Funeral Politics

Thinking about the funeral today made me realize that my post yesterday reads as a bit morose; I was trying for a more philosophical tone. While it's true that I find myself in a place and a situation I had never really planned for, the fact of the matter is that I've a lot to be happy about. Such dissatisfaction as I feel is primarily focused on large issues of money and finance, and this is only a relatively small piece of the puzzle of happiness.

In virtually every other area of life, I've got few worries. I've got an interesting, challenging job doing something I enjoy. It pays enough to support our lifestyle, and soon enough The Wife will have a job (with some luck) and we can use her earnings to save up to buy a house in a year or so. I've got a good education, I'm smart, I have hobbies I like. I've got some good critters and a nice place to live. I'm blessed with a supportive, loving family, and many good friends. I'm healthy and alive. Most of all, I have a wonderful wife who is my best friend and an ideal life companion. And there is no reason that long-term, larger-scale wealth cannot come in the future.

And my friend Nancy Spungen is right about quite a few things in her comments: a) women don't really like Pink Floyd all that much and growing up I wasn't a cool kid in part because I didn't have much access to hip contemporary music; b) the major career choices I've made were, especially viewed in context, about as good as could have been made; and c) different choices could easily have resulted in a much worse situation than I am currently in, due largely to factors beyond my control.

So mine has been a mixed bag of some good and some lukewarm results in life. But the question remains -- to what extent am I here due to good choices I have made and to what extent am I here due to forces beyond my control? The more I think about it, the more I'm coming to believe that I have a lot less ability to influence my path in life than I would like to believe.