Gulp.
I have been selected to have lunch with the president of the company I work for. That's right. Next Thursday a small handful of coworkers and I will enjoy lunch in a semi-private area tucked away somewhere in this 5 million square foot building with none other than the president of a Fortune 500 company. Double gulp.

What if I sneeze on him or something?

Goodness knows it's not *totally* out the realm of possibility.
At this point I haven't a clue as to what I'm going to ask, but I know one thing: I want to ask at least one great question. This is a man that has flown combat missions during Desert Storm. He's on the Board of Trustees for the American Institute for CPCU. Simply put, he knows more than a great deal about the military, insurance and he knows how to effectively lead a company of thousands of employees.
Although I'm definitely wondering how the heck I was picked for something like this, the more pressing questions on my mind are what should I ask him and, more importantly, what should I wear? That cute Prada dress and my favorite Louboutin shoes? Also, where can I buy these things for less than $100?
Help!

That which the dream shows is the shadow of such wisdom as exists in man, even if during his waking state he may know nothing about it... We do not know it because we are fooling away our time with outward and perishing things, and are asleep in regard to that which is real within ourself.
~Philipus Aureolus Paracelsus

I do my best but I'm made of mistakes
Yes, there are things I'm still quite sure of

Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world. The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same. Every wonderful sight will vanish; every sweet word will fade. But do not be disheartened, the source they come from is eternal, growing, branching out, giving new life and new joy. Why do you weep? The source is within you. And this whole world is springing up from it.

~Jelauddin Rumi

Love is the answer.

Someone to love is the answer.

If those who lead you say to you, "See, the Kingdom is in the sky," then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, "It is in the sea," then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.

~The Complete Jesus

The birth of a man is the birth of his sorrow. The longer he lives, the more stupid he becomes, because his anxiety to avoid unavoidable death becomes more and more acute. What bitterness! He lives for what is always out of reach! His thirst for survival in the future makes him incapable of living in the present.
~Chang-Tzu

Because so many respected friends know so little, I share with you a video that relays more than a few widely unknown facts. Facts that are indeed unknown largely due to a total lack of an open dialogue.

If knowing all of the information before you make a decision is important, doesn't it make sense to know more about this one?

If you care about the failed drug war (or it's astronomical price tag paid by your tax dollars), the rapidly rising deficit or if you are generally dissatisfied with big government's intrusion into things which it truly has no business intruding into, I implore you to learn more about the truth on this matter.

"Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders, serve the State chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the State with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated by it as enemies. A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be "clay," and "stop a hole to keep the wind away," but leave that office to his dust at least."

~ excerpt from Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

“Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words.Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits.Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.”

~Gandhi

"If we're gonna walk into walls, I want us running into them full speed."

Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate your self. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest.

-Dogen

President Josiah Bartlet: Sweden has a 100% literacy rate. 100%! How do they do that?

Leo McGarry: Maybe they don't and they can't add.

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Bartlet: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Do you know why?

Will Bailey: Because it's the only thing that ever has.

He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.

~Albert Einstein

“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the sources of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”
~P.J. O’Rourke