SHAZAM!

Remember the 1970's Saturday morning live-action superhero show, Shazam!?

It was about a young boy named Billy Batson who somehow was granted superpowers and every time he yelled the word "SHAZAM," he was transformed into the superhero, Captain Marvel who had all of the powers from ancient Greek Gods.  

I was 6 at the time the show aired for the first time.  

You have to understand something before I go on, I was infatuated with superheroes and comic books growing up.  My dad took me to the comic book store every Saturday morning to buy a new comic book. A quarter a week (I still have several from when I was little). 

We lived on the 12th fairway of the Beloit Country Club and there was an empty sand trap that was the perfect place to go daydream.  I would run around the sand-less trap and then fall down and look up at the clouds.

Sidenote; that sand-less trap also happens to be where we spread my Dad's ashes upon his death.  

Every once in awhile I would look up at the cloud formations and yell the magical word just to see if anything would happen, "SHAZAM!"  And of course, nothing would ever happen except disappointment. 

As I look back at my life and realize that I am approaching the autumn of the year, I think about times in my life when I would've yelled SHAZAM! to change or alter the current situation.  Truthfully, there's only a few...less than a handful.  

Do yourself a favor and play the same game.  You will realize that when you look at the book of life, a super intervention only was needed a few times. 

Life can be pretty super on its own.  No capes needed. 

 

Paper, Rock and Scissors

 

The other day, I was opening a sealed envelope and got a paper cut on my hand.  It happened right by the part of the hand that folds over when grabbing something.  In other words, quite painful.  I started thinking about the pain that one little measly corner piece of tree/plant pulp (could've been bamboo, cotton, hemp, jute, etc. but I wasn't sure of the origin) could create.

"How can something so frail and small give birth to excruciating pain?" 

Isn't that the truth in life as well? 

A lot of times, the hurt we feel comes from something small.  Or at least it starts small. 

It could be something someone said or did that cuts us to the bone. A hurtful word, or comment, or gesture. 

There are two ways to chop down a tree.  Either small whacks over time in the same location or one mighty chop coming from a behemoth-like machine.  

Again, true in life as well.  Small, consistent whacks over time can prove painful. 

George Plimpton was an American journalist who wrote the book "Paper Lion" about his experience trying to play professional football for the Detroit Lions.  The title suggested that he was not professional football material because of his paper-thin athletic skills.  

Plimpton described himself as a "Paper Lion" but his impact on that team cut deeper than anyone could imagine.  

Again, the strength of the "paper" is able to gash. 

Forget the rock or scissors, paper always wins. Always. 

When is the Right Time To Write

I find myself in a quandary. 

Due to extenuating circumstances right now, I am not in a good headspace.

My lizard brain has been activated and active and I have always found writing as a way to help me to quiet the lizard brain.  The problem is my writing is taking on a dark undertone that I don't find appealing.  Don't get me wrong, sometimes writing...real, honest writing can (and should) be shaded. But it can't consume.  

When you start a blog that starts out with the loss of life (either from death, divorce, or growing apart) and another that starts out with a condemnation of overt hypocrisy, you know you are heading down a dark and dreary road. 

So when is the right time to write?  During good times or bad?  Happy or sad?  Introspective (or as my wife calls it, "thinky") or looking outward onto the rest of the world? 

I guess the answer is "yes." 

Writing for me is a release so I can't feel bad if my writing takes on a dark undertone sometimes.  I also don't want to write only when times are Pollyanna.  The teeter-totter balances in the middle for a reason. 

I might still publish my two darker ones or I might just keep them as drafts.  Sometimes, just getting feelings out there into the universe, makes all the difference.  

My keyboard becomes my therapist without expensive visits or comfy couches. 

Write when it feels right. Not when you think it might be wrong.  

Right? 

Blueprints, a GPS or Conrete?

 

We are here today, because of yesterday. 

But the question is was yesterday your blueprint, your GPS, or your concrete. 

Let me explain...

