Bill R. Path's Blog

“Sometimes it seems like life would be much easier to navigate if we were provided with a directory map, like ones used in shopping malls. If we could occasionally consult a map of our life with a big arrow that says, “You Are Here,” we would never get lost along the way. We would be forewarned about making a wrong turn or going down a dead end. We would know exactly how to find our destinations and how to take full advantage of every fulfilling excursion along the way. However, life does not provide a directory map, and the path to its rewards is not always clearly marked. We will get lost on occasion and we will take wrong turns, but that is part of the adventure that makes life interesting and worth living. Humanity’s higher callings await us. Life may take us in the wrong direction on occasion, but we must never allow detours to deter us from higher destinations.”

Moments of Forever, page 85.

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“The gift of enlightenment has been bequeathed from one generation to the next down through the ages. In the twelfth century it was proclaimed that ‘we are like dwarfs upon the shoulders of giants, and so able to see more and see farther than the ancients, not because we are keener and taller, but because of the greatness by which we are carried and exalted.’ Building on this imagery, in the seventeenth-century Sir Isaac Newton wrote, ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ As it was true then, and with even greater confidence and certainty today, we survey our world from the ‘shoulders of giants.’

We can be thankful for the enlightened stage that has been set for us by our forefathers. Ours is the most intellectually and technologically advanced generation that has ever inhabited the face of the earth. This enviable vantage point has been procured for us by each of the cultures and generations that have lived before us. It represents our inheritance from our parents and from their parents before them. We have received much from our predecessors, and it is now our awesome responsibility to live up to their expectations, to be the people that they envisioned, to reverently accept their gift of a better life and improve on it yet again.”

Moments of Forever, pages 57 & 58.

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“Today, we are still like those ancient humans who first gazed with wonderment into the night sky and reached for the stars. We dream about distant destinations and ambitions. We set our minds on faraway goals and objectives, and we reach with outstretched hands and minds. We reach across time and across space for that which we do not have. We reach for those things that elude us the most, and at the end of our days, when we have entrusted our lives to the memories of others, unattained goals are sure to remain. We will leave some of the stars, some of our dreams, for others to reach.”

Moments of Forever, pages 114 & 115.

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“Think back to your childhood. From time to time, you probably amused yourself with a connect-the-dots puzzle. Do you remember the sense of accomplishment that you had when the finished drawing actually looked like something, when the edges were relatively smooth and the picture looked complete? Do you remember how you could amaze yourself when you use to play connect-the-dots? When you began to sketch lines on the page, you had no idea what you were even drawing but you worked carefully and meticulously. You deliberately placed each mark, and before you knew it, the lines began to form a picture. To your amazement, every small line fit into the overall image. They were not simply disjointed lines between numbered dots. They formed a larger picture and made you feel like a real artist. You felt like you could draw anything as long as there were dots to connect.

As adults, we don’t sit around playing connect-the-dots anymore. Why? Perhaps it is because we have long since mastered the skills of the game, and it no longer poses a challenge for us. It lost its challenge when we became able to guess the unrevealed picture without even picking up a pencil. It didn’t take you long before you could just glance at the page and connect the dots in your mind. You could surmise the image from other clues on the page. Physically connecting the dots was no longer amusing or necessary when you were able to mentally connect the dots.

When coupled with imagination, the human mind is a powerful tool. We have a marvelous propensity for “connecting the dots.” Our minds want to make sense out of the world, to create order where order is not apparent. How many times have you written a sentence and been completely oblivious to your own typos because your mind saw only what you intended rather than what you actually typed? This phenomenon affects most of us because we intuitively want to fill in the blanks and supply missing information. We mentally interpret and even edit situations and events around us to conform to our preferred image of the world. We see the world through the rose-colored glasses of our own choosing. When we are confronted with an incomplete story or riddle in life, we fill in the blanks or connect the dots from our own imaginations.”

Moments of Forever, pages  85-86.

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“We need to exercise our sense of humor and stop taking ourselves so seriously. Plan for the future but don’t forget to live in the present. Life, after all, is meant to be enjoyed. What have you gained, in the end, if you find your purpose but make yourself miserable in the process? We need to get over our exaggerated perceptions of self-importance. As individuals, our importance will ultimately be measured by our authenticity and humility, by our decency and courtesy. We will be evaluated based on our convictions, loyalties, and contributions to the whole of humanity. This is where true human dignity lies—not in glorifying ourselves but in humbly honoring humanity. Finding a true sense of contentment in all circumstances and in all situations is the key to personal happiness, and it is an essential lesson for us to learn if we are to cultivate our forever character.”

