Rip My Winkle

 WTF? I mean, seriously. WHAT. THE. FUCK?

Just over eight years ago I was kidnapped and imprisoned by troops loyal to The Dread Pirate Wesley. A grueling, demeaning experience with little food, no medicine, no contact with The Odd family or the outside world, and forced to watch DVDs of The Golden Girls dubbed in Hungarian. During my incarceration I kept fit of body by doing countless sit-ups and push-ups and fit of mind by doing imaginary crossword puzzles. Okay, I made that up.

Bend your mind to this question - if you woke up today after an eight year nap (coma, space journey, kidnapping, etc.), what would you make of the state of affairs? I mean, come ON! Pandemic? Reality TV show host a former President? Russia on the border of the Ukraine rattling sabers? The Los Vegas Raiders? WTF?

As an avid fan of science fiction, I’m keen on the idea of parallel universes. Screw you, fine … the multiverse. What chafes my chaps is that I’m stuck in this universe. How do skip over to the universe where things suck less? I mean, WTF?

You Matter

On a cloudless night far away from big city lights, I was sitting by a lake staring into the expanse of the night sky. Above me were tens of thousands of shimmering points of light. In that moment I felt a deep, oppressive sense of dread. I said to a nearby friend, "I feel so small. What do I count against that?" as I pointed to the heavens.

He thought for a moment and said softly, "Go be kind to someone. Cheer someone up. Take care of someone. If you help them, who knows? Maybe they will be nice to someone, and before long a lot of people are going to be a little happier, a little more cheerful. You can start it."

He convinced me in that moment, whether he intended to or not, to make a difference.

See, we all matter. What we say, what we champion, what we do matters. We will never be unimportant unless we choose to be so. Life is a matter of choice, seasoned with a healthy dash of persistence. The measure of our impact on the world, of our life, on the lives of those around us is not be measured by accumulated trophies, in accolades, in dollars amassed. There is an extrinsic measurement of our quality, found in the people we surround ourselves with, the people we admire, trust, and love.

But the most powerful evaluation of oneself must come from within. You must be measured by you, in a metric or your choice and definition. Seek the advice and guidance of others, but you - and you alone - must decide who you are and who you will be. You alone have the power to exercise your choices.

Each of us have always mattered. If we remember that we matter, if we are willing to risk making a difference, if we live a life guided by ideals, whatever we do will have importance and value. There is a considerable difference between occupying space and having mass and of being of importance. We all take up space, but it is our choice to matter.