“You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.” - The Great Dictator Speech

by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets.  Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don’t worry.  Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted.  But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out?  Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored.  there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame!  You’ll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t.
Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Lately I’ve been getting quite astute to mortality and this thing we call life. It’s as if all the things I’ve heard and read in the years prior are all of a sudden becoming clearer to me and make sense. They aren’t just ideals any longer; they are actually impacting how I view life.

“Life is not a dress rehearsal.” That seems to ring more true to me now and I’ve fully embraced it. I’m more aware now that life isn’t something we get to do over. We don’t all reach the age of 50 and upon reflection are allowed to go back to a year and start again. This is it. This is life. We know how it begins and how it ends. It’s the stuff in the middle we’re all trying to figure out.

I’d be lying if I said Steve Jobs didn’t affect me. But not just the visionary genius he was, and his mark on the world with Apple, but the shear fact he died way too young. Here’s a guy with obscene money, much more than the majority of the world could ever imagine. And he died. He could have afforded any medical procedure on the planet, and if given the time I am sure he could have created some medical technology that doesn’t even exist yet that would end up curing him. But unfortunately all of that is a mute point. The passing of Steve Jobs taught me above everything else, health is most important. You can have all the money in the world, but often times that isn’t enough.

Sort of changes your outlook on what’s important in life. The one with the most money doesn’t win at the end.

When I travel for work, I enjoy sitting at the bar when eating meals as it allows me to interact with the bartender and get the “locals only” insight into the city. Sitting at the bar inevitably means I’ll be answering the “Where are you traveling from?” question. When I tell them New York City, I see a noticeable gleam in their eye. My answer is always followed by one of two statements from them: they tell me about the time they visited New York and how much they loved it, or they tell me how much they want to visit. The latter of the two always gets me thinking. On my last business trip, the bartender told me he and his wife had been saving for a New York City trip. For years. A trip to New York City was something he and his wife really wanted to experience and put on their bucket list. It was something they wanted to do before they died.

And I live in New York City.

Going to New York City has been on this guy’s mind for years. I wake up every day (when not traveling) in New York. Too many people take things for granted.

I saw this on Twitter yesterday and it fit nicely:

Finding a meaning.