Spiritual, not religious. Agnostic, but believes in God.

"You know Joe, for a man who isnt particularly religious, youre a lot more Christian than a lot of Christians I know.."
"How do ya figure that?"
"With the path youre on and what youve given up, youre doing a lot more than a lot of the folk who go to church, most of whom would be DAMNED if they had to give up anything in life."
"Eh."

I took that as a compliment.
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The other day I sent an email to a bunch of people on the question of success. It prolly had more than 10 instances of the word "God" in it.

Im usually way more circumspect than send off a tome that is overtly religious. Not my style, and I didnt intend to piss off anyone.

I apologize.

I appreciated this when a former marine sergeant bluntly asked me not to send religious stuff like that to him.

Still, when I explained what it was about (Does one deserve success and Does chasing success causes you to stray from a path of living right), he actually gave me some cogent answers on those questions.

The marine said: "You have to respect success. For some, when it comes too early or they didnt have to suffer for it, they take it for granted. But most assuredly, one DOES deserve success - if they respect it."

Others took the time to reply on length...

From Kim Scott, singer and actress:

I agree. A spiritual life and success don't have to
be in conflict. As for me, I think we keep getting blessings (of some sort) but at some point, our blessings (or success) won't increase until we have
shown (God) that we're ready for the next level or for whatever next is.

It’s no different than passing students on to the next grade level when they have not acquired the skills or knowledge to be successful at that level.

I know you get my point.

Heh, yeah I get your point. :-)


From Tracy J.

In the end....you reap what you sow.
Do I deserve success is like saying do I deserve life?
Passion is life.
It moves, it breathes, it speaks. It loves you back.
It is the step before happiness.
And without passion you can not be truly happy.
Isn't happiness the ultimate payoff from success?
Isn't happiness what we are all after?

Yeah.

Amen.