Moments of Forever, pages  82-83.

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“What you value in life is revealed by how you spend your time and energy. In other words, you find time for the things that are important to you. If exercise is important to you, you find time to exercise. If you believe family is important, you find time for family. If your work is the most important, then you spend most of your time working. We make time and find time for the elements of our lives that we perceive as most important—whether consciously or unconsciously, we prioritize. We should be careful, though, not to confuse urgent matters for important matters. With all of the distractions and diversions that we face every day, it can be difficult to find sufficient time for everything that we want to accomplish. The moments slip away before we know it. We often make time for urgent matters out of necessity, but we should not allow pressing concerns to dominate all of our precious time. You owe it to yourself to put all the elements of your life into proper perspective and balance. After all, what is the point of having a purpose in your life if you can never find time for it? To do more with your life than to simply exist requires discipline, and discipline requires a certain measure of sacrifice. Deliberate and considered prioritization is the means by which you can bring order to your life and find a balance between urgent matters and important matters. Through purposeful prioritization you can take control of life rather than allowing life to control you.”

Moments of Forever, pages  96-97.

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“Life is a quest, an ongoing journey of discovery that is embarked upon by the throng of humanity in mass, and you have joined the excursion. You are an important part of humanity’s quest. Every member of the expedition has an invaluable part to play. Some may be more obvious than others: some are leaders and trailblazers, others take on great challenges and solve great riddles, and others serve as resources and as a source of encouragement. What part do you play? How do you interact with those around you? We are all important participants in the exploration of life and human existence. We are all unique specialists who contribute to the overall voyage of human discovery. We all participate in the quest of humanity’s higher callings, and such pursuits are a grand adventure shared and enjoyed by all and passed from one generation of people to the next.”

Moments of Forever, pages 47-48.

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“We have to wonder how many lives would be changed if we could just glimpse beyond the veil of life and gaze upon the afterlife for one brief moment. How would certain knowledge of that existence influence us in this existence? If it were actually possible to obtain such knowledge, would we really wish to have it? Consider what would result if you could foresee your own future. Such knowledge would undoubtedly change you. It would be like skipping to the last page of a novel and prematurely learning the outcome of the plot. After learning the ending, what is the point in going back and reading the rest of the story? If you could conclusively foresee the future, it would most likely spoil the spontaneity of life and the enjoyment of the here and now. While it could motivate you to make constructive changes in your life, to avoid a tragedy or to take advantage of an opportunity, it might also leave you so obsessed and fixated on the outcome of your life that you would fail to truly live the moments of your life. Living could lose all its joy and meaning.”

Moments of Forever, page  120.

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“A legacy is something of consequence that we receive from a predecessor or transmit to a descendant in our future. It is not so much deserved or earned as it is a right of birth, a human heirloom. A legacy is that which we receive and give through the simple act of living. It is not a voluntary exchange that we can refuse or deny; our human legacy is an inescapable repercussion of life and how we live it. While we have little choice in the legacy that we receive from our ancestors, we have immense control over the legacy that we hand down to our progeny. You can decisively live a life of tranquility, peace, and harmony, or you can opt for a life of disorder, conflict, and disagreement. The legacy that you leave your children will be notably similar to the life that you have chosen to live. It will either be a benefit to them or an impediment to overcome.”

Moments of Forever, pages 54.

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“We are all links in a mighty chain of humanity—each generation holding tightly to the next, each generation supporting the next. Our place in the chain is right behind the generation of our parents and just before our children’s generation. We connect our forebears to our offspring. This makes us an important link in the continuity of the human experience. Without us, the past is forgotten and the future cannot know the past. Without us, the chain is broken. Without us, the future is denied its heritage. We hold forever together, and thus we bear a responsibility to bridge the past to the future and to do so with strength and integrity. Each and every link is equally important if the chain of humanity is to remain strong. Our part in life will come and go, but life itself continues—the chain goes on.”

Moments of Forever, pages 49-50.

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