Day Twenty Eight

DAY TWENTY EIGHT
Fate

Fate is our way of understanding, “what happens in life happens for a reason, and what doesn’t, doesn’t.” We’ve all said that and heard that countless times in our lives. It’s because it’s true. It’s a way of describing causality based on the tools available to us. Have you ever tried, desperately and ultimately in vain to make something happen that just didn’t, couldn’t happen? You try and try and try but it just won’t work. At the end of the day, we chalk it up to, “it just wasn’t meant to be”. But on the flip side, how easily, when we look back, does the opposite happen? When we say instead, “it was meant to be,” how much more smoothly do those events occur? Much more. As if there was no other way. That is what fate is. Everything necessary to make said event occur was present. What makes the concept of fate even more interesting is being able to see this thread in our lives. To see what tools are available, how they work, and what they can produce. To see the constituent parts is to see the end product in many instances. It’s like a recipe. If we have all the ingredients and the desire to make something out of them, it’s simple. We just make it. We turn each ingredient (or cause in this example) into a whole comprised of each part (or an event). So to see “behind the scenes,” so to speak, is to better anticipate events occurring. Developing this knowledge, especially when you “tune in” to the frequencies of what will work and won’t work, will make your life so much easier, much more fluid. To keep the analogy running, if you try to bake a cake out of celery, peanuts, garbage bags, and toothpicks, well, you’re not going to get a cake, try as you might. So, knowing what is available to you, to others, and to any event you wish to have occur, will help you understand what is possible and what is not. So if all you have is celery, peanuts, garbage bags, and toothpicks, don’t try to bake a cake. If you want to bake a cake, get the right ingredients. If you don’t have them, attract them.

See, you thought I was going to talk about pre-determinism and destiny, didn’t you? So did I! I’ll discuss those topics later.

Today’s task: the key here is to look back at events in your life that worked flawlessly and those that went disastrously and identify the differences between the two. What did you have when it worked without a hitch, and what didn’t you have when it all went south? A square peg doesn’t fit easily into a round hole. Know what you’ve got, what you need, and what you want and you’re all set.

Peace.

Day Twenty Seven

DAY TWENTY SEVEN
Opportunity

People talk about “signs,” in the religious or spiritual sense all the time. They refer to those indicators that let them know what path they are supposed to be on, what decisions they should make, whom they should or should not talk to, etc. Science has reduced these “signs” to nothing more than fanciful superstition, and there is a stigma attached to those who strongly believe in signs (essentially, science and those who embrace science 100% would assess such beliefs as naïve, explainable by causality, chance, coincidence, etc., and that anyone who believes otherwise has simply not had enough science). I’m not making either side out to be a bad guy, I’m attempting to be charitable to both sides, however, I can say that I have a strong background in both science and spirituality, so I’d like to discuss this matter further. We’re really going to be discussing opportunity, but I feel it is a good idea to first look at how we come to see opportunities in our lives, and I want to do this by way of discussing “signs” in such a way as to give both the spiritual and scientific camps their fair explanation.

First, let me say that I am very spiritual, but not at all religious. To flush that out completely would take us tangentially into a very different topic, so we’ll leave it at that for now. As I mentioned before, I do have a very strong background in science as I was required to take numerous prerequisite courses in order to apply to medical and pharmacy school. Moreover, several of my philosophy courses discussed science and used science in our critical analysis; thus, I believe I am adequately suited to discuss this topic charitably and it is my hope that I can shed some light on the otherwise unexplainable, but very real presence of “signs” in our lives and how they manifest themselves into opportunities waiting to be seized.

