Letter Part Two
Now that you have appreciated the people in your life, let me, with great humility and thanks to people far wiser than I, describe what lies before you. You will hear again and again that life is a “path”, a “road” a “journey”. Each of those is a useful image, but they imply a movement from here to there. The “There” being who you are not now, but who you must struggle to become. I think that is nonsense because you are already complete. You are exactly who you are supposed to be. The trick is to complete your journey exactly where you started.
When I was little, I was confined to the house every winter. My playworld was the living room, adjoining bedroom and kitchen. My greatest joy was being master of “Train World”. Now these were not the delicate little HO trains that pass for model trains today, but the great cast iron indestructible Lionel Trains. I would create infinite and elaborate pathways. Often the trains would leave the power terminals, shoot out of the living room into the bedroom, under the bed, behind the dresser, into the kitchen, beneath the table and back to the living room and home to the power source. They were supposed to always return to the very place they had begun. Now sometimes, when they got as far away from the power source as possible they would stall. Either they were just too far away, or the burden of their cargo dragged them down. Occasionally they ran afoul of a furniture leg and fell off the track. In either case they needed a gentle hand to urge them along, or set them back on track.
I think that image of life is a much more accurate one. We leave from a source of power and we wander through infinitely varied paths, always to return to the beginning source of power. Coming back you will have a great view of where you have been. If your journey has been successful, the view will have a much different look. The things that seemed so important weren’t and many of things that seemed insignificant really were gigantic.
It would be wonderful at this point to assure you that everyone completes their trip. That is totally true and totally untrue. Everyone will complete A trip, because everyone will end.
But not everyone ends up where they started, and anything less is a failure. Many will be stalled by the weight of their journey; some will be knocked from the track by adversity. The lucky will find a gentle hand to restart them, to retrack them.
Even more will be diverted to a siding- a track that leads them away from the main route to a dead end.
These sidings are all along the authentic path. Some, like substance abuse, are rusty and dark and clearly a diversion. Those are easy to avoid. The dangerous ones are the bright, shining routes that look and sound so inviting. So journey carefully. The authentic path is always love - it is healing, uniting, compassionate and forgiving. Anything that is not this, is not the authentic path. Should you start down one of these sidings and realize it is about hurting, separation, hate or revenge; stop, back up and seek the authentic journey once more.
And so we come to another break. Put this letter down – it is nearly done- and look at your 16 years of life. They have been wonderful and joyous and spectacular – even if you do not see it now, you will on the way back. Accept that you are exactly where you are meant to be at this moment. And this moment is the only one that is real. All that is past is past, all that is to come is to come. Regretting what was or fearing what will be, only steals the peace and joy of this moment.

So put this letter down for an hour, or a week or a year. All that is left is the container making and the content finding.