In order to make sense of a human life, one must first learn to comprehend patterns.

So many of us rush blindly through the modern world, always trapped in our individual treadmills. we blindly follow the dictates of society, seeking the approval of others, above all else. We seldom ever think about personal satisfaction, let alone hope to truly attain it.

And yet, the irony of it all is that personal satisfaction is probably the yardstick by which we should evaluate our time on earth. Happiness and love are the qualities which most of us will remember most warmly in the final analysis.

How then shall we close the gap between the life we want and the life we already have? Perhaps some reflections about patterns are in order.

To first distinguish the patterns underlying our lives, we must be willing to open the flood-gates of our memories. To own our pasts can be the ultimate act of liberation: for in the final analysis, our time is our most valuable of all commodities.

To recall the past honestly, without or revision, can give us a sense of power unlike anything else. It is this area wherein so many people begin to go wrong: as they seek to justify their own behaviors and impulses, they begin to waste enormous energy.

Self-acceptance is the path to self-enlightenment. To know oneself and accept oneself, warts, foibles, and eccentricities included, is the path to true inner peace.

Most people have little time to reflect upon their lives. In this way, a major illness can cause one to attain a higher state of consciousness. When circumstance demand that one slow down and reflect upon the past, a much more valuable perspective may be gained.

{ planned book - unfinished }

8 July 1997 - written in hospital

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