Epiphany No. 27

Another EUREKA moment for me. A chatmate was insisting on her obviously warped view of love and relationship. I try to be as polite as possible, while pointing out how infantile her perspective was. All the time I'm thinking to myself, "you're over 30, with no stable relationship, and no prospects in site... and you're lecturing me on the fine points of love and relationship???"

Then it dawned on me... I'm fast approaching 40, my business track record is simply horrible, and my net worth is zero. And I'm an aspiring business tycoon. Right.

The lesson here? You can't sell what you don't own. What right, what mandate do I have to write about succeeding in business? I can't even get the darned thing right!

THE ACTION PLAN:

Walk the walk, so you can talk the talk.

A little story...

There were two moths fluttering happily together. One of them saw a flame shining brightly in the distance.

"Let's go closer and have a look," said one of the moths, the boy.

"Are you sure?" asked the girl moth, "It looks dangerous."

"I'm sure it will be fine," insisted the boy moth. And the two moths flapped closer to the brightly burning flame.

"Oh, how beautiful!" cried the little bugs as they flew closer to the flame.

"Don't you just love how warm it makes you feel?" asked the boy moth. "Let's move in closer," he invited.

"But won't we be too close to the flame?" protested the girl moth.

"We'll be fine," the boy moth assured her. "We'll feel nice and warm inside."

So the moths flew in closer still to the burning flame. At first they were very cautious, flying in wide arches around the dancing fire.

"Oh, how lovely the flames look," gushed the girl moth. "And such warmth. I want to dance around the flame!"

"Yes, let's dance around the flame!"

And with reckless abandon, the moths cavorted around the tongues of fire, flying in graceful pirrouettes, celebrating their freedom in daring sommersaults.

The girl moth was drunk with passion, and seduced by the warmth of the flames beside her, she believed she and the fire were one... wistful, sensuous, and invincible. And the boy moth, caught up in the throes of his own pleasure, simply watched, hypnotized as the girl moth fluttered ever closer to the fire.

Then it happened. The girl moth's wing brushed lightly against the bright burning pillar. And the girl moth exploded into a bright beautiful fireball. In the silence of an instant, she was gone, all of her, even her scream consumed by the beauty she had embraced.

The boy moth watched in enthralled silence. Then he fluttered away, alone in the darkness.