Every so often, if we are “tuned in” and aware of our surroundings, we see people, things, moments, chances that seem to make more sense than all of the other people, things, moments, etc. By this I mean that there seems to be a greater reason that a particular person is in our lives than not. The same is true with things—sometimes we have a certain thing in our lives that carries much more meaning and purpose than the other things. I’m not insinuating the meaning that we project onto it—this is far greater than sentimental value—its purpose seems greater than utility and sentiment combined, it’s meant for something more, so it seems. Certain moments, if we acknowledge and focus on our intuition appropriately, resonate with us much differently that other moments. We get a feeling. Have you ever woken up, prepared to go to work but something didn’t feel right? You couldn’t explain it, but you also could not deny the feeling. Perhaps you went to work anyway, disregarding the feeling or not giving it proper attention and something bad happened, like you got a flat tire. Does this mean that the feeling you received before you left meant that you shouldn’t have left for work or should have left at a different time to avoid getting a flat tire? Well, logically, of course not. The steps of causality and the progression from A to B to C are far too complicated in such a case to ever make a solid logical assessment. But what about that feeling? What did it mean? Ever had a feeling stronger than that, something bad did happen, and you thought, if only for a moment, what if that was the feeling I had earlier? What if that was  my intuition indicating that I should pay closer attention to the currents in my life? Surely you have. Now something bad doesn’t have to happen to make the feeling meaningful—in fact, sometimes really good things happen. But the issue is, what are these feelings, why do we get them, and how possibly in this vast world of science, can we ever make sense of them?

Let me tell you a few stories to further set the scene. I had been working 80 hours a week between two jobs, I was beyond burned out, I was tired, I was lost, I wasn’t making any extra money, so my efforts were essentially futile. I deliberated on my situation for many nights and finally decided that I wanted to reduce my efforts to one job. It wasn’t a brilliant decision, as two jobs weren’t working, so clearly one wouldn’t suffice, but I decided to do this to retain my sanity, to improve my health, and for the rest of the decision, I turned it over to faith—faith that life has always worked itself out in the past—so I trusted that it would do the same again. The problem with faith, the real issue, is doubt. Faith is a type of belief that requires trust, hope, dedication, and ultimately, the absence of fear. Fear is the most intense and powerful form of doubt. For when we fear, we do not believe. We question. We don’t trust. We hope, yes, but hope alone is idle wishing and you know what they say about your hands and spitting and wishing. So, to have true faith, we must relinquish our reason, that which we hold onto so dearly and value above all else, and dedicate our minds and hearts to trusting and believing in the absence of doubt. So, I’m at the gas station filling up my tank after my last day at my day job. Fear and doubt crept in and I spent a moment wondering how I was going to be able to fill my tank the next time round with significantly less money. The moment I recognized that my mind was entertaining this doubt, I squashed it, but it came back. I know the dangers of fear and doubt but they overcame me stronger than the belief that I had. So I asked for help. I asked the Universe (again, I’m spiritual, not religious) to show me the way, to illuminate my path. I asked for a sign. The pump clicked indicating that my tank was full and I snapped out of the thought I was lost in. When I looked up I saw a sign, literally. It was for employment. Now, that sign was there, whether I had asked for it or not, it was just a matter of whether or not I would have seen it. Perhaps all I really did was quiet my mind enough to pay attention to my surroundings and everything that occurred was of my own doing. Yes, that’s quite possible—and in this instance, highly probable. Nevertheless, it still resonated with me and moved me in a much more positive direction. So in this instance, my faith was strengthened because I received what I had asked for. Obviously, we do not have the ability to constantly be looking at all of our surroundings—this would require more time and energy than any of us have. But to be able to focus on those that are more important, I’ve always found it helpful to ask for help. I refrain from saying “show me a sign” often, because I know that using the language exactly like that doesn’t perfectly correspond to my spiritual views, nor does it correlate well with my overall worldview. Yet, it still works. And that baffles me every time. It seems that I may need to reevaluate my worldview.

I spent many days meditating on this event, on the causal connection of my life and how my life has intertwined with others, and I came to a realization. What if, what if there is something more to everything than what we can currently explain. Yeah, that was a very heavy thought for me because it goes against most of what I was taught. I was taught that through science and reason we can eventually make sense of everything. I don’t believe that to necessarily be false; however, I think we are giving our limited minds too much credit. And that’s where my faith enters. My faith is a sense of immense strength, wonder, amazement, and appreciation of beauty and creativity. It takes over where my mind finds limitation. It’s like a trade-off to me—I give the best I have, the most love I can offer, the brightest hope I can shine, etc. to everyone and everything, and I have the faith that it will all come back. Even for a hardcore scientist, even for the rigid nature of sound logic, this makes perfect causal sense. For at the end of every chain is really the beginning of another, on and on, and always, eventually, back to the source—thus, what goes around, comes around. Upon the conclusion of my meditation, I also gave consideration to “signs,” to fate, to destiny, to the whole bit. And after I made the decision to allow some credibility for each of these ideas, some pretty fantastic things began to happen.

