September 27, 2005

  •                                                    "Heart, Soul, and Mind"


    Aside from his body, a man is comprised of his heart, soul, and mind.  One must keep all three balanced and intact.


    My biggest temptation is that I often live my life by my mind only - along with my passions occasionally.  For you Star Wars freaks out there, I think THIS is what Darth Vader was referring to in The Empire Strikes Back when he said to Luke, "If you only knew the power of the Dark Side."  He meant using his mind and his passions, NOT his heart and soul.  I will admit, there is much freedom when you use only your mind and your passions.


    It is little wonder that I so admire figures of history and popular literature like Emperor Augustus and Michael Corleone of The Godfather.  They used their MINDS only and not so much their hearts and souls.  And they outsmarted all their enemies and survived to die natural deaths at a relatively old age.  Only they died pretty unhappy, too:  Augustus was grieved because he had no surviving heirs by blood and because his only child, Julia, was a sl*t; Michael Corleone saw his daughter get killed, and he himself died sadly knowing he was hated and feared by all.  But it is so tempting to be like this and to cancel out the heart and soul.  Very tempting.


    I am a two-thirds kind of guy myself.  One of the biggest challenges I will have for the future is to enhance my soul.  My heart is all there.  My mind is quite sharp and utilized often (though not always in the right way).  My soul.....well....


    But come to think of it, I don't know too many historical figures noted for being balanced in terms of heart, soul, and mind.  In fact, I don't know ANYONE who is.  Yeah, yeah, you could say Jesus, but damn, he was....JESUS.  I'm talking about non-Messianic humans.


    Having said all this, I will say this now:  You can have the most perfect soul and heart, but if you're a blithering naive idiot you will get crushed.  Just don't depend on that only.