As I floated above acres and acres of pagodas and stupas in the sky above Bagan, I pondered my life. Amid the sapphire sky, I recalled the song, What’s It All About, Alfie?

A present-day question would be, “What’s it all about, Al.” I’m attempting to grasp the meaning of my life in my twilight years. I know that it seems kind of late, but it is better late than never.

A haunting issue for me has to do with all the Angry Old Men. It isn’t just old men but men in general. Additionally, there are a lot of angry young and old women too.

I realize that I have an advantage over many people regardless of their sex or age. I have done the dance with death…twice. I get that my clock is ticking even though those that haven’t done the dance think they know that their clock is ticking also. While they know it intellectually, they don’t feel it in their gut. Trust me. Doing the dance has radically awakened me to living life.

In addition, some of those that haven’t done the dance are like fools on the hill. They are angry fools on the hill who are wasting the precious time that they have before their journey down their yellow brick road of life ends. Also, anger is not a means to achieve either a long life or one that is happy. Man, I am not a genius. Much of what I know is due to living life and facing the problems like a traumatic brain injury and prostate cancer.

There I was several hundred yards above the forty square miles of Buddhist shrines while I pondered. As the pilot caused our balloon to rise, descend, and rise again over the vast Bagan horizon of pagodas, I thought about how fortunate I was in general and in particular having discovered a part of my family on the other side of the world.

Watch this video, Circle of Life and ponder its meaning for you.

The Circle of Life

In the first stanza, dwell upon and ponder this couplet,

Indeed, there is so much to see and to do as we journey down our yellow brick roads of life. Within a month after floating over Bagan, I turned 77. I remembered what Einstein said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” There I drifted through sapphire sky over Bagan in my twilight years and wondered what’s it all about?

The angry people of this world believe that they have an accurate mindset into comprehending the vast cosmos. That naiveté won’t work, which is one of the reasons that they are so angry. Nonetheless, Bob Dylan reminded us that the times they are a changin’.

I fully realize that what motivates me is that I have grasped my transformation due to my good fortune of having successfully danced with death. I understand that truth. If I were in the shoes of those who have never danced with death or as the French put it more poetically, La Danse Macabre, I would question my understanding also. Nevertheless, I have done the dance and grasp what successfully dancing provides for the dancer. Think about this single stanza of Circle of Life.

If this essay has caused you to question, ponder, and wonder, that was my intent. However, do yourself a wondrous favor. Ponder my tripartite suggestion for you. First, broaden the number that makes up your family.

Second, travel. I was fortunate to have discovered my family and extended family in a country halfway around the world. However, finding your Eppie can occur when you travel outside your home.

And finally, it is in giving that we get. The strange truth is that the giving and getting create a reciprocal phenomenon. The more of yourself that you give to others, the more you will receive. Trust me. That single truism has made me a very happy old man.

However, there is only one caveat related to me being a very happy old man. At 77, I know that the sun will go down on me…someday. I hope that it won’t be for a long time. In the meantime, I will enjoy the circle of life while I have it.

Don’t let the sun go down on me….