First, my night job became my day job, I got a raise, got better hours, and that was working—for a while. Then it became clear that the job wasn’t a good fit for me, nor I for it, and I was let go. Losing a job is always followed by fear, doubt, uncertainty, and I experienced my fair share of each. But I decided to focus on my business and to have faith. My faith was predicated in not asking “how” it was all going to work out, but trusting that it would, as it always has. I didn’t adopt of form of “blind faith” in that I had no reason behind it, rather, I simply accepted that the situation was what it was, I knew what I could control, what I couldn’t, and I went from there. And the next week of focusing only on my business provided me with opportunities I never would have had otherwise. I valued these moments for how special they were and more came into my life.

Second, I started to become aware of the thread that was beginning to emerge in my life, in my choices, in the events as they were occurring. No, I couldn’t see into the future and see all of the possibilities ahead of me, and even if I could, that would take the fun and mystery out of living life. But I was very keenly aware of moments that were clear opportunities, signs that were obviously presented to me, and people that would have simply been mere passersby had I not focused my intention of faith, love, and gratitude. Then, something I still cannot grasp occurred. One night, when I was at my weekly business seminar, I saw a woman through a window. She was working in another ballroom in the same hotel. Something about the fact that I saw her through a window immediately made my mind kick into overdrive. I thought to myself, a window of opportunity, a window of time, a glimpse into a future of possibilities. For whatever reason, the imagery of the window made me pause, and quite literally pause, as my colleagues took notice. Then, and this is where I’m lost concerning reason, I felt a nudge. A literal push on my left shoulder. No one was behind me. It literally caused my shoulder to move forward as if someone had pushed me from behind. And I thought, if I do not talk to this woman, I know I will regret not doing so. A colleague approached me and said, “what are you looking at?” I didn’t make eye contact, I simply slipped by and said, “I have to talk to this woman.” Now in the time I was paused looking at this woman and having these thoughts, she too noticed me, for an instant, and moved on. I made my way into the room in which she was working and countless thoughts crossed my mind—she’s out of my league. She’d never talk to me. What am I going to say? Am I really doing this? And those were all doubt. I recognized this but was committed to my task. For the first time in my life what I had imagined in my head actually came to fruition, the words I had intended to say came out of my mouth, and the situation went exactly as planned. Typically, I’d have a great idea in my head but then I’d fumble and it would be awkward and I’d be redeemed by the fact that I’m genuine and charismatic enough that it would be allowed. But in this instance, it was exactly what I wanted it to be. I walked into her room, where everyone was working, walked right up to her and handed her my business card. I said, “that’s my number. Now you have no excuse not to call me tonight for drinks.” And I turned and left. The rest—well, that’s a different story. The point is that I clearly saw this as an opportunity. I saw a sign. I felt a push. It was clear that something far greater than what I can explain by way of reason had occurred. I spoke to her out of the faith that my mind, my heart, and what I had interpreted as said signs were not misleading, were not of my own creation, and were greater than myself. 

So, that was me seizing an opportunity that was presented to me. It was presented to me because I allowed it to be. I was in a place where that made sense. But, if my mind had been focusing exclusively on my seminar, or if I had been 2 minutes late or early, or if she hadn’t passed by at that exact moment, none of this would have happened. The timing was right, but it required a nudge to really make me realize what was at stake. How many times has something like that happened in your life? Do you give moments like this any credibility, any meaning? If you had asked me five years ago, I would have attempted to explain all of this away by reason alone. Five years ago, I would not have even seen this opportunity. But now, in light of just the few stories I’ve shared with you, I’m “in tune” with the world around me, aware of possibilities, open to opportunity, and I’ve accepted that no matter what, I will get back what I give. So I give the best I have when I’m best able to give it—and it’s always love.

