Ramblings of a drunken monkey

Part 10: The sky's the limit

As we reach the end of this short but insightful tale, (even if I do say so myself), we find ourselves back at the beginning. The distance you can go with your skill, whatever it may be, depends on how much you believe in your skill, how much you are able to, and want to use your skill, and how valuable that skill is to others.

There's the old adage of 'find something you love doing and then find a way to make a living doing it.'

This stands true for pretty much anything. If we go back to our reluctant crossword enthusiast from earlier, whist we no longer have enigma machines that need cracking (that we know of anyway, it was secret then so could still be out there), there are a raft of ways that being a word geek can make you money with tweaking, enhancing the concept or simply looking at it from a different perspective. Here are a few off the top of my head:

• Quiz show contestant,

• Crossword puzzle champion,

• Code cracker,

• Linguist,

• Translator,

• Write your own dictionary or work for a company that edits them,

• Author,

• Teacher,

Or simply:

• Person who unwinds from a hard day by doing crosswords to relax, then feels better and lives their life better.

This was mentioned at a course weekend once and someone asked "but what if the skill is killing cats?" I don't know why they chose cats but we can all understand the weight behind the question. What if the skill and will is one that is undesirable? Well I would first ask whether killing cats is actually the skill, or whether it is marksmanship. It may be that the person has an amazing skill for anatomy and instinctively knows where to strike to kill something. A dangerous skill in the wrong hands but so much of it is along the same lines as guns. A gun itself is just a tool, it is the will and intent of the person who uses it that leads it to causing death.

As a seasoned martial artist I will occasionally get into this conversation with people and on one occasion I was given a very interesting observation, one that if the skills that I had were given to a person of 'darker' spirit then there would likely be death and destruction in a very short space of time. I have the skills to knock out and even kill fairly easily (on paper), what I don't have is the will to use it in this way unless I am given no other choice. Compare this to our marksman and you have a skill set that can be incredibly useful to the military or for research purposes. A person who knows how to kill is someone who can be equally skilled in how to keep them alive. Imagine that skill in a surgeon or an armour designer and you suddenly have someone with a prized skill rather than one considered a killer. How often do you hear of thieves becoming thief catchers, hackers helping to protect the computer systems of businesses? It comes then down to education, training and the 'nurture' factor of growth of a person that will have significant sway on how a skill is used. The skill itself is not bad or good, only how it is used and the intent behind the person using it.

Saying all that brings out the question of what your level of achievement can be? That really is up to your imagination and will. If you close your scope to what is possible in your eyes then you may miss your true calling. If you open your mind to any possibility then you stand a greater chance of finding your dream path, as much as the one you are here to do in this life. If you get stuck then you can always ask a three year old for out-of-the-box inspiration.

Once you have your goal then keep it in mind and strive for it but don't lose sight of the world around you. Drive and push for what you want but pay attention to what comes your way. As you start down a path that you love you may come across things that you never knew existed but if you only have your eyes on the road you planned then you may miss something even better off to one side of the path you are taking. As I mentioned in Chapter 2 I pride myself on being a Jack-of-all-trades, and indeed a master of a few of them. As well as my formal education in biology, soil science, acoustics and Traditional Chinese Medicine, along my journey I've taught myself to play the Chinese flute (Dizi), throw knifes in a no-spin throw, whittle wood and see the energy in trees. This doesn't mean I'm constantly walking around playing a tune and lobbing knives everywhere while I peer at vegetation. It just means that all of those skills are inside of me and have made me who I am today. I bought a once book that seemed interesting but I never got further than the first chapter, I didn't need to. That first chapter was enough to enlighten some part of me but the rest of the book was for someone else. I gave the book away a week later to a very curious and appreciative recipient. I got what I needed from each experience and then carried on to the next lesson. That is how you grow, by trying whatever you're drawn to and appreciating what you learn, for however long it lasts. Indeed the same can be said for relationships.....

As an end note I wish you every luck in your journey. I myself have not found my true path but am enjoying the route I follow right now. I expect it will change, although not massively, but I keep myself open to whatever may be meant for me and is offered to me to grab along the way.

I guess we will all see where we end up. If we meet along the way then I hope you will stop and talk with me, even if we disagree, let us enjoy the conversation, see where the other is coming from and leave with a greater appreciation of the world.

In the end we can only be responsible for ourselves, otherwise we become dictators of others and they have their own paths to walk and truth to learn.

But it doesn't mean that we can't heal others along the way. If we act as beacons for others who are searching for a better way then we can guide them to improve their own lives. We don't need to actively change for them or take them along a path, by merely living by truth and love then those who look to us will do the same.

If we can all crack that then I'd say that's about as close to peace as we may get, but then it might just be enough.