Wind of Change

I get a call from this guy with a weird accent, asking me if I’d like to purchase a Cutco Knife, which apparently comes with a lifetime warranty.  Yes, that’s correct – the knife is covered for life.  And while I’d never buy a knife from some lunatic on the phone (or any knife, for that matter), the forever-warranty part piqued my curiosity.  

And so I asked him: “Whose lifetime are we talking about here, my lifetime, your lifetime or the knife’s lifetime?” – and while he mumbled something incoherent in response, I began thinking that ‘lifetime’ is really such a vast and epic term, likely beyond anything that this guest from another planet could ever begin to explain to me.

Lifetime… What can possibly last a lifetime, what can endure the test of time and retain its character and value?  Let me share something I’ve learned over my own relatively short, yet action-packed lifetime – nothing lasts forever and nothing endures the pressure of time.  Nothing is guaranteed and hardly anything is certain.  The age-old expression “Nothing is certain but death and taxes” has largely been proven incorrect and outdated.  Clearly, some people can never die – examples are John Wayne, Charlie Chaplin, John McClane, Tyler Durden and countless others.  And when it comes to paying taxes, our sitting President has easily demonstrated that it is rather optional.

But I will tell you – one thing that is certain in any lifetime: change.  It is absolutely guaranteed that things WILL change, and that nothing will remain constant and permanent.  Take a look around you and note that in all likelihood anything and everything you see will be different in just a few short years.  That includes people, pets, cars, furniture, and – most importantly – what you like and dislike, what you love and hate, whom you idolize and whom you despise.  The world is in a constant ‘change mode’ and nothing and no one is immune to this rotation.  One can only hope that the change is for the better and that what you see around you in several years will be better than what you are seeing today.

And since there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop the changes from taking place, we should simply cherish the present – grab every moment and enjoy it with the people we love TODAY, celebrate life by drinking vodka, smoking whatever it is that you like smoking and smiling at whatever may come our way.