Nelson Mandela (1918- )
Every person in the military has experienced this feeling atleast once. It really depends on the person whether they determine the outlook to be positive or negative. I guess everything in life depends on the individual’s perspective. Every member of the military had to at one point leave their lives, whether it wass to join and go off to basic military training (boot camp to you non-military folk) or deploy for an extended period of time. At some point in time you will probably return. God bless the heroic who sacrificed their lives for my freedom. But the majority has returned at some point. Now, leaving for basic was exciting for me. I was looking forward to the challenge. It turned out to be like everything else I do, a piece of cake that I did not have to work hard at. Maybe I should join the Marines for the challenge. I have thought about it. When I returned I noticed how much I changed. I grew a lot, and I noticed all around me the state of mind as well as living my friends were stuck in. They were sucked into this lifestyle that would be very hard to get out of. So in a sense, I had a negative outlook on returning to the place that remained unchanged. I have changed for the better at least. It is hard to look at your friends though and know the lifestyle they are conformed to. I still have my lifestyle tendencies too. But, every time I go home I pray that some drastic change has occurred. Maybe next time.
Then there are those places you go that will never change. The memories will always stay the same. I guess never is a little long to say, I have not lived long enough for everything to change. I sure love the things that bring happiness to me that have not changed yet though. Like the smell of your fathers garage. The oil and gasoline produces this indescribable scent. It takes me back to the days of my youth. I guess they are right when they say scent has the most direct connection with memory. I sure love the smell of fresh cut grass or the smell of the exhaust from that old beat up 1973 Cutlass Ciera. I took many trips with a friend to basketball games in that car. Is that why dogs are such great loyal animals? Because they smell so well? They must remember everything.
With so much life ahead of me, there should not be anything to get upset about. I have the ability to make my future the way God allows me to. Being upset about the things that are out of my control like the change of good memories that I once had should not upset me. At least I had those memories to think about. I am grateful for the things I have done. I have been to 3 continents and seen 20 plus countries, 49 states, all but Maine,
swam in 3 oceans of the world, (1 more to go)
driven through giant sequoia trees,
gazed at the Swedish Alps,
Walked the redlight district in Amsterdamn,
hugged Mickey Mouse dozens of times,
swam with manatees,
admired the intricate detail inside the Vatican,
seen a Hawaiian sunset,
carried a giant stuffed gorilla to the top of the Empire State Building,
stood face to face with a baby moose at a friends house in Alaska,
saw the only place in the world where 3 glaciers connect, Thule, Greenland,
rode in a confiscated Taliban minivan in Bagram, Afghanistan,
walked the streets of the oldest city in America,
St. Augustine, Florida,stood on the southern most point in America, this booey in Keywest, Florida
driven across the longest bridge in the world, 23.9 miles, The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, La,
experience the enormous power of Niagara Falls and nearly froze to death on Thanksgiving,
toured a buddhist Temple in Okinawa, Japan,
ate at the largest McDonald’s in the world located in Vinita, Oklahoma,
visited the mountain masterpiece, Mt. Rushmore,
South Dakota,hung out at a geo-thermal spring , Iceland,
stood under the Leaning Tower of Pisa,
shopped in the streets of Ankara, Turkey,
crossed the English Channel and saw the White Cliffs of Dover,
and watched Les Miserables in London.
These are just a few of the wonderful experiences that will never change in my memory. I have a lot of life experiences. Many people never even leave their hometowns. It is unfortunate I think, but who am I to judge what their dreams are. So things change or we change. That is certain and inevitable. No matter what the change is, try and make the outlook a positive one.
