c 2010 deborah kunzie

A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful–while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless, besides being ugly. Which is the best man to deal with–he who knows nothing about a subject, and, what is extremely rare, knows that he knows nothing, or he who really knows something about it, but thinks that he knows all?

~Henry David Thoreau

Another cloudy morning with rain moving in and out of the area. Brief gusts of wind move across my face as I sit outside in the early morning hour enjoying my surroundings. The nearby oak tree lifts her leaves slightly when the wind whips through its branches.

I recall the conversation between friends the other night talking about retirement and possessions. Insurance was a hot topic and as each person had that look on their faces as if they were thinking, I wonder if I have enough.”

One friend in particular expressed his feelings of feeling stuck in life and going nowhere. He felt trapped and weighed down by all the things he had spent a lifetime acquiring. Tears rolled down his face. It reminded me of a story from the Book of Ecclesiastes. The writer of that story presumably Solomon had everything in life. Everything except contentment.

The friend turned to me and ask how it was that I always seemed quiet and peaceful? Thinking a bit on the answer, two words came to mind. Faith and simplicity. I have spent most of my days striving for these two things. I pray for wisdom. Things of vanity lead to grief and trouble, just like you are experiencing. I am not saying that we don’t deserve pleasure or happiness, not at all, but we get bogged down with “things” in life. And to me there is no true happy place in the world without the guidance of God in your heart.

Will my answer comfort him? I don’t know. It’s clear that his pain and idleness continue to motivate him to make choices that are destructive. He lacks passion for life despite all he has gained.

My final words to him were this: A deliberatley lived life is possible, and we can start at any moment of our life.

Good luck my friend!