The other day, as I finished giving a talk at a software conference here in Minnesota, I paused and reflected on this life.
And life, my friends, is good.
I thought to myself: now here I am. I’ve got a wife, I have kids, they’re precious to me. Funny enough, that was a big worry for me when I was a teen. I was afraid my super-introverted, home-schooled self would never find love or family. I remember it being such a relief to hear the first girlfriend I ever had wanted to marry me. “Oh, whew!”, I thought, “Now I won’t be alone, and my life will be complete.”
Hahah.
It was like a huge many-year burden was lifted when I got married and got a family. I suppose if I could talk to my 16 year old self, I’d tell him to relax and not worry, it’s all going to work out.
I’ve carved out a small name for myself in the Minnesota software community. And that’s awesome, because it took overcoming personal fears to get there.
I have a pretty damn good job. White collar, no physical labor, creative, perpetually learning. And if this job ever started to suck, well, I get about 5 job offers every month from people who see my involvement in the technological community.
I live securely. I live comfortably. I have more things than I need.
I help run a Hebrew roots congregation. I play music there, tunes for the Lord, and it’s spiritually quenching because God’s spirit is there.
I just came off one of the best Passovers I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy.
I’m an inventor that creates things. I have created things like Chavah Messianic Radio and Messianic Chords. These things have impacted other people’s lives, even if in small ways, for the better.
I live in the 21st century, where technologists are the new inventors. In this age of technology and the web, if you have the knowledge, you can create something from scratch and put it in front of millions of people. That’s powerful. All you need is the know-how. I have that know-how, I’ve done it, and it’s exhilarating and satisfying.
I’m soon going to Israel and visit this land I’ve spend so much of my life devoted to religiously and politically. How will I feel when I finally behold the thing I’ve so long had a yearning towards? I suspect it will be both overwhelming and beautiful.
None of these things existed 5-10 years ago. They all exist now. I wouldn’t have predicted it.
Frankly, I’m unsure where to go from here.
I’m 28 years old and I feel like I’ve accomplished most of the things I’ve wanted to accomplish, and then some. I’m generally happy.
Where to go from here? How will the next 10 years look? I’m uncertain, but optimistic.
My initial inkling? I believe medicine and technology will fuse in the next 10-20 years in mind-bending ways. People are going to be wearing computers that monitor health and catch diseases at a treatable stage. We’ll have microscopic computers circulating in our bloodstreams, battling sickness, repairing cells. Humans will live longer lives with less suffering, ones rarely plagued by disease.
I want to be a part of that. I think that is how I’ll spend my 30s. I want to get into medical technology.
That means I will probably need to go back to school. I have an inferiority complex when it comes to schooling, because I was homeschooled and then went to a dinky college and never finished my degree. So that will be another area I will conquer. And when I do, I’m going to do some awesome things.
To the future.