Though this blog is called Main Street Politics, not everything political is about what is happening in Washington. There is the politics of life. The politics of living. How do we choose to live is just as political and sometimes just as contraversial as anything that happens in Washington. And hopefully allot more interesting.
I feel I am in the prime of my life. i am in my early 40's. Seemingly healthy. I have travelled quite abit. I have gone down the Amazon in a dug out canoe, and have slept out in the wilds of Africa with Lions and Elephants around. I have climbed mountains in Zimbabwe and hiked in Chile. I have travelled to Cuba and have been lost in Italy. I fell in love in South Africa and have had wild nights in Mexico. I have lived in small towns and large cities. And have stayed in 5 star hotels and 0 star motels.
Work wise, I have held high positions with large multi-billion dollar companies and have been a grunt worker for terrible companies. I have been both a chief and an indian. I have made alot of money and have worked for minimum wage. I have had legal problems and had to work my way through the system. I have started businesses that have been wildly successful and have started businesses that have failed. I have currently started another one and it is showing signs of some early success. I have owned a couple of beautiful homes in my life and have lived in terrible apartments. And for awhile I was homeless.
Relationship wise, I have loved a few women in my life and a couple of them, I think, have loved me. I have been married, divorced and have two children. I would love to get married again and have more children, and if it happens great and if it doesn't , it was not meant to be. There have been people that have touched my life in ways that they would never know. I have not always been the best of friends, but I have tried. I tend to overly trust people and have been hurt because of it. And I have hurt people as well. There are even a few people in the world that would want to know where I am so they do not go there. There are others that would go out of their way to see me and to catch up on old times. I have laughed and cried over relationships. I have made mistakes, but they were mostly out of love. I would not change a thing. They have contributed to who I am today.
I have friends across the world though I do not keep in touch with many of them. I know if I was near, they would be there for me.
I have held probably 35 different jobs and positions in the past 20 years. I have had more success than failure. I am planning to go to Europe in December and travel around, and yet I have no plan once the plane lands. I want to experience life. Meet people.
I have never been afraid to fail, never been afraid to get fired and never been afraid to take a chance. I love to read. I love to cook (I'm an ok cook, but tend to be generic). I have painted (not so good at that) and have tried to write. I have gone on Safari and killed big game. I have fished in Lake Kariba for dinner and I have appreciated the sunflowers outside of Florence. I have gone deep sea fishing off the coast of Florida and have driven from Mexico City to the North East of the United States.
And yet, suprisingly enough I am not regarded as a success to most people in the US. Someone recently told me (and they knew me quite well) that I have nothing to offer them. That I appear unstable, though I am building a company but seemingly not as successful as the next person. And that person is not alone. They value predicatability. They value a linear path. They value the banker, the butcher and the candlestick maker. They, and when I say they I am talking about the majority of the United States value the person that lives a more traditional existence. Even my parents tell me that I suffer because I have no roots. Maybe because I was given up at birth and was adopted, maybe because I was raised in a small town. I do not know. But my life is a constant work in progress.
I recently got to know a woman. She was born in Sri Lanka, left at 7 and went to Nigeria with her family for 12 years. Then went to Canada and is a Canadian citizen. She is a hiker. She has hiked all over the world. She also lives here in Pennsylvania. We were talking about how her experiences are not much of interest to her colleagues and her American friends. Their idea of traveling abroad is going to Cancun for spring break when they were in University.
It is sad. And I think it appears to be an American trait. Americans seem to be so insulated and wrapped up in their own self importance. And people seem to try to hold onto what they have with all their might. They dont take a chance. They dont have the self fortitude to make their own way. They get jobs in banks and insurance companies and are not happy but they become content. They live their lives accordingly like out of a book or a to-do list.
It might work for them. It would never work for me. I just would hope that someday, people will value what I have to offer. The experiences that I have had have given me an insight into people and cultures. I am not special and in fact I am wrong as much as I am right. But at least I have a different view than most.
And the future. I now look to the final half of my life. I can only pray that it will be as interesting and fun as the first half. There are alot of places I want to go: China, Thailand, Vietnam, Morroco, and hundreds more. Business-wise, make a success of this current venture and then we will see. Maybe I will live in the US, maybe not. All I can say is that it looks like it is going to be a hell of a ride. Maybe get married, maybe have more children. At least have fulfilling and fun and interesting and challenging relationships. The most important thing is that I have had no regrets, and I will insure that I have none in the future.

And by the way, I do have allot to offer. And we all have a story. And if anyone ever sees me, stop me tell me your story. I will be just as interested.

"There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest of things, and because it takes a man's life to know them, the little new that each man gets from life is very costly, and the only heritage he has to leave." Ernest Hemingway