"Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter and with their hand on the door latch they die outside."

GK Chesterton

I came upon this quote for the first time earlier today and frankly, it stopped me cold. It tells volumes about how our fears stop us from truly living. How, ironically, we die a thousand deaths in absence of the courage to live fully.

Think about this for a moment (and be honest!): is there anyone with whom you can completely "let go", be yourself, totally uninhibited no matter how silly or foolish you may look (while stone cold sober, that is)? This is a tough one, especially for our "PC" (that's "Politically Correct" not "Personal Computer") Western, somewhat anally retentive, society (generally speaking). Now if there is such a person (or persons), ask yourself why them, and no one else?

I can honestly say that I have virtually no such fears around my kids, despite the fact that Jacqueline, my 13 (going on 21) year old daughter finds herself increasingly embarrassed "to the max" by her dad's often spontaneous outbursts of wild and craziness. (My wife on the other hand really does think I'm crazy which immediately disqualifies her from this group!)

So how is it that I can be totally free and spontaneous (read: live fully and completely) around my kids and not so much so with others, even really close friends? The only thing that comes to mind is that I love my kids so completely and unconditionally that I lose "myself" in them and in the process lose any hint at self-consciousness -the primary killer of living fully.

Now taking this idea a little further (bear with me), it seems there may be some connection between unconditional love and living a full and complete life. Also, it is no secret that most people don't love unconditionally for fear of getting "hurt". (Hmmmm, we may be on to something here…)

And loving unconditionally also means to "die" the courageous death of losing one's self in the process. You know the old saying: "The courageous die but once while cowards die a thousand deaths". That's a lot of dying, and so unnecessary.

The truly wise among us keep saying the same thing over and over again -the secret to life is quite simple. No one ever said it was easy, just simple. Imagine how different and free our lives (and business) would be if we simply found the courage to lose ourselves in others -all others. In so doing, we finally discover who we really are. We "die" so that we may be reborn. So that we no longer stand frozen on the threshold of life's great mysteries and harmonies, but instead boldly crossover and take our rightful place among them.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: PARTING THOUGHTS are the personal musings of Mr. Internet on topics and issues that he happens to choose, typically at the time he sits down to write. He hopes that you enjoy reading them as much as he does writing them!)