Sleepless nights often find me contemplating things that disturb me.  Life, for instance, is perhaps the most perturbing thought that crosses my mind.  Life in general is an amazing piece of music, but it's all in the way you perceive happenings around you.  Must we  tread lightly and sweetly or do we wear our hearts on our sleeves to put all of our personal dynamics out into the open?  Growing older helps me to face the music of reality.  

Human beings, in general, are classified as follows: Solo and Symphony.  Solos, of course, are each person and their individual style of expression and life.  Symphonies, are several individuals performing at once, working with eachother to create odd harmonies, as well as, beautiful melodies. 

 In our life, we begin with solo work to prepare us for group work.  There is no way to interact with other individuals unless you first know who you are.  You must prepare yourself to be extremely dynamic in the areas that matter, but to hide your flaws accordingly.  Musicians, however, tend to forget all of the notes they play correctly and notice/highlight all of their flaws and mistakes to the extreme. Nobody is perfect, and in fact, occasionally, the flaws add to the beauty of the music.  Your solo is your life and how you choose to play it.  How successful you are, your personality, your friends are all determined by how you choose to play your life.  The more you practice the better you'll be, the more you'll discover, about yourself and life, and the more fun you'll have.  You'll be ready for the symphony.

Symphony work is much different from solo work.  Here, there are many variables- mainly people. There are a few different types of people: The type who will never compromise in the least bit, themselves, or their style of living for anyone else; the type who will use any means necessary to come out on top; the type who are team players and will compromise their style of playing to help make the group work; and those who compromise their entire being to be a part of the group.

The ones who will never compromise themselves or their style of living are the people who you can get along with and play with for a while, but after a few sessions it gets stale.  Understand that these individuals do not care about you or what you think.  They care about what makes them feel good for the moment.  They are slightly greedy even if they try not to be.  While fun company at times, they tend to be the talkers not the listeners.

The ones who will use any means necessary to come out on top are often those who will trick you into thinking you are their best friend.  The saying "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" applies more to them than to anyone else on the face of the earth.  These people are perplexing because YOU are their enemy, even if unwittingly.  They will lie, cheat and steal so they may dig their claws into an unstable rock cliff and make it to the top.  They are all about themselves and have a complete disregard for anyone else.  Integrity is not a word that they have ever learned, in fact, their dictionary does not even contain the word.  These people will flatter you and ask to help you, but it is in a vain attempt for power.  Power corrupts people.  One would hope that you would never go down this path, but many tend to stray, even if for a few seconds.  The difference between these people and the ones who stray is that the ones who stray often realize it right away, refer to their dictionary, and see the word integrity.  To be continued......