I've never had mentors, only tormentors.

No one is born loving Jaeger and Red Bull. That one is learned behavior. You try it during a phase of your life when you're ready for something completely different, and your tastes literally change.

Such is the nature of transition.

I knew that 35 would be a great year of transition for me. One in which I could live with intention, and learn to be truer to myself.

I am still figuring out who I am and what I am capable of.

So far this year I have lost my blue contacts in favor of the green eyes I was born with; I have given up the vegetarian lifestyle after more than nine years, returning to the omnivorous state I was born in; and in a week I am about to give up employment, throwing caution to the wind. And yet... no one is born employed. That one is learned behavior, too.

What's left after reverting my eyes, my eating habits, and my job? My beliefs. And if I were to distill them down, they roughly fall into three philosophical underpinnings:

1. Optimism. I am driven by hope of the upside potential, not by fear of the downside risk.


2. Redemption. I believe that anyone can be saved if the desire to be saved is strong enough.


3. Wisdom. I've never had mentors, only tormentors. I find myself transitioning from a kid in need of mentoring, to a man who despite no proper coaching needs to be strong and lead by example.
   
   Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves. Life is about suffering, and then rising above to excel.

This year, to me, is all about rising above -- it's all about transcending the person I was until now, and living in the delicious tension between being and becoming, and I find that...

The more I behave like the person I want to be,
the more I become that person.

The road is long, and the ties that bind are weak, but enlightenment is worthwhile and happiness is something we can share with the ones we love. Life is short, so above all be good and be lucky.

So cut the deck right in half, I'll play from either side. After all, identity is destiny, and we must become the change we seek in the world.

Few of us can do great things, but all of us can do small things with great love.

In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

And on that note, let my transition continue...