This guy Bill Harris has been bombarding with emails urging me to join his Brain Club, designed to increase one’s chances of success. Finally, I decided to reply to his last email with this…

Dear Bill,

For all your time and money and, above all, your observations, you missed the most important aspect of life, of a life well-lived. You don’t need your “Vital 5 Tools.” You just need One and only One. That is to realize that nothing in life is “lasting.” There is no lasting success or lasting happiness or lasting relationships. These are all things we experience, and no experience lasts forever or even a lifetime for that matter. By telling your readers and subscribers that, if they join your Brain Club, you will help them get “lasting” whatever, you are merely holding out the carrot before the horse, so they can haul their tool cart up the road and feel it getting heavier and heavier as they add more and more tools.

That strategic map you speak of is fine – as long as it is a map of the terrain and not a road map. We don’t need to set goals and map out a route to attain them. If we do, either of two things will happen. We will fail to reach that destination and suffer disappointment, or we reach it and discover it was not what we thought it would be, and any satisfaction will soon dwindle. Nothing to do then but set out for a new destination and load up that cart again with more tools.

I fail to see what the problem is, Bill. Why does anyone need a Brain Club? What they need is a Brain – or at least half of one – period! Every human on the face of this glorious Earth is already a success. Think about it. Out of the trillions of life forms across this Universe, out of the gazillion sperms and eggs floating in seminal fluid, one miniscule sperm fertilized one miniscule egg, and you were born. That, my friend, is quite a success.

Just think! You can get up in the morning, take a deep breath of fresh air and watch a true miracle – a Sunrise. You can hike up a pine-scented mountain or stroll along a sandy beach and watch the waves roll in and vanish, like life itself, reminding you that nothing lasts forever. Or you can sit in a park and listen to the laughter of children playing, maybe even your children or grandchildren. You can visit a temple, church or mosque and say a prayer of appreciation simply for being alive. You can watch a spectacular sunset across the sky and view the moon as it rises. See the stars coming out, their twinkling light finally reaching the Earth after a journey of thousands of light years. Truly another miracle if ever there was one. And best of all you are alive to see it. If that’s not a success, I don’t know what is.

You want to put people on that “Cutting Edge.” The only problem is that Edge is on your “Black Hole of Disappointment.” Nothing like falling into an oblivion of misery and depression. So stay away from edges. Walk on solid ground with Mother Earth beneath your feet, take a few deep breaths and – above all – don’t worry. Don’t worry if you don’t get that additional five percent on your investments or if Congress doesn’t pass tax cuts or if they do away with or don’t do away with Obama Care.You don’t need to buy an AK-47 and join a militia like so many fools did because they were worried President Obama would try to take over the nation and become a dictator. Believe me, your fears are much worse than Reality.

So take that map of the terrain and go in any direction you want. Just remember, even if you were to die tomorrow, if you truly appreciate life with each breath you take today, you can never have any greater success. You are the Miracle of Life!