The Unreachable Stars.

Of course life always catches us when we least expect it. The rainy day fund is always sucked dry just before it actually rains, the insurance on the other driver's vehicle lapsed two days before the accident, the money runs out before the month does - whatever the circumstance, the point remains the same. We are often subject to those whims and fates that are just a tad oustide our circle of immediate control.

We often ask for it by the lives we lead. I know *exactly* why I have a back problem - I went asking for it by doing a lot of things no sane person should put their backs through during those early years known as 'the invincible years.'

This week has been little different. Work is work - the hours are long, and the pay is perhaps not what one would like, but it's my job and I'm proud of it. My projects always beckon, and I always wish I had more time for them. And home had the blissfull scenario of having a rush job to prevent an attack of seasonal bugs and rodents from deciding to invade my home which ate up my entire weekend outside in the hot, hot sun.

But what sustains me, outside of the love of my family and friends, is my ever-insatiable quest to achieve my dreams by helping others. Seems weird, probably, I know, but it's true nonetheless.

Most of my friends are doing reasonably well and the best help I can give them is a friendly smile and a sincere interest in their lives and well-being. Some deserve a shoulder and warm hearted word to help them keep their world together during their truly heartbreaking trials.
And others, like me, aim to reach for the stars, and so by striving, change them.

It's not just ambition, and it's not idle pride that drives them. There's an element of curiosity, true, but in reality we strive to accomplish something worthwhile, something greater than ourselves.

No matter whether lasting a moment in time or an eternity in stone, there are accomplishments and achievements that stand out in a life, in a lifetime, in an era. I fully believe that in each and every person lies the ability to accomplish those kinds of achievements but I also know that the vast majority of us never really take the chance to achieve them.

I read recently where 8/10 people plan to and desire to write a book. Of those people, less than 20 % will try, and of that 20% less than 20% will complete the book, and less than 20% of those will ever send their work to be published. That means that less than 0.0064 % of the population will ever write the books which they have in their hearts desire to write and see it through to publication.

How many other dreams in society are left un-reached for? How many advancements in society are left unachieved because they were never started? How many lives will be lost because no one tried to solve the unsolvable enigmas of science? How many lives could be changed if more people reached the unreachable stars?