There is nothing more profound and of lasting consequence than the decision to have a child.  
There is no challenge greater, 
no test of your marriage more intimidating, 
no task more rewarding than to raise a child.  
This test grinds you like a drill seargent ten fold.  
Determined to break you down, 
physically, 
mentally, 
emotionally, 
spiritually, 
and every other which way that may exist.  
But, it's not enough. 
Only death might stop me.  
Might, in the case that all we're left to do is lie and rot. 
If there is an alternative we're not aware of, 
that I discover after my current bodied life, 
I will keep going.  
I will win,
I will succeed, 
I will endure, 
I will survive. 
I'm a survivor.
My people are survivors. 
The will is ingrained.
The instinct, innate.

If you're going to try, 
go all the way, 
otherwise, don't even start.
If you're going to try, 
go all the way, 
There is no other feeling like that.
You will be alone with the Gods,
and the night will flame with fire,
you will ride life straight to perfect laughter.
It is the only good fight there is.

Your soul is so new, and your heart is so open, and I’m sad that your innocence will crumble from life experiences brutal and necessary, because you are as painfully human as the rest of us. I love you.

Decisions

I've made some dangerous decisions in the past while roaming bookstores for inspiration while on lunch break. That's why I dislike Kiyosaki. I let his work get the best of my spontaneity back in 2004.

Now, 5 years later, I've come across '5' by Dan Zadra. With much more caution this time... 

Gramps

Kriv, Hayhoyank, inch er katarvoum? Medz hairus hartsunumer morphine kunits nor artnatsats. Na yeraznerits er khosum baits heto sharunakets loorerits khosal. Pasadenaum ujegh kaminer ein yegel, kandelein tsarer, tuner, shenker, yevalun. Sharunakets ir tsaverits khosal. Achkeris nayets hartsnelov, yes um em mi vat ban arel vor esbisi tsaver unem. Inchi e bnutne martun tsav bajarum? Bolore apatsutse vor Astvadz cheka.

Aram Jizmejian
1927-2011

O here will i setup my everlasting rest, and shake the yokes of inauspicous stars from this world wearied flesh. Eyes look your last, arms take your last embrace. And lips, oh you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death.

Our Eternal Pursuit of More Wealth

Picking the wrong goals is like running on the hamster wheel. Once you achieve one goal, you set another and then another after that. No matter how many goals you achieve, you are back to square one as you set new ones. There is really no end game.

Money is the Best Example of This

Think back to the time when you were young and had nothing. You might have a goal like “I want to be a millionaire” or something like that. You run up that wheel but realize that no matter how hard you run, you seem to be stuck at the bottom. You look up and ponder about what could have been, but all that motivation just makes you run harder and harder.The more you drive for making more money, the less you live for yourself. You work those extra hours, only to sacrifice time with your family. You worry about your finances, only to create tension between you and your spouse. You nickel and dime every opportunity, only to find that you scarred so many relationships.

The older you grow, the more you realize that it’s not money that you seek. It’s the freedom, it’s the health and it’s the family that you really treasure. You learn that money is only the vehicle that helps you get to your goal but not the goal itself. Finally, you stop running because you realize that there’s no point when you already have what you need by resting at the bottom.

Some people realize this early, while others unfortunately much later. Eventually we all know - money is important but there really is much more to happiness than having money.

It’s never enough, as you’ve no doubt heard before. But in many different ways, it’s always enough.

my two cents

All I can do anymore,
Is to put my two cents in and leave my good friend.
For life has led us down different paths
And I don’t expect things to be the same as they once were.
When our lives were less careful,
And our pockets much slimmer,
We dreamt and spoke of how things would once be.
Our kids this together,
And our families that together,
Never considering what curves the roads may bring.
Your pretty picture sustained with accuracy
While my abstract colors blurred, trying to regain focus.
All I can do anymore,
Is to put my two cents in and leave my good friend.

July 29, 2005
AH

An unconventional chill in an early April Los Angeles compliments a new and unknown life ahead I anxiously wait for. So I seek comfort in the Guiness and fine tabocco cigar leaf I know so well which I seek to counter with my health enthuised diet tomoworrow on a tread with runs like those on a grains mill.
So eloquent in my vocabulary and figurative tone, the writer in me comes out as I buzz like a mosquito massacre lamp in a hot and humid summer. Jamaica, I yearn for you and look to for consolence...
Khacaturian intoxicates me and shows me an alternate path I had and passed on.
The rhythms are so moving, it halts the possum and other tree species in their tracks as they travel for food around their Van Nuys residences.