Young people who pursue their dreams no matter what everyone around them says, what they’ve been through, or what they’ve sacrificed. The ones who have the fortitude to continue the chase even in the face of failure. They are a rare breed, but you know when you meet them. They have a different vibe -Young but cultured and in touch with the reality they live in.
The Mid-lifers who begin to take what they’ve learned through the hardships of their youth and use it to help them understand who they really are. I know a woman who recently left her husband after what had to feel like endless years of servitude to her children and a man-child husband. She loves her kids, but the husband had to go… Not for another man, but to be single and to find her place in the world as who she is, not what she is.
Older folks who refuse to govern their actions based on their age, public opinion, or the trauma they have endured throughout their life. I met a man the other day who is a 70 year old ex-paratrooper – He recently went back to skydiving and when we spoke, he had already jumped 5 times within the past week and had another planned a few days after I met him. I could see the sparkle in his eyes when he spoke of it. Having jumped myself, I can attest to the stresses the body takes with each jump, as well as the hard impact that’s possible with each landing. One wrong move and that 70 year old man is going to be a bag of matchsticks in the dirt -and yet he jumps without a second thought.
I live vicariously through them since I’ve never been able to chase those dragons to completion. Because of how my brain is wired, I do not have the attention span to stick with one thing consistently until I have it mastered or until it turns into something more. I learn through necessity, stick with it until I have a solid working knowledge, then move on.
Although a little crude, I heard a speaker provide the best example of this condition. It’s the mind’s version of erectile dysfunction. If a man’s member stops working, no amount of desire or effort is going to suddenly make it happen. Well, that’s how my brain works. Once it gets to a certain point, it loses interest and no amount of effort on my part will change that fact -and to be honest, it’s learned to slowly ween me off my interest over time. To this date, it’s been 100% successful. I love something and enjoy doing it, then over time I lose interest for no apparent reason. It’s not until I’m out of the hobby or job that I realize what happened.
Skydiver, college student, computer builder, drag racer, leather craftsman, entrepreneur, 2 branches of military, motorcyclist, 3 marriages, 30+ address changes, dozens of jobs, intimate partners approaching triple digits, etc, etc… Nothing ever lasts. I’m more than half way through my life with no sign of “what I feel I’m meant to do” so when I see people around me able to focus on a single goal and drive without distraction, on top of being proud of them, I’m also reminded of my uncountable failures and lack of substance to this life.
Ironically, this post started off about joy and got dark -Even in my writing I struggle for consistency. I’m not surprised.
Off The Rails 