It’s amazing how fast
some people can adapt…
it’s incredible how quickly
some people can adjust…
it’s phenomenal how some people –
especially children –
can go from one day being
“the new kid on the block”
to taking a giant leap
into assimilating themselves
into a place, a time, a mindset,
and a completely different way of life…
some children are born with the infinite capacity
to learn at the speed of light –
and there are some adults who retain
the same gift of lightning-fast learning,
even as they grow older…
it always amazes me how some people
can live comfortably in different extreme environments –
from places where the temperature could not get any hotter,
to the places on this planet
where the temperature could not be any colder…
it is truly unbelievable how hazardous
some of the places on this planet
where people have been born,
where people have grown,
where people have lived,
where people have thrived,
where people have built a life,
where people have raised families,
where people have chosen to spend
all of their time until the day that they die,
because they feel as if they share
a connection with such a place…
it is in our collective human nature to endure,
to overcome our limitations, to explore,
to do things that no one has ever done before:
like diving to the depths of the deepest ocean,
climbing to the highest of peaks,
traversing the wildest and the most dangerous of deserts,
or exploring the unknown wonders of outer-space…
in space, there is no air and there is no way
for anybody outside of a space-suit to survive –
but that has not stopped a great many of us
from wishing that they were astronauts
so that we could discover new worlds
and new knowledge to enrich
the lives of all of humanity…
becoming accustomed to something,
to somewhere, to some new way of being –
like the selflessness, the patience,
and the compassion that you must
summon from within yourself
when you are the parent of a child –
in my opinion, is the greatest gift
that humanity has ever been given.