Dear Peanut

Life lessons include letters written: On Choice: Life here is exactly like that, Peanut. Sometimes forces beyond what seem to be the boundaries of our control conspire against us. A loved one may suddenly die. A coworker we have trusted may betray us. We might lose fortunes and friends for no rational reason. When bad things happen like this, we can focus on these in our despair and see no way beyond them, or we can look past them with our hope and see where they might lead. In all of this, in each and every thing, there is the choice to see the good and to see the bad. On Friendship: The actual number of true friends you will probably have by the time you reach your death day, Peanut, can be tallied by using the fingers of both of your hands. This is not a bad thing. It is because true friends are unique. They are rare and always to be held close. A true friend is someone who will care about you even when you do not want to care about yourself. He or she will be able to look into your eyes and see you whether you are 5 months young or 75 years old. They will recognize you whether you are in disguise or not. True friends know you at a deeper level than most. And, they respect you for what they know. A Secret Place: One day you will meet someone who you will fall in love with and want to be around often and for long periods of time. This person will be your life partner. If you are lucky, you will be most intimate with this person above all the others. You will open yourself up to this person, and you will share many parts of yourself. Your life partner will do the same with you. It will be for you a defining moment in all of your relationships. Yet, even at your most intimate, even when you have opened the doors to your very soul to this person and they have done the same to you, there will be the secret place inside of yourself which you do not share and which no one other than you can ever go. It is important for you to understand this as a normal and good thing, Peanut. Many people out here in the light do not understand this, and they lose themselves because of it. On Time: When I was younger, time seemed to go by at its own slow pace. There was no rush to it, no hurry in its steps. Somewhere after I had lived around 25 years, time began to pick up its pace. First it started running with me. Then it began to run by me. Now it rides a downhill rollercoaster that has no brakes and does not intend to stop. Peanut, I tell you this because I want you to understand from the beginning how important it is to embrace each breath, every incredible moment, all the times you may be tempted to let go by unaware. Sunsets, sunrises and all the seconds you breathe air between them are gifts that I do not want you to squander with boredom or excess.