I have concluded that life is a learning experience. That we learn is not an incidental pursuit or simply a desired outcome. It is our primary purpose for being here. It is essential that we learn from our mistakes, and that we make adjustments in how we look at ourselves, at each other, and at the world. We demonstrate that we have learned by changing our behaviors. We need to become the person that we know deep down inside of us that we can be, that we want to be, that we must be. And our ideal self is universally the same across genders, cultures, nations, ages, ethnicities, religions, status, and achievements.   We want to be a better person than we are now. 

 

Why do we have this need to change?

 

Sooner than we may realize it, we are dead and gone. It is not important at all that we leave behind a monument to ourselves. We do not need statues, or libraries, or schools, or streets named after us. Are they not all appeals to our pride and to our vanity? Is it not better to leave a garden where there was rubble? Or a tree where there was barren land? Or a friend instead of an enemy?  This list could go on: A song where there was silence; a painting where there was emptiness; a smile where there was sadness; hope where there was despair. These are the monuments that matter. They are in accord with a universe that proclaims our ultimate destiny. They are part of a universe that embraces love.

 

I am not a preacher.   Mostly, I avoid them. And that is because too often they make punishments and damnation as a part of their sermons. I believe it is wiser to simply observe those we truly admire, and try to learn from them. Think of the kindest, the most caring, the most understanding, the least judgmental person you know. He or she is your role model. Be more like him or her, and the rest will take care of itself.