Hi MSIL: I think the one thing we often fear is death, not the event itself, nor necessarily the suffering prior to death, but rather the certainty that death ends our journey. We cannot see beyond Death's wall, and we really have no clue what we will face. Even the most deeply religous person has no real idea of what lies beyond the veil, a glorious spiritual existence, or a deep dark unconscious chasim.
But, I have come to the point in life, that as AlanF stated, it is not so much the path, or even the destination, but the journey itself that counts.
When I look at people who have been very successful in life, they appear to come in two flavors: 1. Those who suceeded because they wanted to be a star, have fame and money; 2. Those who succeeded because they had passion for the art of their profession. Fame and money were very secondary or even totally unimportant.
The difference between the two? The second type seems to be happier, more fulfilled, and dies with a smile on their face. People often seem to remember the second type more, because they gave from the heart all they have to their passion in life.
In becoming a JW, I gave up several other passions - but not all - and focused that passion on being a loyal JW, because it captivated my heart. This cost me 25 good years of another journey - but, I do not regret the passion. Now, I am free to pursue those passions I gave up - and in addition, my passion in life now is to bring accountability to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
When all is said and done, regardless if I evolved, or there is a god or no god, or wether I measured up to some standard of my fellow humans - I WILL die with a smile on my face, with that satisfaction that I gave life my all, my passion -- and, my children and many others will remember me when I reach my demise, as I have them -- and one of those passions along the journey that I will savor, a committment I made in 1992, and one that I am keeping -- is to bring justice and accountability to the Jehovah's Witness religion -- and that passion is being fulfilled, and will reach new heights with the Dateline story, the lawsuits, and something else that I will be announcing later on.
No, I did not start the Dateline story nor the lawsuits, but I have been an instigator and a player on the team, and while I am not the quarterback, I am in the game, and not on the sidelines. The QB and Wide Receiver are Bill and Barbara. But my passion about this is not whether I am in the headlines after the game is over -- but my passion is in winning the game, and knowing that I was on the team -- that allows me to at least share in the trophy.
These things we do each day are the journey. Every moment spent, every hour that passes, every day when the sun sets, we have expended part of the journey and our time reduces a little bit each day, month, and year. We are ever conscious of this. So, savor the moment, explore your passions, and whatever you do, do it from the heart. - Amazing