just for a moment, that the person next to you is doing the same. Maybe that different view gives you new perspective to consider while eating your banana staring into the world?
10:00 at night and I'm probably not coherent enough to be writing this but I had an idea and I wanted to follow through with it. People next to me and happiness?
Where is happiness born? I'm sure I don't know save to say that the person looking back in the mirror is where I would start. I believe that our happiness begins with us, we can't win it, meet it, find it on the side of the street or along the River Thames. It comes from our own sense of self and our understanding of our place in the vastness of the universe. After that, it can either be enhanced or torn down. Making choices that work towards enhancement is where I place my faith in.
Everyday I am gaining more perspective into my own past and I am coming to understand the insidious nature of not being seen, not being appreciated and not being valued. It takes a lot of time to build yourself up while you can be torn down in a matter of seconds or over a lifetime. Either way, those scars heal hard and slow. We develop our coping mechanisms, our walls are constructed and fear of one sort or another is our biggest obstacle to finding the next rung on the happiness ladder.
That quote might be a entrepreneurs calling card but I would argue it is as a good a sentiment as any for life in general. In fact if I was inclined to get a third tattoo it might very well be that. In the end we all have our fears to face, you, me and the person next to us. We're truly in it together, warts and all. So in the end I choose hope and love as the guiding principles of my life, with a healthy dose of humour and tomfoolery of course.
Photo courtesy of my friend Margo
Like that person next to you, I have a lot going on both externally and internally. Battles won and lost, battles still going on. But I'm here, next to you and next to many others, just like you are next to many people. It would be quite easy to get overwhelmed with the everyday and lose site of the truly important. Think of what you're going through and consider, just for a moment, that the person next to you is doing the same. Maybe that different view gives you new perspective to consider while eating your banana staring into the world?
10:00 at night and I'm probably not coherent enough to be writing this but I had an idea and I wanted to follow through with it. People next to me and happiness?
Where is happiness born? I'm sure I don't know save to say that the person looking back in the mirror is where I would start. I believe that our happiness begins with us, we can't win it, meet it, find it on the side of the street or along the River Thames. It comes from our own sense of self and our understanding of our place in the vastness of the universe. After that, it can either be enhanced or torn down. Making choices that work towards enhancement is where I place my faith in.
Everyday I am gaining more perspective into my own past and I am coming to understand the insidious nature of not being seen, not being appreciated and not being valued. It takes a lot of time to build yourself up while you can be torn down in a matter of seconds or over a lifetime. Either way, those scars heal hard and slow. We develop our coping mechanisms, our walls are constructed and fear of one sort or another is our biggest obstacle to finding the next rung on the happiness ladder.
"Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear"
George Addair
That quote might be a entrepreneurs calling card but I would argue it is as a good a sentiment as any for life in general. In fact if I was inclined to get a third tattoo it might very well be that. In the end we all have our fears to face, you, me and the person next to us. We're truly in it together, warts and all. So in the end I choose hope and love as the guiding principles of my life, with a healthy dose of humour and tomfoolery of course.
Photo courtesy of my friend Margo
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