In Direct Response

This will be my first direct response blog ever done, but I think it is for a great cause. I read a blog this morning, and it was an exceptional blog, but I felt that on this one issue, I can shed light that very few others cannot. This wonderful young woman was dwelling on the universe, love, and when enough is enough. Let me explain my take on this.

You can look up at the heavens and tell the universe what you would like, or demand something, or ask just for the bare essentials, but all that doesn't matter a wit. The universe is just that, the universe. It is you that makes your own path. Visualization techniques do not work either. By the time you have finished planning and visualizing that which you want, and sending out that necessary information to the heavens and the universe, you train, plane, automobile or boat might have already left without you.

I used to believe in these techniques.....if you build it, they will come, if you think it, it will be....I think, so therefore I am, stuff like that, until one fateful moment. Now, love itself can be fickle, but love still has to adhere to it's own set of laws, which are the laws of everything else. The answer to the universal question of why we are here, what is our purpose.....it's the same answer as the question of love, or life, or dedication. We are HERE because we want to be. We LOVE because we want to love, we show loyalty and dedication because we want to. There is no special equation to figure out, no magic brew to take.

So what made me have this cynical mindset? Well, it is not cynical at all. It was learned, very quickly, burned into my mind through fire, betrayal and pain. Also through compassion, caring and FATE. Yes, I said it, that intangible substance that we always here about. A set of circumstances that were never under our control from the beginning that ultimately defines who and what we are. I learned this one FATEFUL morning in June of 2003 while hovering over an Iraqi town in a Blackhawk helicopter. Nothing says fate louder than turning your head to the right and looking straight into the eye of a person who has a rocket propelled grenade aimed at you. Nothing says fate louder than the knowledge that he is also seeing you. Everything becomes clear in that one moment, and you want nothing more than to hold on to it, not because it may very well be your last, who cares, but because finally, you just GET IT!

But the moment doesn't last, it can't last. Fate dictates that we move on to the next scene, the next clip, whether you are ready for it or not. I watch him smile, see his finger twitch, see the backblast as the round is fired, but all I can think about is all the things I had gotten right or wrong. Not like your life flashes before your eyes,more like answers.Love is not something that is given, or earned, though we say it is. Respect is the same way. They are all rolled up in that first impression. When you first meet someone, or read a story, or see a picture, you love it, you hate it, you respect it, you do and feel something before moving on to the next page in your life, no matter how brief.

Now I am sure that there are those of you who have your doubts, and that is understandable, because everyone has to find their way to their own truths, in their own way. Me, I found my way to these truths the hard way, falling out of the sky in a destroyed blackhawk. But I FOUND them, regardless. Was I unhappy, heck yeah, who wouldn't be, I was in for the ride of my life whether I wanted it or not, I thought that the universe didn't care in the end, because I was about to become a memory to those in my universe, but once again, I was shown differently. I had made plans, and those plans didn't involve being around any longer than 3 more seconds, but SURPRISE, I walked out of that incident none the worst for the wear. Was it the grand scheme of the universe, maybe. I would like to attribute it to the pilots ability to fly like no one else could. I walked away from the wreck, turned around, and told myself that from that point on, I don't believe in luck, I make my own destiny.

At Ft. Campbell, Ky, we have a motto, Rendevous with Destiny. We all have it. We have a destiny with love, with heartache, with physical pain, great pictures, awesome friends, good food, superb drinks, and LIFE. So don't worry about what is to come. What is to come is going to come, depending on how you live your life today, this very instant. Get up from your computer, put down your phone, hug a friend, kiss a loved one, pet a dog, smell a flower, but do SOMETHING! Take charge of what is yours and run with it. Find that someone you would love to be with and go for it, no matter what heartache might come from it. When you are happy, people notice, when you are hurting, someone will notice that too, and from that pain may come wonderful friendships, great loves, or someone turning their back on you, but who cares, this is YOUR universe, you control it. No more asking for what you want, no more begging, just do it. If you fail, oh well, but I guarantee you, through your failure, you WILL find something else worth while.

I told my wife a few days ago, dreams don't die, they never die, they just morph into something else.  But they are still YOUR DREAMS. If you make it, they will come? Nah, If you make it.....YOU'VE MADE IT.


Geezum, I gotta start limiting my word count here.