Not Losing Sight Of Mars.

Edition #96 — July 29, 2007

Living out in the country affords me the luxury of looking up at the night sky and seeing the stars. Last night I was looking at Mars. We take it for granted now, but it's a miracle that someone built a space ship to send robots to that planet and take pictures. I mean, weren't they drunk or too busy trying to abduct people while wearing diapers to pull off such a miracle of human ingenuity?

And there is that great irony. Within each of us is a gift that we have to offer humankind. It is our contribution, whether local or global, that can help to push human progress forward. It may not be on a massive scale, but we all have the ability to make a difference in someone else's life by doing something that we are passionate about. Yes, passionate. That is, if we don't let our human frailty get in the way...

Gifts That Give Us Passion

It takes love to create something great, whether a robot that takes pictures on a remote planet, or a great work of art, like a painting or a song. It takes love to be great at anything and passion is the currency of greatness. This is why we can't buy greatness at a convenience store on our way to something more important. There is no passion without meaning and no meaning without nurturing our gift to its fullest. It is all connected and we must find those connections. That is our puzzle in life to solve. Nothing more.

We each must hone that gift within ourselves. Our life's mission is to find our gift and work it, work it, work it, until we are worthy of expressing and sharing it. And yes, sometimes we don't have to share it at all. It is in the procession toward greatness where our own happiness and salvation can be found. And when we are happy, then that is something that we are sharing with others too. Our joyful atmosphere.

I mention this divine aspect in each of us only because at this time in human history there seems to be so much attention on our failings. NASA, for instance, the very space agency that put those robots on Mars, is now in the news spotlight not for the greatness of its scientific contributors, but for the failings of some who have lost sight of their passions and been diverted into the pit of distraction.

That pit is the detour many of us take in life in an attempt to rekindle our sense of joy, hope or courage. Or, to hide from our lack of them. For some that pit is consumerism, while for others it's alcohol, drug and sex addictions. And when they turn into obsessions and compulsions, they cast a shadow upon our gifts. And if we have not yet found our gift, then those distractions will make it so much harder to find while our failings become all too apparent in the eyes of others.

Simple Solutions Are For Simple Minds

It is easier to see the world as black and white. It allows us to think less when making choices. Yet we know ourselves to be complex beings. We aren't all good and we aren't all bad. The challenge for each of us is to fight and win that Armageddon within. We must ensure that the passion for our gifts overrides those emotions that can cause us to slide down into the pits of confusion. Once in that pit, we are fair game to any destroyer.

Not all of us will have our pictures taken at our worst moment and have our failings advertised on the front page of a newspaper. Some of us will simply be trounced by our competitors at the office or in the schoolyard. People seem to hate us more for setting a bad example than a good one. They may envy our gifts, but at least we give them something to reach up for rather than to be pulled down into. We want to celebrate celebrities, not pity them, or have them remind us of (dare I say it?) ourselves!

We don't "owe" anyone our best but doing it makes us look at Mars and think of the wonders of humankind, not warfare. Until next time, do please be a great, passionate and gifted soul, and spread your joyful atmosphere around this planet. Surely you can sense that it is needed.

All the best,
Roland Kriewaldt


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