People - the best in our lives

What is best in our lives?

It certainly are not the things we accumulate, use, and dispose of with amazing regularity.  (Thank you to the consumer driven advertising prevalent across the nation.)  Can it be the accomplishments of a career?  Hard to say, because the definition of career has changed so dramatically over the past few decades, with it now being rare for one to remain with one company or even in one occupation for a lifetime.  Education?  Hardly, because if we are to believe the numbers put forth by some, the high school drop out rate is astoundingly high.  Is it where we reside?  Possibly, because there is so much beauty in so many regions of the country, though I find it hard to declare beauty in the noise and congestion of the urban valleys of New York City.  Music?  Can't dispute that music is singularly evocative, with such a rich variety that appeals to folks world wide.  Sports?  Here we must delineate between participant and spectator.  Still, there are countless sports in which interest is held.

After serious reflection over the morning's first cup of coffee, what is best in our lives aren't material possessions; aren't the accomplishments of a career; isn't education; isn't where we live; and even isn't music or sports.

What is best in our lives are the people with whom we share it.

Beginning with family, extending to friends, expanding to co-workers, and rounding out with those with whom we come into contact, once or occasionally, people are what make our lives and give them meaning.  People provide the exceptionally positive, generate the smiles, create the cause for laughter, and provide the context within which these emotions exist.  People also provide the basis for the emotional pain that is also part of life.  The first broken heart.  The social overture rejected.  Assumed friendship betrayed.  Jilted lovers.  Divorce.  Horrible boss.  Annoying neighbor.  Rude individuals.  Death of a spouse.  As with the positive, people are the sources of the most emotional negatives in our loves as well.

Thankfully, for the majority of us, people provide for far more happiness than pain and aggravation.

So, as we maneuver our way through life, whatever the path we choose, whatever turn we take (expectedly or unintentionally), relish the human part of the experience.  Find the opening for the positive, even if it is only to express thank-you or to share a smile.  Whether naturally extroverted or introverted, redneck or urban dweller, young or old, athletic participant or spectator, manager or employee, I urge that you value the human interaction, seek the good in it, accept that pain may come, but always look for the positive.

It is in that positive that you will find the best in your life.