Purposeful Life
Welcome to the Purposeful Life section of our website. This is the most personal and at times difficult section of the site to write. I do however, have plenty to draw on as I have written about this topic for many years. I would like to share my thoughts and Kristine’s on trying to lead a more mindful and purposeful life, a moral and ethical approach to living in harmony with the planet around us. I believe it is important to be less wasteful, not to take more than you need and be responsible with the earth’s resources. I think it is important to be useful, to help others and share some of the bounty. Kristine clearly shares these values as well, it is one the foundational tenets of our bond. It is not an accident that we both chose to work in “service to others” jobs. Nor is it a surprise that we found each other; our marriage is anchored in these shared beliefs. Please understand that this all sounds great; but these lofty and admirable qualities are a work in progress. I am far from the top of the mountain. There have been many times in my life when I fell well short of these objectives, times that I am less than proud of. But it is always best to soldier on and work towards a better self. Abraham Lincoln said it most eloquently in his first inaugural address when he spoke about the search for “the better angels of our nature”. Like I said above, this is about “trying” to lead a more mindful and purposeful life; it is at best an elusive goal that is not easily realized. Relationships should not be taken for granted either; they are to be treasured and nourished. Life is short, I lost my oldest son a few years ago… at some point I will to share my thoughts on that most painful experience. For all of us, how we live is a choice. The choice begins when we take the time to think through how we would like to live and perhaps, how we would like to be remembered.
Let me close with this because I think it sums it up nicely. As I said before I write a fair amount and sometimes write poetry. I wrote a haiku in 2012 that got published, here it is:
Life is a Haiku
A handful of syllables
Arrange them wisely
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