With our background set, let’s think about opportunity. Are all opportunities in our lives wholly visible? Are they all good? If we have 3 paths ahead of us and we choose one, does this decision alone solely determine our fates or were the 3 paths potentially intertwined and they all led to the same destination but simply had 3 different entrances? Whenever we realize an opportunity is being presented to us, should we always act on it or accept it? If not, why?

These are questions I regularly consider and ask myself. I realize that we make our ways through life, sometimes with little effort, sometimes with immense effort, but either way, we make it through. I’ve also realized that if we align ourselves with what we want from life, and if we give pure love, offer gratitude every step of the way, and truly believe and have faith that everything works, regardless of our other efforts, that life is a beautiful and rewarding gift. All we are required to do is to act. So, the life you have is the combination of the choices you’ve made and the choices that were made on your behalf. Now that you are able to decide for yourself, decide what you want, align yourself with that, and prepare to act as opportunities arise. You will get what you want, for what you already have is what you’ve predominately been thinking about. If you would say that your life isn’t good—I will guarantee you that your thoughts are predominately themselves either not good or constructed in forms of negation (i.e., don’t want). 

Before you can see and seize the opportunities in your own life, you must first master knowing what it is you want and focus your intent on love, gratitude, and belief. When you do this, you will begin to see opportunities that offer you greater love and happiness in return. Then all you have to do is act on said opportunities. The rest is the magic of life.

Today’s task: think back to opportunities in your life. How many have you let pass by? How many have you missed because you succumbed to fear or doubt? How many more can you afford to let slip through your grasp? Start with this. THIS is your opportunity.

Love.

Day Twenty Six

DAY TWENTY SIX
Know Thyself

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you: Weep, and you weep alone." From Solitude, Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

I've cried enough in my lifetime that I could have a river named after me--a big river. Maybe one that fish could have lived in. It would have been a clean river, just a little salty though. But we have enough rivers. We have too many tears. We need more laughter.

But I don't want to talk about laughter right now, I want to talk about you. That's right--you.

Inscribed in the forecourt of the Ancient Greek Temple of Apollo at Delphi was the following aphorism, or maxim: "Know thyself." Another ancient maxim, from the Hermetic tradition asks, "Know ye not that ye are Gods?" I don't want to delve too deeply into the latter maxim, for it will require far too much epistemic and metaphysical dissection; I simply want the two to be brought together, because the latter requires knowledge and complete understanding of the first.

Know thyself. Say it out loud. Repeat it. Internalize it and make it meaningful. I've spent my entire life attempting to know myself. I've found that with great humility and the utmost honesty, I have come to know myself extensionally. By that I mean, as an extension of all things I am connected to, and vice versa. Really, that's a terrible way to define yourself, in terms of "relatedness" and not "selfness", but it's a start nevertheless. I've learned by examining my life this way what my true strengths are, what my weaknesses are, and what my limitations are. I've learned that some of my weaknesses are simply limits on some of my strengths. If I were stronger in certain areas, I'd eliminate certain weaknesses altogether. So, I don't let my weaknesses define me. I define myself by my strengths. My weaknesses are really "strengths in progress."

This brings me to another point. That of respect. Respect is a loaded word that connotes much imagery. Effectively, respect is admiration and acknowledgment shown to something or someone that possesses certain qualities worthy of said admiration and acknowledgment. Thus, in the process of coming to know thyself, respect will enter once thyself has come to be known. And like love, one cannot respect anything else until one first respects oneself. So, respect those qualities you possess that you admire. Then, respect life. For if it weren't for life, none of this would be possible. Then respect others. They possess innumerable respectable qualities, even some you might not yet have. But never, never respect someone who does not respect you. Either they themselves do not respect who they are, or they do not see you as you are. Don't not offer respect spitefully or hatefully, rather, simply don't offer it. You'll be wasting your time and theirs, and you'll slow the process of self-discovery. You could potentially be thrown off-track which might lead you to ask defeating questions that keep you from the truth about who you are.

