WHO NEEDS A GUIDE?
Author: David Elliott
Foreword
We all spend a lot of time thinking. We ponder eventualities and we try to find out the reasons behind all that happens and all that goes on around us all the time. Hopefully, most of us in society have good intentions and our musings are in good humour. We have desires and ambitions. Sometimes, or perhaps all too often, we struggle a little to get down to it and actually put into practice what we spend so much time longing for or thinking about.
I do not think that it is laziness. It is more likely that we lack confidence in ourselves or it may be a negative attitude that we harbour towards the ways of society in general and a failure to believe that anything will ever come of our efforts. Do we ever get our just rewards? Those who succeed, whether they be writers, film-makers, athletes or whatever, have all been given a hefty helping hand up the ladder – haven't they?
I believe we all intend to put into practice our plans at some point. We have always wanted to be something but for some reason or another we have not got down to it.
It is interesting to reflect. Thoughts, aims and feelings swill around in minds all the time. The world has existed for a long time and something tells me not a lot has changed. Maybe I will be surprised. There is a lot I have not yet seen.
What can we do today? What can we do now?
Bodies and minds function with nature and with the seasons. When it is Spring, finally it is warming up and the days are clearer, brighter and getting longer. It feels like spring and we feel like Spring. Energetic, clear and new. That is a feeling we have in Spring. Do we have the right to feel that clear and happy, that alert? Of course we, do so why with all the advances in time, thought and technology, do we not feel it all the time?
When it is winter and cold and damp and dark and miserable, it gets to late in the evening and there is nothing to do and nowhere to go. There is little other than empty entertainment on the TV. If you resist watching rubbish on the television, you go to bed. You go to bed early and even if you are an early riser, you find yourself getting up a little later each day. It is dark outside, so even with the best intentions, why get up? It seems logical so far. However, as a kid, I always thought that if I were to be granted one wish then I would wish to never have to sleep. There was a clause to that wish in that I could sleep if I wanted – but I would never actually need to. My reasoning was that I would be able to get so much done. So, why now as adults with a big wide world out there do we allow ourselves to remain, “zonked” for such large periods of the year.
I guarantee I will not find the answer, but I am interested in trying to do so. I can feel this is an important and interesting time in my life now, as it should be in everybody's. I have been working, but I cannot for the life of me fathom why, as it is such a mind-numbing, brickwall-butting occupation. Who am I kidding? I did it for the money and for the holidays. Even so, I am moving beyond it in a fashion that I believe is destiny taking a hand. I was never destined to work. Some people are and believe me, some souls out there are doing an amazing job and I have so much respect for them - a respect that I did not to the same degree before.
I have been amazed at some of the things I have encountered and found. Briefly, how thick so many people are and how little qualifications actually seem to count, despite what we are led to believe as children. It can be incredibly difficult to even get what may be regarded as a “numpty” job these days and yet we are supposedly all impelled to spend our life's energies and efforts into securing that pitiful and pointless existence. However, what I have seen and discovered is how much there actually is out there, how much help there is on offer and how many people are willing to provide warmth and assistance.
It all steels me to stop resting and to stop accepting. I do not want to sleep any more. Now is the time to open up to destiny and to relish it and it cannot start anywhere else but here.
Our aim should be to transfer our desires as we want them and in our time, so as to truly reflect our thought processes and intentions. In that way, we can be more interesting to ourselves and more interesting to a companion or observer. Unquestionably, we will at least be more meaningful and poignant within ourselves. If we edit our dreams in order that some elements are better explained or make more sense or perhaps reflect ourselves in a better light, it would be false and fundamentally uninteresting. It is not necessary to set ourselves up as some form of genius or expert in philosophy. If we we say or do something stupid, then remember it. Let's look at it, read about it, laugh about it, be shocked by it or cry about. Equally, let us refrain from explaining every situation. There are times when how you got there, why you got there, what you did before, or who exactly someone is, is not important. Some gaps can provide a little intrigue and can invite a little imaginative thought. Those gaps can easily be filled in our minds and musing, just as we wish.
Give it a go.
This is a short tale of a young man who is attempting to create a new life for himself. He is racked with questions as to what he can do and what he should do. Where he should go and where it will take him. His mind is battling with his past and his future, but what about the present?
The reason for the title becomes clear as you read through the journey and share the observations, the thoughts and the actions.
There is more to life than meets the eye. Go beyond the image, open the door and set yourself free.
Most of all, be yourself, be true and be good.
