The Next Step...

I'm proooobably not the friend you want to invite to do some illegal stuff with such as armed robbery, drug run, or money laundering scheme; though I have been caught up in a ponzi scheme which the FBI still has yet to do anything about given the fact $1MM wasn't stolen or the case just isn't "sexy enough" (I'm serious, not joking). A gentleman by the name of Juan Arteaga who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his mom and wife, managed to defraud close to 100 people over the course of several years with the number of monies lost almost reaching $1MM; the FBI agent assigned to the case, stopped returning my messages since my loss was just shy of $10,000. I mean, let's be honest, if it's a case that gets any type of media attention, this dude is toast, instead the MF'er is eating toast and his mom buying it for him, when she leaves her gated community. No clue how all of that came out, I started thinking of things I wouldn't be fun company on and then I typed money laundering and remembered this dude Juan Arteaga who defrauded me and some of my friends.

Sheesh, that had nothing to do with... Well then again, maybe it had everything to do with this journey.

The sign read do not enter and by the crashing of the waves below and the drop of death into the sea, I thought I'd obey the signage and simply stay put, I mean the last thing I'd want happening is my parents getting a phone call that their middle age son ignored a sign and fell into the ocean. Yes, yes, I still have visions of being old and spinning a top like in the movie Inception.

As I hopped around the signage and down the stairs, I thought one of the five of us was due to meet some type of fate and given the fact I was the eldest and least adventurous, I figured that some kind of fate was coming my way. What you really thought I was going to stand there and miss out on a chance to die, staaaaaap it!

I've stood here before, this place, this fork in the road where one can either go right or go left; I've watched others pick their lanes and thought to myself, "Just go man, close your eyes and go" but in the end I stood still. There are a couple of adages which have always stood out to me:

"He who risks nothing, has nothing, is nothing"

"The hardest step is the first step"

Perhaps this whole mid life crisis thing is real and instead of purchasing a fancy car and attempting to date younger women, I'll simply start bypassing signs in order to get the perfect shot for my portfolio that will never be shared with anyone. In all seriousness, though, I am starting to focus more on the next phases of my life; it's strange to think that in a few short years I'll be fifty years of age, ME FIFTY, like what in the world.

This world is such a small place and there are so many signs which bear different messages, I can't keep up with them all. There's one sign which I try not to ignore and it's tied to how my heart beats when I'm at peace, how it beats when I'm afraid. My fears have subsided over the course of this year due to introspection and my want for more patience.

Truth be told, I was skeptical about the manner at which the waves were crashing into the bricks down below, so I simply took a seat and looked outward. Today, I promised myself that THE NEXT STEP(s) taken, would be taken with ease, safety, and at my own pace.

Some might attempt to trip you up and some might help you find balance, in the end it's up to us to read those signs properly.