Now, once you've mastered knowing yourself extensionally, then you can work on defining your selfness. Selfness is that which makes you you. It is the one thing that separates you from everything and everyone else. It's terribly hard to find, it's literally one of a kind, and most especially, it belongs only to you. The journey to selfness begins with understanding the second maxim.

Now, let us laugh. It's one quality we all share, and second to love, it's our best quality.

Hope this helps,
Love, AO

Day Twenty Five

DAY TWENTY FIVE
The Meaning of Life
Do you know what it’s like to meet your real father after 22 years, having spent your lifetime wondering if he was even alive, and if so, if he was a good man, or a drunk, an addict—wondering if he ever wondered about you, then meeting him and everything went well?

Do you know what it’s like not speaking to your family for 10 whole years—not a word to your brothers, your sisters, mother, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, but calling each of them in turn and celebrating the best Christmas of your life?

Do you know what it’s like marrying your high school sweetheart and ten years later getting a divorce, only to find that on the other side of the agony was liberation for your soul?

Do you know what it’s like not being college bound, applying to a college WAY out of you league, getting accepted and far surpassing even your own expectations?

Do you know what it’s like enduring a childhood of abuse, depression, confusion and despair only to escape by letting go and moving on?

Do you know what it’s like, at the moment of ultimate darkness, complete isolation, gripping depression—at the moment where few others would continue, and most would give up—to focus everything you are and everything you have, your entire heart, the complete expanse of your mind, your life, your breath, your very soul on saying you are sorry to those you’ve wronged, forgiving those who have wronged you, closing your eyes and asking the universe to send you a light—and in return not only receiving an angel, but also peace of mind, a quiet heart, and a path so illuminated, even a blind man could see it?

Perhaps you cannot answer yes to any of these questions, or you might be able to say “sort of,” but whether or not “yes” or “no,” I can answer yes to all of them. And of course there is a story behind each one, but the point is not in the details. The point is that our pasts do not define us.. Let me say that again, our pasts do not define us. They do not completely make us who we are. They contribute, yes, but they ultimately give us a place to start. That’s not to say that we don’t limit ourselves based on our pasts, in fact, most of us are guilty of doing exactly that. My entire point is that if we don’t learn from moments in our pasts, then we will never excel, we will never grow, and we will live our lives in little self-limiting boxes. No past is too awful, so severe, so unspeakable that it can’t be overcome. When I write mine down and say it out loud, it seems fictional; but I assure you it was very real. And in spite of what I would have believed would have kept me down, is in fact what gave me strength to do and be more. No detail from my past, good or bad, is more important than the fact that I learned from it, built a foundation on it, and kept building. I knew where I started, so it was easy to see where I was going. If I didn’t like the path, I changed it. I make it sound easy—it’s not, and that’s not what I’m saying. But following a simple philosophy, a simple shift in thinking was easy.

That philosophy hinged on two words: “can’t” and “try.” Knowing how to replace those words changed everything. Let me explain: I fundamentally believe that “can’t” and “try” should be eliminated from our vocabularies when they concern our actions. We can all CAN, and none of us CAN’T. If you find yourself saying “can’t” a lot, stop. You are limiting yourself with a simple word. One word creates a belief in your mind, you repeat it, and eventually you believe it. You honestly believe you can’t—and now you are limited. But why is it so easy to believe? Because you told yourself to believe. You just chose to believe that you could not. Instead, replace “can’t” with “can.” If you say it enough, eventually you will believe you can instead of you can’t.

Almost as bad as “can’t” is “try”—“I’ll try.” Try implies failure. You introduce the possibility of failure into your mind. Now there is doubt. When there is doubt, we have the tendency to focus on it more. Eventually we focus more on the doubt than on the positive outcome of whatever it was we were trying and we set ourselves up to fail. It’s more or less a prolonged “can’t.” Master Yoda taught us, “Do or do not. There is no try.” Yes, that’s little green Yoda from Star Wars, and even though he is fictional, the words are still profound wisdom. Next time you catch yourself saying, “I’ll try…” change it to “I’ll do it.” But there is still the opportunity to say “no, I won’t do it.” In this case, you haven’t failed, you’ve simply declined. But don’t let declining become a habit of saving face in lieu of failing. It’s okay to fail. The art of failing is first doing, then not succeeding, but in the end always knowing why you didn’t succeed. Lying about, hiding from, cheating to win, or avoiding the reason why you failed is a mark against your integrity and your character and it will always show, even to those without a keen eye. Let’s keep it on the level.

