ESSENCE of an IDEALIST ESSENCE, From the French word, esse, to be. To exist. If we exist we have essence. When we exist we have choices to make from the very moment we recognize our own existence. This book is about a person who chose to be an idealist, a person who set goals for himself at a very early age and achieved most of them without the need for money. Do not think it is easy to be an idealist? Certainly not in my case, those around you continually remind you to be more practical and advise you, that your goals are neither realistic nor pragmatic. Do idealists fail? Of course they do and some quit to blend in with everyone else. Others recognize their own failure, change direction and try again, and again until they succeed. This book is true account of the author's quest to find his purpose in life. A quest that contains so many failures and so many successes that one questions the trials of an idealist. We tend to categorize idealists as crazy Don Quixote types, charging at windmills to protect the chastity of his Dulcinea. When in fact, the true romantic recognizes, that both author, Cervantes and Don Quixote, appearing as an old chivalrous knight in rusty armor truly understood the power of love. The idealist in this true story seeks adventure at a very early age and even though he finds it, he never stops seeking more challenging adventures. The same is true for success. Success so often is measured in dollars as so aptly put in Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. By mid-life this author has become a millionaire and questions the materialistic rewards of success. He concludes that the accumulation of dollars and materialism are not the answer to happiness, for that which you own, owns you. Should success then be re-defined.? Perhaps. Success could be defined as happiness and only the happiness, within you. If you are truly happy, you are successful. This quest contains both successes and failures to find a purpose in life. I'm writing this while maturing in age and knowledge, and if my life ends tomorrow it shall be said by my friends that I sought adventure, success, happiness and love and you can judge for yourself whether or not I found it.