Your Sentinel, Purpose 200906

These men and women had a purpose in thier lives, tragic as it was.

I watched an interesting show on YouTube last night. The man in the show had been a near-do-well through school and into his adult life. He got into alcoholism and opoid drugs until that consumed all of his time. He ended up in a hospital and was clinicaly dead for an hour. (That probably sounds as implausable to you as it does to me. Doctors usually declare death shortly after they try all they can and go on to the next patient.) The man thought that the reason he survived was because he was so stoned that his heart didn't register. He came back to life because in that hour he realized he finally had a purpose to perform in life. He went to college and got an advanced degree in psychology and now he teaches at a university and councils people in shelters and rehabilitation centers that are just like he was before his experience. He went on to stress that having and recognizing one's purpose in life makes for a happy life.

Our neighbor lady in Escondido, CA. was a crazy woman, who reeled with dementia. She was never happy with anything and always complaining. We shared our back yard with her. The yard had a 5 foot high wooden privacy fence. One day we had a strom roar through the area with high winds and non-stop rain. I was looking out the sliding glass door to our patio when I saw the fence was sagging badly. One of the upright posts had rotted at ground level and the wind had bent and strained the rest of the fencing. I turned away to call Joyce to see it. She came over to look at it. It was then that we saw crazy lady out in the still raging storm, in her wheelchair with a single wooden broom handle trying to prop up the fence. I was familiar enough with her to know she would not listen to me telling her to go back inside her house. I told Joyce I would take care of the situation after the storm and when the ground dried up enough to repair the fence. The next day there was a knock at our door. It was Hugo. Hugo asked if I would fix the fence and he would pay me for doing it, because it was stressing his mother-in-law (the crazy lady). I told him I would do it and no compensation was necessary, but I did need to let things dry out before tackling the problem and I did repair it 2 days later. If you are still reading this, you may be wondering what this story has to do with anything that would interest anyone? Well here is the tie-in to what you read earlier. Hugo was married to crazy lady's daughter who was as bat-shit crazy and demented as her mother was; Hugo was a happy, delightful man in spite of the incomprehensible situation he faced every day of his life. Reason? He had a purpose in his life, grim as it was, he had purpose and that made his life a good one, a happy one.

I have been sad for most of my life, but I am now happy because I finally know my purpose in life. No, I am not going to tell you what that purpose is; all I will say is that it is nice to know what one's purpose is and that it makes for a good if not wonderful life. I feel once my purpose has been completed I am ready to leave this life for whatever is beyond.