I awoke this morning with a question. What can I do to make this a better world? Do I have some way to change my own life and thus perhaps change others? The answer to these questions will take a lot of thought. The way I can make some kind of contribution will undoubtedly present a challenge, and always has.

As one grows older, they recognize that as time passes, nothing has remained as it once was. We have seen a great deal in the years spent on earth. The enigma appears to be whether this experience can be shared with others who probably have more time that lies ahead of them.

For me, writing has provided the way that I have been able to share what I hopefully have learned. It also presents the sort of opportunity that has the potential for affecting other lives.

My time here on this planet has sometimes been difficult to handle, but miraculously, I have somehow found the strength to deal with it. The way has been to use my mind and reach out to others, giving them a sense of their own importance in the scheme of things. When someone refers to me as a friend, I have received a gift. The gift is that in my own way, I have been able to give them the feeling that they are important to me and that it has been significant having them as part of my life.

Thankfully, I am fortunately color blind. When I use that expression, it is only a metaphor for my sense of what is really important about people. Skin color doesn't matter. It is heart and kindness that do. The human soul is not race specific. The good people come in different shades, and this has been one of the lessons life has provided for me.

Another message that living has brought is that age or sexual preference shouldn't define whom one considers a friend. A friend is someone who listens when we need a caring ear. That can be one of our children, a grand child or the daughter of someone we know.

For me, they were also students I taught who gave me a sense that time with me affected their lives. Some were older than I, but what counted were the hours we spent sharing our ideas and growing together.

Over the years both men and women have served as life changers. Men who were people who opened my mind to new truths about myself are irreplaceable. This applies to those I've married, and others who were my teachers. They all mattered and still do.

Maybe I have answered my own question. Perhaps I must continue to communicate my ideas as well as pursuing knowledge about the world in which I live. In addition, it is vital that I keep looking for new ways to learn and share my thoughts with others for as long as life lets me.