Ensure the Best Efficiency

Do you ever feel like you're being used? If so, do you go ahead and play along? If not, do you want to?

I have only one goal. You (that is, I, since I'm the only one who reads this) know the goal: to see the dark side of the moon. My goal consumes me, knowing what it takes to put a person of my height and weight on an extraplanetary flight, the cost in fuel computed down to my oily fingerprints. People starve because of my goal. People thrive because of my goal. It is not a goal to take lightly, even though I have forced myself to laugh at the goal in order to prevent seriousness from setting in and hardening me.

I know that this whole planet is involved in helping me dream this goal, from the reverse humour of the Marx Brothers to the space use of military technology. I know that I believe every person I see deserves to hear, "The person who makes you smile is very lucky."

I will not reach this goal as a living person because I believe in the people around me too much and want them to reach their goals of ordinary extraordinary living. One ounce of my body in space is worth hundreds if not thousands of healthy days for those who dream of raising a family. I will not ask them to sacrifice a second of their lives for me. They are more important to the success of our species than my selfish dream of a trip around the Moon.

I will not stop dreaming. My goal is still reachable, although not in a day. My goal is a world in relative peace and happiness, all of us joined at the hip, heart and head in building a sustainable society for our species and our home planet, which may lead to my trip around the Moon.

Will we still have family squabbles? Of course we will. Ours is a dysfunctional family but even dysfunctional families give rise to great individuals who in turn create functional families. I do not expect perfection. I expect cooperation. We can disagree on minor points but agree on the major one: one species, one planet.

I don't care about winless arguments like the definition of global warming or the ultimate meaning of life. I care about this moment. Do I live a perfect life? Of course I don't. Do I live a life of reasonable give-and-take with my neighbours? Most of the time.

There are many behaviours of my neighbours that I don't like but I still love my neighbours because they are me. We are the same flesh and blood, no matter what we look like or what we believe.

I may never float around the Moon but if in my goal our species unites in setting long-term goals and puts petty arguments aside, which in turn puts others on that lunar path, then I have reached a higher goal.

Is my goal easy to reach? Not one bit. We have innate traits like fight-or-flight, instant gratification, retail therapy and upcoming elections to contend with. I don't care. These are workable issues. Level of difficulty is no more important for an ultra marathoner on a flat surface than for a hiker reaching the Himalayan peaks. Endurance. Delayed satisfaction. These phrases mean more to me.

How do I reach the moon? Not by sitting here running my fingers across these keys, not for very long, anyway. It starts with a walk down a country lane and ends with the cold, metallic smell of a spacecraft.

We can laugh together along the way there, making sure we make fun of each other at least once a day. I'm making a goofy face at you right now although you can't see it, faintly reflected as it is on this computer screen back at me.