Simple Questions

There's an interesting project out there - Humans of New York.  As best we can determine, a photographer wanders the city, takes pictures of ordinary (and occasionally extraordinary) people, and publishes them.  While we do not understand at all the mystique that seems to surround New York City, it is an unusual and sometimes thought-provoking work, depicting all sorts of slices of humanity.

Occasionally, the photographer asks the subject(s) a question and includes the answer in the caption of the picture. The questions are simple and deceptively difficult:

What was the happiest moment of your life?
What was the saddest moment of your life?
What is the hardest thing about being a parent? 
What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?
Who would you say has had the greatest influence on your life?
If you could say one thing to the 18-year-old version of yourself, what would it be?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What is your greatest struggle right now?
What is your favorite thing about (the person you are standing with now)?

If we were asked such questions, could we answer them?

I think we should try.

Let us start with the easiest one:

If you could say one thing to the 18-year-old version of yourself, what would it be?

I would say:

Trust your feelings. 

Why this?  Because it took nearly my entire life to learn that my own feelings -- whatever they may be -- are valid. Justified.  Allowed. Over four decades to determine that other people aren't always right, and that sometimes, in fact, other people are very wrong. If I could have learned this lesson sooner, I might have learned to stand up for myself earlier, and might have spared myself a lot of heartache.

All the same, though, I do not, cannot, have regrets for the long road I have taken.  This path has taken me through deserts, into caves, and up mountains, both in the world and within myself.  It has taken me into the presence of guiding souls who have pointed the way through my darkness.  And the lesson, slowly and painfully learned, is sacrosanct.

This path has made me who I am today.  And I am good.