At what point are you old enough that you’re allowed to die?  If we’re going to talk about business cycles, and war cycles, and currency cycles, and empire cycles, shouldn’t we also think about life cycles as well?  At what point do you tell your cardiologist, screw it, I’m going to eat that ice cream and cake and chocolate, and if I die of a heart attack tomorrow, don’t resuscitate me?  Do you really have to be 77 years old to start living like that?

At what point are you allowed to enjoy life?  The children are allowed to enjoy life, for a while, until puberty.  Then, not so much.  Then we burden them down with chores, school, after-school activities, jobs, then they have children and have no time to have fun.  Or do they?  Do you know any young adults who really enjoy life?  I do.  Do you really have to wait until you retire to do the things you love and are passionate about?  Do you really have to wait until you are old to spend time with the people you love?

When is the last time you felt that you were worthy of love and attention?  When is the last time somebody hugged you?  Listened to you?  Connected with you instead of judging you or being disappointed in you?  When is the last time you felt sunshine’s warm embrace, as if nature herself was supporting your valued presence, instead of feeling like you are always at war with the world, wrestling to get what you need?

When is the last time you truly relaxed?  When is the last time that you cleared your mind of all of your obligations, and sat there at peace with yourself, letting your thoughts come and go as they pleased?  When is the last time you weren’t in pain?  Remember, there is no mind-body separation, and what we call psychological pain as well as physical pain use the same neurotransmitters to get their message across.  When is the last time you were comfortable?

When is the last time that people told you the truth?  When did information just come to you about what you sought?  When did the obstacles dissolve and move out of your path?  When is the last time that you could see your path, and know what it was?  When is the last time that you just stood still on your path, breathing in the sure knowledge of the meaning you’ve assigned to everything around you?  When is the last time you talked to the rocks, the trees, the hills, the waters, and heard what they had to say about perseverance, integrity, courtesy, and self-control?  When did you last heed their warnings and stay safe when trouble came?

Knowing that peace comes from the barrel of a gun, when did you last feel confident and strong and capable?  When did you last feel utterly competent, yet not allowing hubris to make you slip?  When did you take your anger and shape it into a powerful change?  When did you take your fear, and bravely let it enter you and pass through you, to make you wise?  When did you last ask for help, and receive it?