Smile because it happened. :)

Never say never.

The open road. I've been saving this one for a while. 

 I feel different. A good kind of different. When you read the end I guess you start thinking about the beginning. The beginning in this case, of something that helped you make sense of somethings, less sense of others and ultimately (hopefully) a wiser person. 

Benjamin Button: It's funny how sometimes the people we remember the least make the greatest impression on us. 

I can only hope you read this and believe that i'm being honest. Skepticism has its way of creeping up in the head and honestly its leaving that unresolved that has lead me to where i am now. I can't go back and change something that has already happened (yet). 

Benjamin Button: You never know what's coming for you. 

 But i can tell you its a powerful agent, capable of plenty. Skepticism in an uncertain world, whew. Palpable combination. Volatile in the wrong situations. And wrong situations will inevitably cross paths with this combination. The best you can do is leave no doubt. 

  Benjamin Button: Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss. 

I wish each one of you did not have you're particular grains of salt that you take this with. Instead, i wish you could read it and take it for what it is. Something to be learned. Something borrowed. 

  
In the end, this is where i imagine wisdom is to be gained. At worlds end, with beauty glazing the eyes, and nothing simpler than a couch begging two willing individuals to emote what logic forces behind our tongues guarded by teeth that will smile at you to believe otherwise.  

Unfortunately, it's not. 

   
Instead? This is what the reality is. The small amount of information that we choose to show. Unwilling to let out what is for some, screaming underneath. 

Benjamin Button: You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go. 

Remaining like a duck on the pond. Protecting yourself. Staying guarded. Hiding. Whatever you want to call it. All seemingly legitimate reasons for keeping at bay the things we really feel. The first one is my particular brand of vodka when it comes to describing oneself.

When we really look at it, it's misdirection.   

Mrs. Maple: Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?

Modern day Houdini's of emotion. And why shouldn't we be? Experience has taught us the pessimistic side of what happens when we do allow one in. Which is why there are us lucky few that have done it, been burned, and continue to do it and those that don't. Not saying you are one either way. Just talking. 

Benjamin Button: It's a funny thing about coming home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you.  

So, misdirection. Showing you something else masking what is really going on. Some are good at it, others are dangerously better. It comes down to this:

What the ears hear and the eyes see, the mind believes.   

So the truth is irrelevant. We all have our various masks that we put on. We all have our own reasons. What scares me is leaving the mask on long enough, and forgetting who was underneath.  

Because knowledge is important. What we tend to not realize is that the power of not knowing is exponentially more powerful. Our minds choose to make up what's happening based on our own personal baggage (or lacktherof) and all it takes is one enigmatic swing of events to force us to believe it as reality. 

Ugly fact of life? Of course. Something to remind oneself. Never* make conclusions based on information you don't have.  


*refer to the top


I was watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Long movie. But oh so worth watching.

Timing has come down to be everything. What i didn't get was how it is right in front of me. Timing is everything. What you say is less important than when you say it, or do it, or don't do it. 


What matters more is realizing that time, is the one thing we have absolutely no control of. Change remains the only thing that is constant.


So when someone has said it best, all you can do is repeat it and hope it sends the message you intend to send. Because it's a funny thing about letting go. Light has appeared at the end of the tunnel. The duck is no longer on the pond. 

At last. 


Benjamin Button: For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. 


All the best,


-Matt.