On Civilisation

Humankind's existence borders on the illusionry, and the word legacy has been very much abused. Significant our (dubious) achievements may well be, many of the modern trappings our society has lauded will not stand the test of time. In all likelihood once the last humans have disappeared off the face of the planet, the Civilisations on this Earth will be reduced to the fragile dust in which it originated, and will ultimately be reclaimed by the Nature of old within 10,000 years. 

Not that it would really matter to us by then. Schools of thought abound regarding the after-life, and range from animal reincarnations to alien evolution. Perhaps our collective memories will be retrieved by some alien archaeologist, or perhaps we could ship these out to one of our satelites for more permanent storage.

Ultimately, I believe that efforts to add some semblance of permanence into our footprint are relatively futile. For such moments of historical significance more often than not pale in substance when compared to the little snippets of joyful daily living that we have been called to engage in. 

If collecting past glories be fair, and planning future conquests be good, then treasuring the present be divine.

The 99 Club

Accordingly to an old folk tale, a king wanted to find out the source of one's happiness. A wise advisor suggested that the king secretly place a bag of 99 gold coins outside the house of the servant who seemed happiest to the king. So the king did as he was advised, and one night he went to the servant's house secretly, and placed a bag of 99 gold coins outside the door. 

The next morning, the servant opened the door and was thrilled to see the bag of coins. He counted the coins, there were 99 of them. Puzzled, the servant counted them again, and there were 99 coins just the same. Now the servant was sure that no one would leave a bag of 99 coins; he was certain that there was one coin missing, and began to search everywhere for it. Before long, this once-cheerful servant who was given the gift of 99 coins became frustrated and angry about the alleged missing coin, and showed up for work at the palace in the foulest mood everyone in the palace had seen since, well, since next to never!

Beware the insidious trap that is the 99 Club. The ways of this Club lead to people to find sorrow in every joy, suspicion in every intent, doubt in every faith, excuse in every cause, inaction in every choice, uncertainty in every step, malcontent in every event. Sometimes it may be better to consider the possibility that the blessings one receives, no matter how inadequate to human eyes, are in fact complete in themselves. 

Rather than pursue imaginary gains, one may do well to celebrate the victories one already has on hand.

Rather than mourn past losses, one may do well to take stock of what one can learn from such experiences, in order to gain from future opportunities.