October 21, 2012:

The Road Not Taken

        When Pablo Casals was ninety years old, perhaps the greatest of twentieth century cellists, he kept practicing the cello for four or five hours each day.  Someone asked him why, at his age, he worked so hard at the fundamentals of his art.  “Because,” he said, “I think I am making some progress.”

        Live is really all about making some progress at being who we were meant to be – the way a bud is about becoming a blossom, or being a well-born colt is about becoming a thoroughbred racer.  We should all feel an inner itch to be more of what we were meant to be.  We never know but that we are on the verge of a breakthrough.

        Few of us are ticketed for perfection in this life.  Actually, even the moments we get something just right, the moment passes and a new challenge appears.  We are a strange mixture of good and bad.  Knowing that should make us more accepting of our half-finished efforts.  We should also then be kinder toward the faults and failures of others.

        In the current presidential campaign much is made about the candidates’ verbal gaffes as well as errors in judgment.  Partisans on the left and right proclaim these mistakes as an indication of a lack of character.  I don’t believe that.  No one ever gets a perfect grade in life or in a run for office.  Actually, I think we should not want to be on an impossible quest for the perfect candidate.  A “good enough” candidate who is candid about his strengths and weaknesses and willing to grow would make a “pretty good” President so far as I am concerned.


      Love,
Dave