Spark

What would you give up?
How are you gonna make this happen? (make WHAT happen?)
I don't know, but I'm gonna find out. Most people have no idea what they want in life, what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Which is good, nobody should ever just choose one thing to do for the rest of your life, it's unfair. Do you have any idea just how big this world is? how incredibly massive it is? There are sands in a desert in Africa that you will never walk on, there is a lake in China you will never swim in, there are trees you will never touch or sit under and enjoy their shade, sure you could travel, you could travel your entire life, and still not even see a fraction of what this world has to offer. Yet people still spend their entire lives going to school, learning skills and traits that will groom them into the career they want... Most people get careers now days just so they can afford to pay off all their loans that they have because they went to school in the first place. I say learn all you can, while you can. From conventional forms of education to t.v to movies, to your friends, to experiences, good and bad. And then use that. use those expereiences and put them to good use. Survive from that. don't go to school for countless years to get a piece of paper that "defines" who you are. That you can use to put on another piece of paper that will get you a job tittle, which is just another piece of paper. You are a human being, in all it's glory and complexity you are an amazing creature and there is nothing to stop you from doing what ever the hell it is you want. ...Or at least that's how it should work. In reality there are boundless things to try and stop you from living that way, money, laws, police, morals, parents, hardships. but those are all experiences too, you need to have the drive enough to do it. If having drive to go to school to better yourself is your thing, then by all means do that, learn all you can, achieve your goals. Become outstanding in your field. But please, please, don't let that define you, and don't let that be the only thing you ever do... Say you go to school to become a cop, a law enforcement officer. And you did all the training and were top of your class, graduated with honors. Got a job at a really nice precinct in a really nice city, married the love of your life and settled down there. You went up through the ranks and were a very good cop, brought down a lot of bad guys, made the city safer and won a bunch of medals. Your entire life was being a dedicated police officer, you never attempted anything else even though you may have kind of wanted to because you were very good at what you did, you enjoyed it, it gave you great benifits and supported your family. You also were afraid to try anything else, scared that you might fail, that you wouldnt be as good at it as you are at being a cop.  What if you get hurt doing it, and then you won't be able to keep your job as a street cop, forever stuck behind a desk. But what if you didn't? What if you were also very good at it? What if it gave you an amazing rush? Take Skydiving, what if one of your co-worker's was going skydiving with his wife, and that sparked something inside you. That had been something you had always wanted to do. So you asked you wife if she wanted to go too.  Do you go or not go? You could jump out of that plane and have the greatest life changing experience ever. You have this rush you have never experienced before, the greatest high you have ever had. Once was not enough you need to go back, and keep skydiving, you take classes and soon are doing it solo. Always reaching for a new level, you have found a new love. You dedicate your life to not only being a cop, but also to skydiving. You move on to gliding suits and are soaring above the earth gliding effortlessly on every updraft and slight breeze.  Floating amongst the clouds, looking down on this tiny world below you, you realize how you ever could have gone without this. You start jumping more and more and before you know it you are approaching the record for most consecutive succesful jumps! The day arrives and you take that leap out of the plane at 13,000 feet above the surface of the globe, and in that freefall you have the greatest high you have ever had. Better feeling than anyone has ever experienced, better than winning a medal, or that time you received the key to the city from the mayor, hell even better than making love with your wife (but you'll never tell her).  You reach the ground without incident and have succesfully broken the record, your wife is waiting there with open arms and tears of joy in her eyes. It is the single greatest experience of your life, you could die right then and there and you would be happy, you lived a fulfilling life. You decide to stop jumping for records, you dedicate your life to teaching others about skydiving so they too can have the same experience you had. You have your own skydiving training videos, and start doing talk shows, you meet Oprah, and Conan O'Brian and travel to new locations. You talk about facing your fear and about how one new experience changed your life for the better.  And you inspired the people listening to you, and watching you jump and it sparks something in them to go out and try something new... But what if you never took that leap? Never went skydiving that one time with your wife, and you led a good fulfilling life. But you never came close to experiencing all that life had to offer. You never came close to that high, never broke any records, never became well known, never inspired anybody to face fear and to try something new. You, my friend, had a good life, but did not live.  You are now on your death bed looking back on life... sure you had a good run, but what about that one time...  that one time your co-worker said he was going skydiving with his wife, and how it sparked your interest... what if?