I don't like pre fixe menus.
I don't like pre set tours.
I never bought one of those "all in one" stereos where the radio, amplifier, cassette deck and record player where all built into the same unit.
I want FLEXIBILITY and CUSTOMIZATION in virtually all aspects of my life.
I want to PICK and CHOOSE
what I like,
what I believe,
what I value...
That is why I take offense to being considered a Democrat OR a Republican...
That is why I rent cars and avoid tour buses...
That is why pay a little bit extra to pick my own entree and possibly get a little less food...
I want to create MY own life, by SELECTING the pieces of my life...
And yet,
the ONE place,
where we DO NOT get a choice
NOT to buy into a PACKAGE,
is with HUMAN BEINGS!
We all REFUSE to accept the TRUTH that HUMAN BEINGS are PACKAGED UNITS!
You have to buy the PACKAGE...
Even if you get the color you will never wear, with the stupid stripes, with the one you really need in the package... (kind of like underwear)...
YOU have to buy into the PACKAGE...
Now, you don't have to AGREE with the whole package.
You don't have to ENJOY the whole package.
You don't even have to LIKE all of the parts in the package...
BUT we must start accepting that people are PACKAGES...
In my own head, it can be a struggle...
with myself above all others,
with my loving wife,
with my amazing boys,
with my colleagues,
with our politicians...
We so want to take the pieces we like and agree with,
and somehow get rid of / trade out / reconfigure
the pieces or parts we don't enjoy or agree with...
I am in search of TRUTH,
as you know...
and the one truth that stares at me in the face everyday
is that WE ARE PACKAGES as human beings,
you typically get ALL of ME, or NONE of ME...
You get the wisdom with the struggle...
You get the certainty with the uncertainty...
You get the joyfulness with the emptiness...
And, I work to evolve and learn and grow...
And, I do so as a package... as we all do.
The "package" thing is what made this past election SO hard for everyone!
SO, you can keep WISHING you could pick parts... and components in people...
You can keep WISHING that you could pick the
Yamaha amplifier with the
Ayre digital processor with the
Onkyo CD player with the
Klipsch subwoofer with the
Martin Logan ElectroMotion speakers...
but when it comes to human beings... you JUST CAN'T...
You have to BUY INTO the PACKAGE... as it comes.
And, you know, even when you buy components, if you don't accept the truth,
you wish the Martin Logan's were "Wifi ready" and they aren't, you wish the Klipsch was smaller, but it isn't...
WISHING for parts is futile when you can only buy the whole...
The KEY to harmony, is to EMBRACE and ACCEPT the total package...
Be grateful for the JOY it brings you... without the need to break down what specific component brings you more joy than others...
Be accepting of the imperfections and the differences that it may represent to you...
You always have a choice...
But the choice of customizing any human being to your liking isn't one of them...
And, realize as you choose,
that you come as a package too!
A most beautiful,
complicated, assorted, multi-flavored, multi-talented, quilted
combination delivered in a uniquely designed wrapper...
in harmony,
Nestor