The Other Side of the Lake

I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying.  They don't teach you anything worth knowing. ~ Neil Gaiman

A friend visited me once in Los Angeles. He wanted me to drive him out to see the Pacific Ocean, since he had never seen an ocean before. We got in my car and drove to a bluff overlooking the Pacific on a beautiful sunny day. My friend got out of the car, walked to the edge of the cliff, and stood in silence for a while - hands on his hips, just looking out at the vast expanse of gently rolling waves sparkling in the sunlight for hundreds and hundreds of miles. Finally, he turned and said to me, “John, it’s not as big as I expected.”  As we walked back to my car, I turned for a last look before we drove away. I may be wrong, but the Pacific Ocean seemed unfazed by its failure to meet my friend’s expectations. There is a little practical lesson here on how silly it is to live and die on the expectations of others. The next time you’ve worked hard, done your best, and still find that someone is unhappy with you, remember the Pacific Ocean. It too had failed to meet som...

All human beings are Different . And should do everything possible to continue to be so. Each human being has been granted two courses of action: that of Deed and that of Contemplation . Both lead to the same place. Each human being has been granted two qualities: Power and Gift . Power drives a person to meet his/her destiny, his gift obliges that person to share with others which is good in him/her. A human being must know when to use Power , and when to use Compassion . Each human being has been granted a virtue: the capacity to Choose . For he/she who does not use this virtue, it becomes a curse – and others will always choose for him/her. Each human being has the right to two blessings, which are: the blessing to do Right , and the blessing to Err . In the latter case, there is always a path of learning leading to the right way. Each human being has his own sexual profile, and should Exercise it without guilt – provided he does not oblige others to exercise it with him/...