I received an email recently, informing me that a business acquaintance died from a heart attack at the age of 48. For me, being seventy-two years wise, the news made me think. Since I plan to accomplish many things in the remaining years of my life, I thought about how long that might take; consequently, how long do I plan to be around? When I asked some of my friends how long are they planning to keep me, most responded that it is not up to them to decide, since there are higher powers that usually take care of this business.
There is a saying in Russian, “Chelovek predpolagaet, a Bog raspolagaet”, which means,“Man Proposes, but God Disposes”. The history of the saying goes back to the 5thcentury BC. If this is the case, how can we plan anything in our lives? This reminds me of a story about a student who proposed marriage to his girlfriend. His family was very excited about the news. Nevertheless, the mother of the bride asked her husband to find out how the young man is planning to support his family. For every question the father asked, the student answered — “God will provide”. When he returned home, the father reported to his wife that the young man has no plans of how to provide for his family. “However, the good news is, that he thinks that I am God”, the father said.
There is a saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Of course, no one can plan how long they are going to live, but they can plan to extend their lives by having a healthier lifestyle, by being conscious of what goes into our body, and by what goes into our brain. I am doing this just by planning one day at a time; while at the same time, having a vision of what I am planning to accomplish for years to come. For example, when I worked on my first “42 Encounters” book, I decided to produce forty-two books – one per year. Thus, my last one is going to be published when I’m going to be one hundred and fifteen. Meanwhile, I just finished writing the third photo-story book, “42 Encounters with Pairs in San Francisco”. What is left – to edit the text and put the book together. After that, it is going to be printed and by the end of the summer you will be able to hold the book in your hands. As another saying goes, “If you can perceiveit, you can achieve it”. Meanwhile, while you are reading this story, I am in Palm Springs. We came here for me to attend a photography workshop. I’ll share the results with you in next week’s story.
P.S. These four images are part of my personal growth as a photographer. They are from the collection I called “Singularity in Dualty”. I put them together to show at a workshop. Now I am considering producing a separate new photobook with those images. Meanwhile, you can buy my previously published “42 Encounters in San Francisco” and “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” on Amazon.com.
Enjoy and Share.
