being and doing

I’ve given up on Philosophy,
I’ll confine myself to being or doing,
Anything else beyond that is useless,
The talking and the thinking just exercises,
Luxuries I can no longer afford.
My oldest son tells me he cannot run,
He knows his body and he knows himself,
To be so young and so full of knowledge,
It must be wonderful to be so full of everything,
But simply being young would be wonderful enough.
His polar opposite is the my five-year old,
The one who thinks he can be or do anything,
But he’s got me convinced that he can,
Unless it involves falling or scrapes,
Like when I tried to teach him how to skate.
Maybe the truth is squarely in the middle,
You can achieve some things but not all,
Cannot learn Kung Fu simply by watching a movie,
But could learn the rudiments given time,
No such thing as a natural at anything.
Time and experience the only true teachers,
Learn as you go and grow,
But to not even try seems so severe,
Worse than thinking you know it all,
Or know much more than you actually do.
In the heady days of childhood,
We think we can all be superstars,
Buy into the myth of the supernatural,
Not realizing that we are born limited,
By genetics and experience.
To travel down the road of actually trying,
Exposes us to the fact that we will fall short,
Just supramundane in every way,
Just another dreamer lost in the clouds,
Wishing for that which will never be.
Is it a greater crime to never try,
Than to be less than great at whatever,
Who do we really measure ourselves against,
The unreachable one percent or less,
Or merely measure our own progress?
I’m done comparing myself to anyone else,
Just want to see what I can do,
Ultra-average at the very best,
But better than doing nothing at all,
Wishing I was this or that.
I’m done with philosophizing,
Trying to make sense of this life,
I’ll just try to be and do the best I can,
Worrying or thinking hasn’t worked too well,
So now I’ll try another route.
Happiness has always been fleeting,
But I’ve been playing by someone else’s rules,
Never seemed to measure up,
Here and now and nowhere else,
From here on in for no one but myself.