MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

. . . . . . there is no edge to openness

TODAY'S MUSINGS

FEEDBACK / COMMENTS

MARK SPEAKS

MARK'S SPEAKING TIPS

ARCHIVED COLUMNS

ARCHIVE WINTER 2020-21

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2020

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2020

ARCHIVE SPRING 2020

ARCHIVE WINTER 2019-20

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2019

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2019

ARCHIVE SPRING 2019

ARCHIVE WINTER 2018-19

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2018

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2018

ARCHIVE SPRING 2018

ARCHIVE WINTER 2017-18

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2017

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2017

ARCHIVE SPRING 2017

ARCHIVE WINTER 2016/17

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2016

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2016

ARCHIVE SPRING 2016

ARCHIVE WINTER 2015/16

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2015

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2015

ARCHIVE SPRING 2015

ARCHIVE WINTER 2014/15

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2014

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2014

ARCHIVE SPRING 2014

ARCHIVE WINTER 2013/14

CONTACT

MY REAL ESTATE LIFE

WHY I WRITE MUSINGS

SHORT STORY PROJECT

POETRY PROJECT

SELECTED OTHER WORK

 
THE SHAPE YOU ARE IN
Saturday Oct. 11, 2014
 
Those decision moments, those colliding moments where people entered our lives – or left, shape us. 
 
They have shaped me. 
 
What shaped you?
 
What is the cause of you?
 
What ingredients make you?
 
Seriously, what made you into you?
 
What causes you to think, act, react and act-out?
 
If we wisely pick our battles, choose win-win strategies – we will come out on top. 
 
Who does that, who picks well, strategizes wisely, makes right moves at right times … just KNOWING it is the right move and the right time?
 
OK, maybe love and joy are two strong, or maybe pain and hate are too negative – but these ingredients seems common to important moments, important decisions. 
 
We reason out our decisions. Logic prevails, always, right? Decisions – important ones – don’t happen by design no matter how much we want to believe they do.
 
Sometimes we know in those moments. 
 
It often takes years to realize their importance. 
 
I recognize those decisions, driven by a confluence of these ingredients – combining pain/joy and some person we love/hate.
 
You are this commodity of you. On that label on your side (like packaged food), what would those listed ingredients be? 
 
What nutritional value do you provide?
 
I cannot imagine anyone’s list not including catalyst-people, those decision moments as being just as or more important – than genes we carry and influences of those who planted our first seeds.
 
I am grateful for those moments, those decisions. 
 
If I could do-over, many I would do-different. 
 
Some, I would never trade.
 
We all began.
 
We will all end.
 
Between our beginning and ending is where we find what we are made of.
 
 
 
Mark Kolke
column written/ published from Calgary
 
morning walk: 15C / 59F, full moon, calm, clear sky – routine walk, traffic is holiday-weekend quiet, hello-chat with a neighbor, Gusta wolfed down her breakfast. 
 
Reader feedback / comments always welcome:
GRATEFULLY
Happy Thanksgiving Mark. It will be a great time for us this weekend, dinner with my sister & her family. I just wanted to send you a note to wish you & Gusta a Happy Thanksgiving.  I trust you will enjoy whatever it is that you have planned. All the best, MC, NW of Cochrane, AB

Sign up to get MUSINGS by Email
» click HERE to be added to our list!
For Email Marketing you can trust

 

sign up to get Musings free daily


Comments are always welcome - please contribute to the discussion.  Reply to: kolke@markkolke.com

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. This site is updated daily, each column is retained in the archive when the next day's column is loaded ...  


Copyright - all rights reserved - Mark Kolke, © 2003-2021