D'où Venons Nous? Que Sommes Nous? Où Allons Nous?

At the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, in the corner of a painting by Paul Gauguin, are three questions: "D'où Venons Nous? Que Sommes Nous? Où Allons Nous?" In english these three questions translate to: "Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?" So simple but so profound.

Where do we come from?
What are we?
Where are we going?

I've seen the painting many times before but never did those three questions strike me the way they struck me today. Before I thought I could answer all three questions with ease but today I realized that where I'm going is a question that has yet to be answered completely.

This year has been so hard for me ya'll. I mean really, you have absolutely no idea. My father had a stroke in December for goodness sakes and shit gets deeper than that. But though 2008 was marked with adversity it was also marked with success. Despite family problems and other issues I managed to keep afloat. I've shown and proved that I can meet any expectation and face any challenge. My experiences have taught me how to prevail under even the most extreme circumstances. I'm grateful. But how can that be? What is it about us humans that make us so determined? So ambitious? So resilient? I've hipped you to my background in previous posts and given you a little of my story but where do you come from? What are you? Where are you going?

Really sit down and marinate on that-where you were, what you are and where you will eventually be. And then, after you've considered it, be thankful for it. Raise your eyes to the heavens and scream that you're happy to just...be. Tell your parents thank you for their guidance, smile at whoever you happen to be around and then thank all the Gods for what you will eventually become. I'm not religious but I know there's something out there bigger than me-and I know it's just waiting for me to realize what I can be. As for where I'm heading, well, that's a question I cannot completely answer. What I can say is that I'm thankful to have come as far as I have and I know wherever I land success is sure to follow. After all, you don't sacrifice what I've sacrificed to half ass anything and that, my friends, is my truth :-).


So World, consider this my official thank you for allowing me to be a part of you.
What am I going to do with what's been done to me today?