Ray Faulkenberry:  

The story wizard asks, "Life doesn't always turn out the way you expect. What's been your biggest surprise?" This is an interesting point as the answer has helped shape my entire life, especially my adult life. The biggest surprise I have seen in life, and it may sound very dark, is that I have met a ton of people who have been very dishonest, misleading, and lacking in integrity out in the corporate/business world. It has surprised so much because I grew up believing more of a "fairy-tale" like existence that all people were good, honest, and would look out for their fellow man. This has not been my experience as I have had high school friends, professors, spiritual people, people claiming to want to help the world... and tons more say one thing and then completely go against their words. It kind of reminds me of the stereoptypical slick politician in that they will say what they need to say to get elected (get their way) then drop their promises and integrity and forget those people they lied to or conned. This sounds dark because I'm a person who strongly believe in quantum theory and the Universal Laws that govern physical and non-physical reality so I then ask myself, "Why did I draw these souls and experiences into my life?" The answer comes to me very simply although I don't sometimes like it - I drew these souls and experiences into my life because I had deep, cosmic lessons I wanted to experience in this physical plane experience. I will say that the pain, hurt, and manipulation I have felt has driven me into an interesting path in my adult world. It first moved me into the field of contemporary psychology as I wanted to understand what went into people's choices, behavior, and motives - my own included. I must admit that when I enrolled in my doctoral training I had no real clear desire to help other people. I was in a sense in a very selfish mode of wanting to discover for myself, about myself, and ho...Expand for more