The Unpaved Path

By George Kagawa

These are observations and comments of an eighty-three-year-old retiree about life in general. There are daily journal-type entries on thirty to forty different things.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543480245

George Kagawa

83-year-old retiree; was civil servant in LA County and State of Hawaii in personnel, budgeting and administrative matters. Kept daily journal for over 50 years.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Is There Anything New?

When you think of an unpaved path, you assume that no one has gone there before, and you’re the first one that’s going to be traveling down that road. In all recorded history, and even before that, it’s hard to imagine being the first one to do anything that no one has ever thought of what you want to do. It sounds egoistic and egocentric, so I must issue a cautionary message that maybe mine is not an unpaved path and that someone long ago has thought of it and I’m not breaking new ground at all.

That doesn’t stop me from saying what I want to say, even if I’m not the first to do so. I’m positive everyone has dealt with their inner thoughts and thought they were the very first to go through this internal exercise. I’m sure every subject imaginable has been covered, but everybody who has done so thinks they are unique and original and has to have their say and post it against a common wall for all to see.

On second thought, all these inner thoughts and findings may be more or less universal and common, and little or nothing is new under the sun after all. It may reinforce the feeling that we are all alike, each of us searching to find ourselves and our rightful place in the sun, hopefully making our own distinctive mark to show we have been here. With luck, we will make it easier for others who follow to find their own path and to go farther than they had even hoped to go.

Having said what I have just said, I feel like I’ve let the wind out of my sails. For the moment, I have to really think about what I want to say and if any of it is new. Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s just a process that we all have to go through to find ourselves in the end. I’m pretty sure that that is not a new thought, so let’s move on. I may end up with nothing new, and that might be the main message I have to deliver, which might be embarrassing. Newsflash—there is nothing new under the sun, more likely than not!

CHAPTER 2

So What Is Worthwhile to Talk About?

I could start small and end up with something big. Or if this were a news story, I should start off with something big then fill the rest with things of lesser importance. What have I learned in eighty-plus years on this earth?

My thoughts, in random order, are the following:

1. I’ve had more mistakes and failures than successes, but I’ve learned more from my mistakes and failures than from my successes.

2. Keep trying even if you continue to make mistakes. You can’t learn and succeed unless you keep trying.

3. You’ll probably learn more ways that won’t work before you find one that does.

4. Don’t make a homily your fixed slogan. For each one, you’ll find an opposite one (e.g., He who hesitates is lost, but Look before you leap). A journey begins with one small step, but sometimes your first step must be a giant leap, like across a chasm.

5. Don’t do as I do, and before you do as I say, see what I’ve done to find out if I’m worth listening to.

6. There are more ways than one way to skin a cat, but you can’t choose a wrong way to do something right.

7. Don’t be afraid to be the first to try something, but consider your options.

8. Death is not dying but just part of living.

9. There may or may not be an afterlife, but live your life as if you believe in both ways: you’ll have a chance if you want another chance to do it right, and live your life as if you only have one chance. Either way, you’ll be right.

10. Don’t insist on a rule of ten. You can stop at nine, eleven, or thirteen. They’re just as good.

11. Live your life as best you can; that’s all you can ask of yourself. You may or may not make a difference or touch lives the way