"You will never..."

There are few things in this world more motivating than being told "you will never....".  It is almost a dare to success, and for me, it's an important reminder that I've accomplished much in a relatively short life.

As is the case with many things in my life, the details aren't nearly as important as the underlying moral of the stories.  Recently one of these stories came to pass, and after the dust settled, I was reminded of one of those "you will never..." comments from a while ago.  I'm not treating this as one of those moments for gloating, because that kind of thing is useless...it's the equivalent of the sugar high in that the supposed great feeling always leads to a crash afterwards.  No, I am going to take this moment to contemplate some of the things that I've learned about myself.  A few of these lessons include:

• The Long Run...When faced with big life decisions, always vote for the option that offers the best outcome over the long term.  In addition to long-term payoffs usually being better, there is something wonderful to be said about incremental steps being made towards an important goal.  Success snowballs with long-term goals.
• Be Positive...I really, really wish someone would have sat me down years ago and simply said "You know what? Your own attitude is one of the few things in life that truly belongs to you.  Make the choice to be positive." I know this now, but it took a long time to figure it out.
• The Grass Is Not Always Greener...No one really has it all.  You know that person you see walking down the hallway (be it at school, work, the shopping mall, etc.) who seems just "perfect"?  Well they are not.  Assuming that they are human, they have their own stories and issues, just like you or I.  Yes, some folks have learned to carry themselves well, and others have learned the whole positive thing that took me a while to figure out, but they still have their share of issues in life to handle.  I've learned...now...to never assume that I am so defective as to be an abomination to the species. 
• Moss Gathers on the Immobile Stone...I am at my best when I am doing something; I am at my worst when I am sitting around doing nothing.  I suspect that this is true for most folks.  

I know, none of this is really all that significant in the revelation department, but so be it.  I promised myself that, at some point, I'd do a few small things to celebrate a recent milestone and writing this helps to keep that promise.  Check.

On the final album recorded by the Beatles, Abbey Road*, the last listed song is actually a combination of short song snippets referred to as "the medley".  The last words sung in the medley go as follows:

...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

Fitting, huh?  Now to be fair, this isn't the last thing you actually hear on the album.  On the vinyl LP there is actually a bonus, unlisted track called "Her Majesty".  It's a perfect coda of sorts: a statement about "the end" followed by something that basically says "don't take it all so seriously".  That's as important as just about anything else I've noted here...in any posting.


(*) Abbey Road was the last Beatles album recorded, but it was not the last released...that would be "Let It Be".