What is this

Dear Mike, 
Presuming life continues this way, you'll not wow the world with deep insight, nor change anything dramatically for the better. The world will go on, as it has always gone on, perhaps inching closer to truth or to horror, but either way you'll exist for a time within it. And only a short while.  You'll have an impact on hundreds if not thousands, so what would you like it to be?  A smile, a compliment, a question to help them grow, a safe space?  People always remember things differently than you do, so don't try to control the message too tightly, they will take what they need, reinforce what they must, and heal where they can when they can. That is the best possible use and impact of a life. Don't let your ego tell you otherwise. Perhaps, you'll have children of your own, or perhaps you'll contribute to the lives of a hundreds of other people's children including your family members. Perhaps you'll get a kitten and some house plants and call it a day?  Enjoy the spaces and places that give you pleasure, make you long, inspire. Learn and teach the universe, its a give and take, a partnership that is ever shifting, don't mistake it for a linear progression or a one way transaction. Be a mirror, and laugh at the funhouse mirrors that show you aspects of yourself real or imagined. Fantasize and create. Perhaps you'll die crossing the street and some poem you scribbled will be acknowledged a hundred years from now, but you won't be around to know its impact. This is a truth, you'll fight and plead for it to be otherwise, but you don't have any control over it. You want to learn and grow, and you always will... but learning comes in multidimensional swirls and you will feel as if you're falling down as often as you're rising. This is a cosmic dance, and you are beholden to the cosmic vibrations, the drumbeat of the metronome particle, the rhythm and flow of the wave, coursing over you till it all feels the same! (and you become enlightened). You will have attachments pruned away, some you'll be ready for  - admire the color of those dead leaves falling, thank them for their vibrance, their offering to you, others will teach you what you didn't know you needed, boundaries, acceptance, the importance of good goodbyes, of forgiveness, of letting go and trusting the universe. Don't assume this is a lesson you will only learn once, this is the spirit molding you into your true form and it will happen for eternity, embrace the experience. Ask, or it will teach you to ask. There is only one. The microcosm and macrocosm are the same. You are a beautiful part of the whole. Give thanks for this. Give thanks for this.