There comes a time in a man’s life, when he stops, and just looks back on his life. He sees the things he has done, the things he hasn’t done, and the times he wanted to do things and couldn’t...or just didn’t. This is the time of introspect - taking a long, serious look at yourself, and asking yourself if you are happy with your life.

I look back on the 34 years I have known, and look at the opportunities I had, the ones I passed up, and review the events of my life. It is times like this that tend to make a person think "I could have done this differently" or the regret of having done something -- or not done it at that time. It is times like these that can make you look at yourself, and realize just what kind of man you really are.

There have been hard times for me; there has been much strife and injury in my life, because of various events which have occurred. But I have not let any of it get the best of me; I have been able to laugh at my misfortune, and turn it around - in the long run - and become a better man for it. In the past year, I have looked back on my life, and tried to look forward to what I wish it to become...

...so far, I like the path I am on.

There is still a need for growth and learning. There are always hurdles in life that must be overcome. But with each problem we encounter, and solve, we learn something, and become stronger with that knowledge. I have learned a lot, because of the men I have come to know, and the lessons of life and lifestyle I have learned from them. I have seen the changes, subtle that they are, in my life and mannerisms...subtle, because they are only things which I am bringing out from within, rather than trying to learn something new and foreign to my thinking.

Our society in general, and western society in particular, has been repressing many of these more natural thoughts and ideals, in order to make a more neutral populace...but in creating this, they have lost touch with one, rather basic, and very important, fact: Men and women are different. They cannot and should never try to attain "equality", because they can never be equals. In more general terms, no two people are the same, and can never truly be equal. In trying to create a societal equilibrium with everyone, those who are stronger in some areas, yet weaker in others, end up making those who are stronger in the other areas weaker, if for only the reason that those weaker individuals demand compensation, and when it is obtained, those who are stronger look and think "why should I work so hard, and get the same as that weaker individual? I will just do the same as he can, and they will still have to compensate me equally".

This is what is causing the fall of the rest of society. Slowly, but surely, it is the apathy, the lack of personal integrity...the loss of pride in one's work and accomplishments. Everyone just wants to go in, sit at a desk, do the least work they have to, and go home as soon as the boss leaves.

But those of us who still have that sense of duty, the personal integrity and Honour, to go in, and get the job done to the best of our ability...we have a lot of work ahead of us. We are the back on which the rest of the world rests...is it the movers, the thinkers, the "do-ers" of society, that keep it going.

And the best example of such men as these... those who encompass the ideals, and live as best they can, as Goreans.

I look back on the 34 years of my life, and wonder what I would change, if I should change anything. There are things I am not overly proud of, but everyone makes mistakes. It is by these that we live, and grow. And it is by these that I have found the personal, inner strength, which makes me what I am today...

...a Man, who strives to learn, and live, by the Gorean philosophy.

I wish you well,

Greylin `//olffe