Endless Beginnings by Carl Messinger

“Terrorists have hijacked one of our planes and have captured the crew until their demands are met and they are flown home,” said John, as he rushed into Natalie’s office.

Natalie looked down at her desk calendar. “Yes,” she thought. “It was Monday.” And thus began an adventure of a lifetime beginning with the hijacking, followed by an exercise in self-awareness through unexpected family members and the nurturing and fulfillment of a relationship hidden in plain view.

And after undergoing the trials and tribulations of CEO and President of a major transport airline for many years, she was now free to be herself and follow her own path. And in one sweeping moment, she shed the mantle of power and prestige and donned the humble cloak of teacher and mentor. We all should be so lucky.

REVIEWS: Endless Beginnings by Carl Messinger

Joel’s review of “Endless Beginnings”, 10/24

“Endless Beginnings” is the Author’s capstone story, the final book of a trilogy he committed himself to writing several years ago.    Using the twin lenses of being a dear friend and my experience as a Psychology professor for 40 years, I read the Author’s books more as memoir than novels.  I studied his stories to learn about his values, attitudes and character traits as reflected by the characters he created.

I’ve chosen to review the Author’s book by using direct, extended quotations from it that reveal some significant life lessons and personal values that matter to him. Using this approach, you can “hear” the Author, speaking to you in his own voice, telling us who he is and how he got to be this way.

What’s the value of an undergraduate education? Pg. 134

Margaret tells a story about going to her first class in college, “It was Psychology or Business Psychology, or something like that….” The professor asked all the students to open their textbooks to a specific page, and when they did, they found that page was empty. The professor then proceeds to explain  “…. all you need to know, all you need to succeed in life, all you need to be happy in life, all of that, is already inside you. It’s not on this page nor any other pages you may read. You already have it. All you must do is be willing to seek it, to look for it within yourself, and when, and if you find it, you will have all the knowledge, skill and happiness you want and need. Just remember, [that blank page] is your guide.” I guess the Author doesn’t think very highly of the time he spent in college.

What is the value of getting married? Pg. 147

Natalie has asked Chris what he thought about them getting married.

Chris replies “Now why would we want to do that?” He then tells her that “….I have enjoyed the most wonderful years of my life. Just you and me. And the world we live in, with all its pleasures, rewards, and yes, sorrows and tears. But through it all, we, you and I, have managed to hang on and keep moving forward. And we have done so without a piece of paper. It has all been based on mutual trust, mutual admiration of the accomplishments of the other, mutual understanding of the wants and desires of the other, and, perhaps above all, friendship, for, without that there is nothing. And a piece of paper is not going to add to that….” That said, he gives her the choice. If she wants it, he will do it. Natalie does not choose it.

What are characteristics of a meaningful relationship?

An overarching theme in the Author’s books is the value of relationships in which each person fully opens to the other. Relationships that are genuine, authentic and unguarded. Natalie and Chris work on achieving that in several scenes.

Pg. 120 Love and Hate

Natalie can be quite flirtatious at times. In a scene with Chris after he kept the secret about John’s decision to stay in Germany to stay with Sophie, she tells Chris “I hate you.” Chris takes the moment as an opportunity to philosophize about the relationship between love and hate.

“You know, there is not much difference between hate and love. Both harbor the same intense feelings and while light may shine on the differences, take the light away and beneath it all, love hides. For the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. Indifference means you don’t care, don’t worry, don’t think about. But not hate. Hate reflects the same thoughts and ideas as love, only like two trains heading in the opposite direction on an oval track. But when they join together at the bottom of the track, love and hate couple, merging together as one.” (Analogies are a basic tool in Corky’s writing toolbox.) In Chris’s voice, Corky expresses another of his capstone philosophical truths.

About being in war.

Pg. 98 “You don’t have any friends in Viet Nam. Oh, you had acquaintances, you had buddies, you even had bunker-mates. But you did not have friends. You see, friends denote a special relationship, a relationship that spans over time; a relationship that talks to the future, that talks to gatherings in the back yard, to camping trips with one another, to kid’s birthday, graduations, weddings, and grandkids. That’s what friends are. But in a situation like war, there is no guarantee that future would occur for in a few fleeting seconds all those happy occasions could be lying next you, gasping for breath and crying for their Momma. And, in all honesty, it would rip out your gut.

So, you build (built)a little wall around (my)yourself….”

Pg. 99: “As far as I know, I did not kill anyone. But let’s be honest. It was not because I didn’t try but in a jungle war, you just don’t know.

A lesson about having goals and working hard to achieve them:

The Author values personal achievement while at the same time recognizing its double-edged nature. He admires the determination and grit high achievement demands of people, but he is also aware of the inherent inequality between those who reach their goal(s) and those who don’t.

Pg.82 Natalie describes what she thinks about settling. She explains that babies don’t know anything about anything at first, but in school and hereafter, they start climbing upwards on the mountain of life. “At first it’s pretty easy but the higher up the mountain you go, the steeper the incline and the more difficult the task. Eventually they decide they don’t want to climb any more, and they settle for where they are. So they settle, make up some excuses as to why it is unreachable, why it is not worth the effort, or the fact that they are happy where they are. And life goes on.”

Natalie does not think much of that ending.  Instead:

“I learned ] that if you are to reach the peak, reach the goal you set for yourself, you have to be willing to exert the effort to reach it. There are no excuses for not trying. So the lesson is, be willing to work to achieve what you want.” “…. If you don’t have a goal, any road will take you there. And that is not acceptable.”

This, surely, is one of the lessons the Author has taken to heart.

How did I get to be who I am?

Another over-arching theme in “Endless Beginnings” is the benefit of being aware that your personality, character strengths and values derive from how you were brought up as much, if not more than, what you were born with. It is the Nature/Nurture question, andthe Author now sees, very clearly, that family, reaching  back through generations, is a powerful force molding  us into who we are.    Often in the story, Natalie and Chris muse about how important it is to learn your own history. Pg. 81.

“All this time I thought is was just me, just who I was, no one else. But that is not the case. I suddenly began to realize that I was them (my historical family), that they who came before me had such an impact on who I am today.”

Ending notes:

Writing a book is one thing, but writing three books, with the same cast of characters, is another thing all together. Admiration comes immediately for the scope and thoroughness of the Author’s accomplishment. The third book is dedicated to” those who are struggling to do their own work in the hope that words above give you a little strength to strive and reach your goal. To overcome the obstacles which stand in your way, and at the end, to say “I did it.” And so art imitates life.