In the beginning there was a Maze...

and it was not mine.

What do I mean by that? I was part of a system of things that I did not help create, but merely existed as a pawn, or rat if you will, in a game or maze for which I had no control of my destiny. Sure, I could travel in any direction I chose; but, in the final analysis, I was caught in a box with no way out. I could go where I wanted, when I wanted, but I would not get out. If this were a movie and I looked like Keanu Reeves, it would be called "The Matrix".

Are you caught in your own personal matrix? I was and I did not know it, but the epiphany came when I was ceremoniously dismissed by Enron. Do you remember Enron? It was once the seventh largest corporation in America. Unfortunately, it was a "house of cards" - a sham company in an age where style was worth more than substance and "membership had its privileges". I was "dismissed" because the company went bankrupt and my job was not part of the strategic plan. It was the dismissal in December 2001 that started my thinking again about the possibility of life outside the maze. Did it really exist? Were there other individuals there too? Could I expect to find other intelligent life forms outside the maze? (Notice how I included myself in that group -- "intelligent life forms") What was life like outside the maze? I had not considered the possibility; but, December 2001 forced my hand.

As far back as I can remember, I believed there could be a life outside the maze. I was not adventuresome enough to seek it out. Rather, I had to have the maze I knew dismantled, which forced me to seek another maze. I never really considered the possibility that I could live outside the maze. As I once heard it said, "it was beyond my realm of possibility thinking." I think Rev. Robert H. Schuller (the elder Schuller) coined that phrase. It seems quite appropriate in this instance. I did not know what I did not know.

It is my desire over the course of the next few months or longer to give you a perspective of life outside the maze. How? It is simple.

The Maze is physical. It is not mental. The mental aspect of the maze means you can actually be wherever you want to be. You are not bound by your maze or "personal matrix". You are bound by the condition of your mind. Being in the maze and existing versus being outside of the maze and living is a choice you can make. It's up to you.