That explained the philosophical shift necessary to change our paths, but we still haven’t talked much about our pasts. So, if our pasts don’t define us, what does? Well, if we were static beings (non-changing), our pasts would completely define us. Moment ‘A’ would be our start, then ‘B’, and we’d be A+B, etc. But we are dynamic beings living in and experiencing each moment in a dynamic universe. To make it only a little more technical: our spatial presence (the space we occupy and that which we call “us”) is changing every second at a sub-atomic level. The “us” part that we call “us” is never the exact same from moment to moment. It may change subtly or it may change tremendously. Thus, “we” are dynamic (ever changing). And that’s just at a molecular level. Go one step further and look at it from an energy and thought perspective. Think back to the last time a thought completely rocked you, changed you, made you evermore different. And we think countless thoughts a day. Our minds are dynamic too. And our minds now are massively different from when we were kids—which we would call our past. Time, at least in the way we experience it and quantify it, IS static. (In actuality time is dynamic, but we have to perceive it as static so that we can understand it and can count it—otherwise we’d never stand a chance.) And that’s why time is a human convention. We created it so we can count it, stop it, start it, and attempt to understand our world. Well, time doesn’t stop—in reality, and things don’t always happen chronologically—often they happen quite simultaneously. Nevertheless, in reality, we are dynamic space-occupiers hurdled through the dynamic dimension of time. Nothing is ever the same from one moment to the next. We operate our lives on “similarity.” Back to non-technical…

Now, I said that our pasts don’t define us. Well, that’s partly because we are so ever-changing that it’s hard to define “us” anyway, but our pasts have changed just as much as we have. In fact, the more “we” change, the further this new “us” is from the “us” of the past. Moreover, it’s only when we don’t see reality for what it is that our pasts DO define us. In that instance, our pasts not only define us, they become us, or we become our past. If we fail to see ourselves as beings capable of ever changing; if we fail to truly understand that time doesn’t actually stop; then we will construct a reality where we never change and time never resumes. That is when your past defines you; that is when you cease being. And that, that is the saddest moment. That is non-being. To anyone in such a state—I send you a light. Come out into the world and grow; we welcome you back. You are missed and loved.

Our pasts don’t define us—we define ourselves. The meaning of life is to grow. What we are and what we were and what we will be is how much we’ve grown. The more we grow; the more we share this knowledge; the more we inspire others to grow big and tall and unrestricted, then the more we all are. And the “Miracle” to growing isn’t water; it’s not some magical elixir—it’s loving (everyone), learning (this secret), lighting (the path for others), and laughing (because it’s supposed to be fun!).

I’ve hurt people in my life—but they still love me. Thus, I love those who’ve hurt me.
I’ve learned a lot in my life—mostly that I have a lot to learn. Thus, I keep learning.
I asked for a light and I received it—but it’s not mine to keep. Thus, I return it from whence it came.
And I’ve laughed, LOUD and HARD, and I share my embarrassments unabashedly—because I know that the source of love and wisdom has a good sense of humor.

Thank you. I love what you are. I hope you grow big and tall.

AO

Day Twenty Four

DAY TWENTY FOUR
Dare to Dream
Routine, agenda, regimen, monotony, rat race. What do all of these words have in common? They involve repetition; they involve little to no thought, no creativity, no change, no spontaneity, no dreaming. Ultimately, they are the fast track to boredom, at best.

How many of us live our lives like that? At one point or other, we all do. But how long we do it depends on how long we've had our eyes closed. All around us is a world of beauty, a world of excitement, possibility, wonder, hope, and love, yet somehow, we close our minds, our hearts, and finally our eyes to it.

