What's the purpose of it all?

The question was posed just as he was about to jump into the water, “What’s the purpose of it all?” My answer was, admittedly with little thought, “There is no purpose at all, and in fact, from an evolutionary perspective you’ve done your job.”

It’s a privilege to have known my friends for a very long time, and as I like to say, “Life is what we have in common” — I’m almost certain I didn’t come up with that but it is apt. Most of us were able to make it up to a friend’s family cottage (that was built in 1904) but not all; life gets in the way of the best laid plans of mice and men. The food was good and the conversation was better; cycling, hiking, novelty waffles for breakfast, boating into town, a fire, and shared memories of a lifetime. It made for a great time..

Recently I read that success is defined as some talent plus luck and great success is defined as some talent plus lots of luck — any way you want to define success, the people around me have leveraged their talents and their luck and done well by any measure. Each of us also carry the literal and figurative scars of a life lived; they are part of our actions, part of how we look at things, and part of the stories we tell around the campfire. It has all made for very rich lives.

The reason I am writing about this weekend at all is because I was dared to write something that involved discussions of our favourite fruit, novelty waffles for breakfast and the advantages of tubeless tires, but not use the word “pithy”. With that little challenge behind me, I will admit the question regarding “the purpose of it all” is still resonating — a question for the ages to be sure and something great thinkers have tried to answer. It was trite for me to answer the way I did but I never said I was much of a thinker, and after putting some more thought into it, I still it haven’t come up with anything else of substance. I wonder if it can truly be answered.

Until there is a better answer, I will continue to work on developing some talent, get out there to make as much luck as possible, and foster those relationships that make everything worthwhile — at the very least, it’s an honourable pursuit. Very much like “light and love”.

For my brothers.

iamgpe

The best gift I've ever received...

In the convoluted filing system that is my computer I have a file that is simply labelled “sayings” — it is the home of a collection of quotes and sayings. They were curated over almost a year; a dear friend would send them to me and I faithfully saved them. The topics range the motivational and inspirational spectrum: travel, inspiration, life, love, friendship, success, work, adversity, pithy quotes, and pithy insight. The file encompasses the human condition. Over the years I have used these quotes for inspiration, source material, motivation, and fond memories; sometimes I share them and sometimes I keep them for myself.

It’s a very dull day today, and although nothing is going wrong, nothing is really going right either so I found myself scouring my favourite file — as always it invoked grand memories of a deep friendship, and still inspires me to something bigger than myself. It has never failed me.

I settled on this quote today for no particular reason other than it felt right —

The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons telling us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit can never be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the quiet the steady dignity that refuses to give in. Courage. We all suffer. Keep going. — Graeme Fife

As I ponder this I find myself focusing in on the words, “… answered by the quiet the steady dignity that refuses to give in”. A reminder of a strong character trait to be sure, but also a reminder of a cherished friendship that even after all of these years still encourages me be a better man. Innes was always good that way.

I have always cherished my friendships but at this time of the year I honour these gifts even more — some of my friends are no longer with us; some, because of time and distance, have become buried with my past; some are a phone call away — all have shaped who I have become, and I believe they have done a very good job.

A sincere thank you.

iamgpe

Moments — käməˈrädərē

"Graham!"  

"It's <insert name of brother>. I'm at Pearson airport and I'm hammered — so of course I thought of you." 

"I just wanted to say I love you very much and I hope everything is going really well. I'm just coming back from Kansas City after seeing the total eclipse... and um, tomorrow I'm off to France, and then Venice for a cruise, and then, ah Croatia, and then L.A., and then Tokyo... and then Berlin. So, I'll call you in a couple of months... and... and believe me, I'm deadly serious when I name all these places." 

"Of course I had nothing to do with all of this... it's all <insert name of brother's wife>'s work, but as a passive aggressive rider of life like all good Canadians are I salute you, and hope you have a fantastic evening — and give me a call when you can, leave a message, or email me... bye for now."

I tell this for no other reason than to share how blessed I am to know such friendship — and that when I heard the message I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

I hope you are so blessed,

iamgpe