The Riddle

My daughter Kaysie and her friends love riddles, and I do too.  They've been trying to stump me for about a week now, and secretly, they are ones I've heard before, and some I was just able to figure them out.  (A man was standing in a room that was mushy, what kind of room was it?  Really...do I have to answer that one?  A mushroom of course :-)  They've gotten harder and harder, but still I prevail).  Then the other day at work I stumbled across a song on Pandora.  One I've heard before, but as I sometimes do, I didn't really listen to the lyrics until the other day.  I pulled up the lyrics and  as the song played I read and hummed a long.  By the end of the song I was in tears.  It was all about "why are we here?"  Life's greatest riddle.

Would I be able to figure this one out?  I'm not certain, but I have a good idea.  I think the answer is we are here to love each other.  We are only given a certain amount of time to live our lives and we have to make the most of each and every day.  We need to cherish those who are in our lives, no matter if they are there for a reason, a season or a lifetime, and the contributions they make to us and us to them.  I'm going through that a little bit right now.  It's hard to think that my time in Portland is just about done, and I'm striking out one more time.  There are some people who came into my life while I lived here that were for a reason.  They helped me get some things accomplished and then they were gone.  There were some that came to me for a "season" and that season is just about done. The lifetime people are really special.  My daughter Kaysie came to me while I lived here.  She is the reason I get out of bed everyday and why we are transitioning to something a  little different.  I love her with every fiber of my being.  Even though, I didn't give birth to her, she is my daughter.  "I love her free" as they lyrics of the song goes.  I treasure each of the people that have passed through my life while I lived here, and I will look upon my time here with many happy memories.

I'm looking forward to the changes that lie ahead of us.  The adventure of it all, and how our lives will change.  I'm also really looking forward to meeting new people and having the time and means to give back in a really tangible way.  I'll get to "love on" my new community in ways I never could here, and that to me is a really good thing.  Life will definitely have a different pace.  I'm hoping I will discover how to live a more meaningful life and maybe get to figure out the answer of life's riddle for myself.

I'm going to let the lyrics from the last verse of the song speak for themselves.  This is the real answer to the ultimate riddle.  Well sung John!

I guess we're big and I guess we're small,

If you think about it man you know we got it all!

Because we're all we've got on this bouncing ball, 

Now I love you free! I love you free now!

Here's a riddle for you now find the answer,

There's a reason for the world...

You and I.

                                       ~John Ondrasik
                                               Five for Fighting