The Blissification: wonder

Every few generations, a person comes along who completely annihilates the way in which people operate by making the world a more interesting place to live. There was Edison, Graham-Bell, Ford, Lincoln (William - invented film), and Jobs.

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, at the age of fifty-six years young. However, he will be immortalized by the innovation that is synonymous with his name. His impact upon the relationship between humans and technology is one that has completely shattered the precepts which existed prior to his inventions. Steve had the instinctive methodology that took a concept, or an item, and brought it to such a heightened level of sophisticated simplicity that makes nearly all things possible. The driving force behind his ingenuity was simply his love for the work he set out to accomplish. I am sure that every man and woman who purchase one of the many Apple devices feel the wonder they felt when they were children on Christmas morning when they first begin playing with it.

I think the collective sadness that has followed Steve Jobs' death is one that carries a tone of yearning. Wondering how much more could he have contributed? What more could he have imagined? What other elements of daily life could he have upgraded, in the way only he knew how.

For as long as I live, I will at the very least own and cherish an iPod. The one I have now is a second generation, nearly five years old, and I use it to make the most mundane tasks more exciting. My iPod is now more than just an MP4 player. It is a daily reminder that one day, I too will be leaving this earth, and I will live only through the legacy I leave behind. I will in no way, shape, nor form leave a fraction of the impact as Mr. Jobs has. Although I believe that in the very least, so long as I, "think outside the box," and I, "never settle," I will function to the best of my ability due to the sheer joy with which I accomplish my goals.

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for the inspiration and the advice.

Because of you, I will

"Stay hungry, stay foolish."

Most of the accomplishments worth undertaking are ever easy. The process of getting from Point A to Point B makes getting to Point B worth the effort.

This can be applied to anything, whether it be about getting nearly a decade's worth of post-secondary education, to landing a job, to getting over a break-up, or learning something new about one's self.

The cost of the outcome is the $truggle.

I will apply this to situations that occur on a mundane basis. I am rarely sick, and I have succumb to the flu for the past six days. I loathe the sensation of being physically incapacitated. I don't know about you, but when I first feel ill, I am in denial and want to do all the normal things I do had I not come down with some ailment. I try to be up and about, I even try exercising it out (I ran six miles in forty minutes until I felt truly rotten). Mentally allowing myself to be ill is somewhat of a process. Then, it hits, and I become exhausted to the point of becoming unable to rise from bed. About two days into being sick, I forgot what it felt like to be well. I then remembered that whenever I was well, I forget what being sick felt like, although I know I dislike it immensely (not that anyone likes to be sick), but it made me think about how wired we are to live in the moment. When I am weakened by sickness in bed, all I am is is ill, and being well becomes a distant, foreign experience.

As much as I forgot what being well was like, I at least knew I had something wonderful to look forward to.

Suffering through the flu was a reminder that I had being well to look forward to. Dumb reminder, I know, but the feeling of peace that comes with knowing that the outcome will be better than the process felt familiar. Kind of like whenever I felt famished to the point of vertigo and nausea, but not panicked because I knew I would soon be fed; suffering through the tedious work on a project because pouring my heart and soul into it would yield nothing less than stellar results; suffering through a really awful job because money is necessary, then seeing all the zeros in my bank account.

I then remember that those situations I have taken for granted all my life, some people exist in. That is the state within which they live. Constant illness, hunger, thirst, injustice, working until their knuckles are bare, and laboring through the worst conditions - seeing the light at the end of the tunnel but never being able to reach it, exists all over the world, every day. Innocent people who are born and punished for no reason, never live to feel relief. Although my experiences in suffering are so very insignificant compared to those which exist in humanity, it is my only way to empathize. I know I can't help strangers who are sick, starving families, those who live in a land where drought kills, hard workers who do not get compensated.

I am no one. Just a person whose idea of suffering involves having the sniffles and laying in bed. I do, however, know what it feels like to yearn for better. There is still a light at the end of the tunnel, and each day, I pray and hope and work toward that result which will put me in a better position than I am in today. While I do that; while I do what I need to for myself, I try to do what I can for those who have nothing but hope and faith that someday they will feel better, food will come, clean water will be pumped, and fair wages will be granted to them.

It is 2011, and today is Women's Equality Day. I am not sure what I should be celebrating. Anatomically, I don't ever expect to equal a man. A man does not have the power to sustain life within him for nine months then excruciatingly give birth to that life, only to use his body to nourish it. I get it. This is a man's world, but technically, women already run it.

Human rights, fundamental rights bestowed upon all those who breathe on this planet are taken for granted by so many, and are denied to so many more. There is a way to help change things, even in the tiniest way possible.

The beauty in suffering is that it is the one thing all members of the human race have in common.