Talking with a disabled vet

This afternoon, as I pull into a parking spot to check the squeal in my engine, an old gentleman approached on a bike wearing a military jacket. He was kind, hard to understand, and curious to help.

He openly talked about having cancer, living on a boat, being harrassed by police, and of experiences being a sniper.

As I listened I began thinking about an old high school thing I used to play with

Which tense are you in?

Past, Present, Future, we bring forth each of these into our mind, into the present. This man was obviously trapped by his mind constantly bringing the past into the present. Fill right now with all the horrors of the past. And his horrors would be devilishly hard to let go of.

And that's what I found myself talking with him about, letting go. How that old life is not this life. I told him of my journey some about trying to find myself and how that is the best thing in the world.

Sadly it got very dark when I asked him this:

You had a role to play back in the military, what role do you play now?

Dying of cancer.

Hard to say much after that in the moment. I don't know the extent of his circumstance, and as much as I wanted to inspire hope of survival it didn't seem approrpiate. We hugged. A number of times.

I think to my character sheet. I think about why I am being the way that I am. I feel resolute in this moment. I feel connected to my purpose as designed by the confluence of my experiences and my conscious choices. It is the only way I feel strong enough to keeping moving forward.