In this world, there exists two very different types of people: the Dreamers and the "Realists." Dreamers dream, create, love, give, offer hope, and expand the universe into realms that previously didn't exist. Realists, well they get exactly what they believe, what they "buy into". They live in the world of Dreamers past--the present. The present is the very limited vision that Dreamers long since gone had envisioned. Because it's an old dream that now belongs to the Realists, it has rules, regulations, standards, set backs, obstacles, and it has the unnerving power to consume your existence. The present is comprised predominately of the past, and only fractionally of the future. Thus, it is solely up to the Dreamers to make tomorrow's present better than today's by continuing to dream and create.

A critical difference between Dreamers and Realists is that Dreamers dynamically evolve from their ideas and creations. Realists do not evolve at all, regularly fall victim to zombification, and often feast upon the fallen dreams of the Dreamers. This is not because Realists are bad people, rather, when Dreamers fail, it reinforces the belief-system that is fundamental to the sanity of Realists--namely, when you dream, you fail. Thus, Realists do not dream, and they believe that they do not fail because of this.

To further separate the two, Dreamers have a keen eye for the world around them. Instead of seeing the world as it presents itself, some Dreamers are able to, with slight investigation, sharp intuition, and complete abandon of fear of failure, ridicule, or judgment, see the fabric of existence--that which permeates all things, all moments, and all of space. In doing so, these Dreamers are properly equipped to create, to paint new worlds on the template of life. Their biggest contender--the immediate world, the now, and the chant-like reminders of failure from the Realists.

Of the Dreamers, there are big Dreamers and there are little Dreamers. The little Dreamers are usually daring Realists that are hungry for a change. They've woken up, Matrix-style, and are driven to dream once they've seen the stark reality of their pre-determined lives they agreed to when they closed their eyes to the world. We think that we must close our eyes to dream, but ironically, we must open them.

And what of the big Dreamers? Those who heard the most doubt, endured the most ridicule, survived harsh judgment, and as fated, became those we remember most, admire, and aspire to become like? In pure dramatic, utterly climactic form, the big Dreamers almost always face the most monumental obstacles, the worst conditions, and ultimately their powers are spent overcoming all of this before they are ever afforded a real chance to dream. Nevertheless, they succeed, well beyond anything any little Dreamer can imagine, and far beyond the scope of a Realist's mind. What if they were never challenged? What if from moment one, they were allowed and encouraged to dream? How much more could they do?

So I challenge you to think. If your eyes are already closed, then surely your ears are too. Clearly this message isn't for you as you aren't even reading this. But if you get this, then I ask you to look at yourself. Examine your situation. Have you ever had an idea shot down? How did it make you feel? What happened when you had an idea that everyone told you wouldn't work, was foolish, was beyond your ability, etc., and it DID work? How did that make you feel? And what about those ideas you've had that you've never talked about. Maybe some you've already actualized and others you haven't. The ones that occurred are the dreams that came true. The ones that haven't are dormant dreams. They are sleeping, waiting. Wake them up before they fade. Your capabilities are unlimited. I'm telling you this as a Dreamer. I know this to be true. The Realists and the Realist's World want you to believe that you are limited. They want you to know your limits, stay within them, and NEVER explore beyond them, because if you do, you will fall on your face and have a big "I told you so" waiting for you. And when you do dream and succeed, they might offer you a simple, "you got lucky." Guess what. "Luck," in that sense, doesn't exist. That's a word Realists created to help them understand what they don't understand.

The last thing I want to say concerns identifying, promoting, and encouraging Dreamers. If you know a Dreamer, have a Dreamer, or either are a born or reformed Dreamer, then dream or encourage and dream or encourage big. Failure is a part of life. It's okay. But failing to dream--that's failing to live and that's not okay. Most importantly, and I don't care if you are a born Realist and you vehemently oppose everything I'm saying--NEVER stop, prevent, or hinder a Dreamer. If it weren't for them, this world wouldn't exist. Instead, if you can't offer support, at least be thankful and kindly step out of the way.

To fellow Dreamers: our present is darker than ever. It's up to us to bring the light and color back to the world. Smile, laugh, love, and dream. I see the beauty, I see the wonder. Let's show it to the World.

With all my love,
AO

wake up Neo

The Matrix is real