Becoming Immortal

It would be nice to live as long as we want to whether it is our allotted 3 score and 10 or a thousand times that much. I would love to be a witness to the next 1000 years. I mean just think about all that a person would have seen during the past millennium. I would take that choice even with the daily pain that I have in my knees and all the aggravation that comes in this life. The reality is that I might not make it until the next sunrise or I might outlive everyone I know. It's the not knowing when, how, or what next that most people are afraid of when dealing with death. There is, however, a way that anyone can have a touch of immortality in this world. It comes in what we leave behind when we are gone. I am a teacher in my heart and my soul. It's not just the certificate that I have from the state of Tennessee (Which is been pretty useless over the past 10 years) but in the passing on of what you truly love to do. I am lucky enough to have a few students who want to learn what I can teach them and in them is where I will gain some small ability to stay around for a long time after I am gone. Especially if I can get them to pass on those skills and knowledge again and again. In time my name will be lost but my lessons will still be here. I was talking to a friend awhile ago and I told her that one of my students would surpass my teachings and achievements within 10 years or sooner. She asked me if I was OK with that and I had to answer that I was more than OK with it. A teacher should feel like a failure if their students never take what was taught to them then grow and add to it. Education isn't a fixed thing and I am looking forward to the day that young man shows the world just how good he is. At that time my soul will soar because I will know that I had a hand in his training. Education grows and expands as we go through time and by that same fact, the teacher needs to grow and keep learning too. I still spend hours at the Library or sorting through information on the net or practicing what I learn and I have to keep reminding myself that I am helping keep other people immortal as I keep learning from their teachings. What we pass on to others is an energy that never stops once it is put into motion and we are best served if that energy is a positive one. I hope that the energy that I start or that I continue is something that helps people and our world for that next 1000 years that I want to be here for so that I will still be here too.