The end

Machiavelli wrote "the end justifies the means".. He wrote that in order to teach a prince how to properly fight during a war.. With the end in mind at all times and doing whatever necessary to accomplish that.. The end.

He explains that if the prince is ignorant of the end he can neither be respected by the soldiers nor trust them. Therefore, he must both practice and study this art.

My end of the journey is still many years ahead of me, but that does not mean its unreachable.. I must think about it everyday, and ask myself "what means am I doing today that will get me closer to the end?" Every movement, every action, every day.. The end is coming.

Reminder

This is to you.. The one writing this.. Never forget who you were, are, and what you want to do.. You left home when you were 17 to prove that the world is there to be taken.. At 20, you rose above everyone to become a leader amongst the elite in the Marines.. At 24 you had it all and lost it all but you did not lose who you were.. At 28 not only did you lose it all again, you gained perspective in life.. At 30 you are training your butt off to prove the world once again that it will have to do a lot better to get rid of you.. In the next few years not only will you gain it all again, YOU WILL KNOW that all of it was was worth it.. Hang in there.. Your time is coming.. But not yet.. Your biggest fight approaches.. Look at it in the face and own it!!

Piano sonata No. 14 Moonlight

Loved skiing to this truly mesmerizing song this morning..

This piece of art from Beethoven is much like smooth skiing..

Beethoven wrote "Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino" ("One must play this whole piece very delicately and without dampers.")

It helps to have the proper kick wax..

Atlas Shrugged protagonist

I am an Ayn Rand novels fan.. My favorite in particular is Atlas Shrugged.

In Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand tells the story of how a group of radicals led by a very smart and capable man change the world that has been used up by greedy, lazy, and self righteous individuals that control everything.

One can say that Dagny Taggart is the main protagonist of the novel, but others can make the point that John Galt is the true protagonist. I think it is those who the novel refers a lot but they never seem to make an appearance. I am talking about the citizens of that world.

They are the true protagonist because without them, Dagny would not have her selfless deeper purpose, John would not have anyone to save, and the story would lose its sentiment for the love of humanity and what it would take to get it back from those to attempt to own what rightfully belongs to everyone..

Objectivism.. (I dare you to call me unequal)

"You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. You, who have lost the concept of the difference, you who claim that fear and joy are incentives of equal power—and secretly add that fear is the more “practical”—you do not wish to live, and only fear of death still holds you to the existence you have damned." Ayn Rand

31 years ago..

Being a father is something I desire.. Being an absent father it is not.. My father was in his early twenties when he conceived me..

I don't know much about the man except the fact that once adversity showed its face instead of pushing through he left..

I was in my twenties when life changing adversity showed its face, and even though I really don't know what the future holds for me, I know I can't just quit.

It has been almost 31 years of my existence.. To this day, and after multiple combat tours in the Marines I can honestly say that I am not scared of dying.. I am scared of not being remembered by anyone.

Values

Ayn Rand wrote "Values are the motivating power of man’s actions and a necessity of his survival, psychologically as well as physically."

What do I consider a value? Anything that makes me who I truly am.. It is impossible to fake a value.. It must come from within me in order to be true..

Life endurance.. The greatest of my values.. One that I'm proud of.. And one that I intend to put to the test.