If you look at yesterday as the blueprint, you are designing the big picture but staying true to the consistency of the moment.  It's the design of what is to come. 

If you look at yesterday as the GPS, you are following the voyage of the trip.  It's the path of what is to come. 

If you look at yesterday as the concrete, you have built your foundation...you have "poured your concrete."  The house can end up a lot different but you have a base. 

I argue that yesterday is nothing more than your concrete. It's the foundation.  The construction can go in a lot of different directions. Your blueprint and your GPS are all up to you. 

I used to think I was always heading in a certain direction because of my concrete.  I updated my blueprints and GPS. 

You will always have to live with your concrete.  Blueprints and GPS were made to be changed. It's their essence. 

Know your concrete. 

Erase your blueprints...over and over again. 

Turn off the GPS and just drive.  Sometimes.  

Today. 

 

The Storm

 

The year that was. 

We will all remember this year primarily as the year of loss (my year started early on December 18th, 2019 as I was let go from my job). 

Everyone lost something. Some lost more than others. Some are permanent and some are temporary. Some losses carry heavier burdens and larger collateral damage in their wake. 

Personally, I have lost family members, lost friends, lost money, lost my job, lost a part of myself. 

When you look back in your life during difficult times, when you were in the middle of the storm, you asked yourself "how am I going to survive."  How am I going to get through this?  

It's difficult to see your way through while you are in the eye of the storm. 

Haruki Murakami, a Japanese philosopher/writer once wrote;

"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive.  You won't even be sure whether the storm is really over.  But one thing is certain.  When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in.  That's what this storm's all about."

That's what this storm is all about. 

At the end of the day persevere, fight through, keep moving forward.  You have to. We have to. Life is too precious not to. 

Let 2020 stay in our minds, hearts, and souls as a permanent crack in our foundation. Focus on that crack. Make it stronger. Make it unbreakable.  Make it the strongest part of who you are.  

Athletes say that when they rehab an injury, that area becomes stronger. 

Welcome to 2021.  A time to rehab.  A time to heal.  A time to grow.  A new time. 

 

 

Plateaus are the Worst

 

"I don't want to plateau." 

"No.  Plateaus are the worst." 

The charming, flirtatious discourse between Beth Harmon and Townes in "The Queen's Gambit" is poignant to the storyline (no spoilers) but also is poignant to life (yes, art does imitate life and vice versa). 

To plateau is actually an oxymoron in itself.  You have reached either an objective or subjective high ground so you have accomplished something; to a point.  But, you cease to grow.  You cease to push past that point.  As they say, you can't stand still...there's only forward or backward. 

You hear it about athletes all the time.  "They have a low ceiling."  We all have created imaginary glass ceilings for ourselves in all of our endeavors.   

How can one push past their plateau?  

Read.  Learn.  Practice.  Listen.  Change. 

 All simple, all doable. 

"At some point, you will hit a plateau.  If you keep doing the same things you did to get to that point, make a change."  J.R. Rim 

Checkmate. 

You Can't Handle the Truth

 

"You can't handle the truth!"

The iconic line Colonel Nathan R. Jessep shouted when Luitentant Daniel Kaffee pushed and pushed the Colonel to answer the question "did you order the code red?!" 

We all know how it ended. Jessep admitted to ordering the code red and Kaffee gets justice at the end of the day. 

Lately, I have encountered a lot of people in life who can't handle the truth...about themselves. They continually avoid their own self-truth and distance themselves from who they really are (I tend to overthink self-actualization sometimes so much so that my wife identifies when I am being over-thinky). 

The person in the mirror. 

Self-actualization is one of the most powerful tools in life.  

Knowing your strengths. Admitting your weaknesses. 

Celebrating your good.  Owning your bad.   

Once you come to grips with your own reality, you are actually freer than you have ever been. You create balance with who you are, who you work with, who you love, and who makes up your inner circle. 

You can move forward because you are no longer bound by the fallacies you've created about who you are and how your orbits revolve around you. 

It all starts with you.  The rest comes easy.