Random Thoughts from the Road

As the ice melts and the wick burns...

Randomness rules. 

Tobacco candles are sublime...especially in hotel rooms. 

As a middle infielder, you need to trust your first baseman...unless he sleeps with your wife. 

There is still nothing quite like turning the pages of a real book. 

There's no better brotherhood than a tight-knit coaching staff. 

Basil Hayden is delicious. 

Those who are critical of talent that executes "dog and pony" flawlessly don't know a dog's ass from a pony's. 

Quarterbacks and Tight Ends...the linchpins of a successful offense. 

M*A*S*H was brilliant. 

Lust is better when married to love. 

Enjoy every sunset and sunrise you can. 

Spooning is a lost art. 

Dave Brubeck is still cool. 

And...

Those who are truly wealthy, don't show their wallet.  Those who are truly smart, think quietly.  

I'll take another...

...just put it on my tab. 

Let's Just Call it a Ghost Cat

 

Walter Mitty:  When are you going to take it? 

Sean O'Connell: Sometimes I don't.  If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don't like to have the distraction of the camera.  I just want to stay in it. 

Walter Mitty:  Stay in it? 

Sean O'Connell:  Yeah.  Right there.  Right here. 

This is the exchange between Ben Stiller's character, Walter Mitty, and Sean Penn's character, Sean O'Connell in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty where O'Connell is a world-renowned photographer and Mitty is a Negative Assets Manager at Life Magazine. O'Connell passes on capturing a picture of a beautiful Snow Leopard in favor of capturing the moment. 

We all are guilty of missing the moment sometimes.  We drift away from the moment because of the past.  We dream away the moment because of the future.  Our commitment to the moment is destroyed because of some other distraction and it's lost forever. 

Alan Watts, an English writer, speaker, and self-styled "philosophical entertainer" said it best, "I have realized that the past and the future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is." 

The Pike Place Fish Market was the impetus for The Fish Philosophy, training that inspires workplaces and individuals to choose to create the kind of life they desire.  One of their pillars is to "Be there."  Be emotionally present for people in the moment. 

Enjoying the moment.  Living the moment.  Savoring the moment as you would your last bite of your favorite meal. This is the key to life. 

Put down the phone. Stop over-thinking the past and hopelessly waiting for the future.  And just be right there. 

Right here. 

I Resolve

 

It's January 3rd.  I've yet to make a New Year's Resolution. 

It's tradition, right?  You can already see the weight loss, cottage cheese, and Pelaton ads screaming at you letting you know "This is the year." 

Here's the thing...

Your resolution should not be an annual ritual that comes around every 365 days.  It should be a monthly resolution...a weekly resolution...a daily resolution (Hell, make it an hourly resolution if you can). 

Wake up and resolve. 

I resolve...to be "there" more.  To stay in the moment. 

I resolve...to read more.  To feel the pages in my hands and absorb the fiction and non. 

I resolve...to get back into Yoga. It's a wonderful physical and mental stretch. 

I resolve...to tell people I love them more. 

I resolve...to try to not worry about making moments 'perfect.' 

I resolve...to drink more water. 

I resolve...to eliminate debt.

I resolve...to walk more. 

I resolve...to learn from the past, but not live in it. 

I resolve...to forgive (maybe, not forget). 

I resolve...to exhale. 

I resolve...

...to continue to try to resolve.