Insert Inspirational Cliche Here!

     Against an unlikely landscape of HD quality, the words emerge like beacons to guide you from the crags of insecurity to the well-labeled docks of assurance.  Perhaps this simple aphorism serves to propel you forward with newly discovered intention, to the extent that you must share your gratitude with everyone in the form of a tagline following your pre-programmed email signature.  I share a similar feeling and desire but I hesitate to tag it on because the single declaration that really motivates and inspires me is the following:

    Also, you are not your furniture from IKEA...Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club is an overflowing wellspring of wisdom.  But back to the matter at hand... masturbation that is, I mean...self-improvement.  We've all done it: made lists, goals, resolutions, etc ad nauseum.  I've devised and implemented multiple strategies including an incentive based system with different point values assigned to various "self-improving" activities.  They were weighted based on the level of effort and commitment: learning a foreign language or traveling to LA to see Magritte's The Treachery of Images in person would garner more points than running five miles or attempting to make paneer out of firm tofu.  But self-improvement, like masturbation to a certain extent, implies a preparation for something else...practice, if you will.
    When I approached a certain numerical age I became acutely and disturbingly aware of the fact that life was not about making preparations anymore, it was about the now (another inspirational quote, this time from John Lennon: "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans").  There is no more time to practice measures 33-37 because you are on stage now and everyone is watching as you...self-improve.  You are honing your skill and mastering your craft.  This is not to be discouraged but for all the compulsive self-improvers out there like myself it should be undertaken with the awareness of the present moment and a realistic perspective of purpose.  Also, perhaps, self-improvement is better when done as a collaboration.