A Sign From Einstein

Today I went back to my high school for the first time since I graduated.  I had some paperwork to drop off for my brother.  I remembered how much of a giant I felt like by the time I graduated- I felt like I had grown too big for the school, the city, too big for everything.  Today I didn't feel very big at all.

Wikipedia

If you are anything like me, you tend to believe in the theories left behind by Einstein.  He had this famous theory of general relativity. If you wikipedia it, you will read something about mass-energy, differential equations, and other strange combinations of letters. If you are like me again, you believe that Einstein's main goal in life was to inspire others to think on their own.

I am inspired to interpret his theory along the lines of the title. 

Ready?

Everything is relative.

I felt so small today, because when I graduated I was certain that by the age I am now I would have ______ (more? a west coast home? a degree in biology? To be honest, I am not really sure).  Compared to my best friend, who is living in Arizona, on his way to a high paying degree, is in the Honors Program, will graduate on time...compared to him I haven't done too much. But everything is relative.  And in theory, this relative concept of time puts us where we need to be when we need to be there.

In a fantasy inspired by Albert Einstein, I imagined myself sitting on the marble steps of my high school, talking with my high-school-self.  I wouldn't bother to ask her how she was doing, because we both know I would already know that answer. But if I got the chance to tell my high-school-self anything, I think I would tell her to not discredit the opportunities and challenges she will rise to meet in pursuit of her plans. 

And when she got done processing that, she would look at me and ask, "How are we doing?"

And I could honestly answer, "Relatively okay."

You Were Meant to Do This

I sat there listening to you, helpless through the other end of the phone. I lit a candle for you. And I waited.



Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org

 Staring desperately around my room, a Post-It note caught my eye. In a fit of my own despair, I remember writing that note. Positioned above my bed, it simply reads:

How do I let what I have work for me?

I could answer that for you. But how dare I take the journey away from you? The strife, the hardship, the success, the glory. They are all part of it. I could hand you a road map. But you'd refuse it. Thankfully, this is your journey.

I wish I could tell you how much you were meant to do this. I wish you would take a second to find the light inside you, find what fuels it, and hold on for dear life. It is a nearly tangible emotion, full of the passion and conviction I know you have. Because I have it in you.  I showed it to you.

Your inner dialogue is so loud you can't begin to find that light. And you call out, but can't hear me.

So here are some signs for you.

--To those who wait, time opens every door. Chinese proverb

--It's all right to hesitate if you then go ahead. Bertolt Brecht

--It was a high counsel that I once hear given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do." Ralph Waldo Emerson

--Try not to become a man of success, but a man of value. Albert Einstein

--If your aim is to make the kite soar as high as possibly can, you need to master the art of holding firm as well as the art of letting go. Papemelroti

--Small town people from Ohio didn't believe that humans could ever fly. But two dreamers dared to move beyond. Two dreamers dared to believe they were meant to do this.

You too are meant to do this.
And so am I.