The Hardest Question

Sitting next to a person in a plane means one of two things, either you ignore one another or you chat about things neither of you care about. I had a little different experience today then what is normal or expected. I was tired, worn out and brain dead and hoped this would be one of the people that you were ignored by.

Things were silent and I leaned my head back and tried to sleep as we sat on the runway waiting for take off. The man was silent looking straight ahead like he was watching a movie, never taking his eyes off the imaginary screen. About 10 minutes after take off he turned to me and said "What is your one goal in life?". This startled me and I opened my eyes and asked him what do you mean. He again said "What is your one goal in life?" not adding a word to the time he had previously asked.

I actually have only one major goal in life. It will happen on Wednesday, August 3, 2050 on a beach and will probably last just a few minutes but it will fulfill my one greatest desire on this Earth. I tried to give a brief explanation of my goal and explained that I understood that most people would never understand it but that was the most important thing for me to accomplish with my life.

The man sat in silence and just stared at me, never blinking and never moving. He continued to stare at me even after I had finished talking. I started thinking this guy was either nuts or he thought I was nuts but whatever it was I was uncomfortable. He finally blinked and asked me again "What is your one goal in life?". Now this time I assumed the guy was either hard of hearing or he was an AmWay sales man looking for a new sales person.

I told him "Sir, I answered your question". He stared deep into my soul and said "You have already failed with your original goal, either change your ways or change your goal". This made me angry because I had not even told him my specific goal. How could this man even know that I had failed at something so far off in the future if he did not even know what I was trying to do.

He sat there staring at me again, this time it seemed like an eternity. He looked at me and said "You will fail to obtain what you most desire so either change your ways to reach what you want most or set a new goal". He then sat back, closed his eyes and never uttered another word.

Now I am sitting here trying to figure out what he meant, did he see something in me that not even I see in myself? I am utterly amazed that he was right in some ways but still a bit confused at what he meant exactly. I guess over the next couple of days I will do a bit of soul searching to decide if I need to change my ways or to set a new goal.

Nothing really funny in this post but it was a moment in time I will never forget.