I remember…

 

I remember birth night.  One was easier. One was scarier. One was planned scariness. 

I remember 2am feedings. One on a chair in the middle, two on the rocking chair from Dad. 

I remember the first cribs, bibs, and dibs. 

I remember the first smiles, tears, and fears. 

I remember the first talks, walks and, gawks. 

I remember the first games, dances, and prances. 

Black and white soccer balls and pirouettes. 

Running until no one catches you. 

Scoring and smiling. 

Memories that make you smile. 

Time passes. 

Older. 

Change. 

Life. 

The Program

 

What does it take to build a 'program?' 

The kind that lasts.  The kind that lingers. The kind that leaves a lifetime impression. 

A program outlives names and titles.  A program has lively tentacles that reach out and touch everyone and everything within reach. 

A team.  A business.  A marriage.  A family.  

What does it take? 

1.) Vision 

2.) Passion 

3.) Intestinal fortitude

4.) Humility

5.) Love 

6.) Intelligence 

7.) Patience 

8.) That "one thing." 

Remember "City Slickers?" 

"Do you know what the secret of life is?... One thing.  Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit

...that's what you have to find out." 

That's a Program. 

"Brown right. Motion. Tailback slant." 

You know the rest...

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Vending Life

 

My wife has a saying...

"Don't keep expecting a Pepsi when you go to the Coke machine." 

In human terms, don't expect to get something different from people in your life that have shown the inability to get there. 

So true.  

If you manage your expectations on the front side, you minimize the disappointment on the backside. 

If someone in your life always has a glass half empty, chances are you will go away still thirsty.  The opposite holds true as well.  It's a safe bet.  Money well spent. 

Now, with that being said...

Every once in a while, someone stocks the machine wrong and you end up getting a Pepsi. 

It can happen.  

When it does, drink it in. Savor the taste because it won't last. But, it sure does hit the spot, doesn't it?

So whether you are looking for  "a new generation" or you want to "open happiness,"  you can find both just remember what vending machine you are at. 

REM Was Right

 

When your day is long
And the night, the night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough
Of this life, well hang on

Don't let yourself go
'Cause everybody cries
Everybody hurts sometimes

REM and Michael Stipe not only struck a musical chord with their 1992 hit, "Everybody Hurts" but a human chord as well. 

Everybody DOES hurt. 

if you sit down in a crowded bar and looked around, everyone there is hurting.  Everyone there carries a painful burden in their heart.  If you queried the patrons, some of the scars may not seem that deep to you but I guarantee, it's deep for them. 

I dated a girl a long time ago, who cried every time this song came on and all I could do was hold her and let her cry. 

I think this is why we bump around into other humans (either on purpose or by accident).  

So we can feel.  

So we can heal.  

The next time the scab is picked on your wound and you start to bleed again, please remember...don't let yourself go. 

Hold on. 

Hold on. 

Happy Places

 “Just for a moment, amid all the bad stuff, this was a happy place again.”

McDonald's is a brilliant marketer. 

They took a hamburger, fries, and drink and re-branded it as a "happy meal."  Sometimes, you even got a toy with it.  They took the "every day" and made it something special.  No matter what kind of day you were having, a happy meal always made it better. 

Do you have a "happy place?"  

I know, happiness is a mindset and not necessarily connected to a physical place but we all have those special places where we are insulated from the real world. Where the monsters under our bed can't get us.  Where the darkness doesn't exist.  

I can honestly say, most of my happy places are more closely associated with the people who I am with but there are these special places that just seem different when I am there. 

Having "happy places" is a healthy concept.  Whether you have talked yourself into the magic of the location or not, it's important to spend time there. 

Life is beautiful but can be hard. 

Life is play but takes work. 

We all need our "happy places." 

"Can you supersize that, please."

What's your Sign?

 

The Phoenix. 

"Rising from the ashes."

The ancient Greeks and Egyptians described this mythical bird as a magnificent creature that was a worshiped deity. Each Phoenix lived for 500 years and right before his time was up, the Phoenix built a nest and set itself on fire. 

Renewal. Restart. Redo. Perseverance. 

The Lotus. 

"Out of the mud, comes beauty." 

The Lotus flower is the perfect similitude for the human condition. Its roots are in the dirtiest waters, yet the Lotus still produces the most glorious bloom.  

Purity. Enlightenment. Self Regeneration. Rebirth.

Symbols of symbols. 

My two favorite. 

They uplift. Give strength. Help get through. 

And, you? 

What's your sign? 

Sunshine, Shadows, and Scars

 I love the sun. 

Especially when the sun makes its daily grand entrance and when it takes a bow for another brilliant performance before it retires to sleep. 

The sun warms. It grows. It brightens and enlightens. 

It also gives life to shadows and imperfections.

When the sun brightens your space, shadows come from corners and crevices and creep along their way. The sun also highlights things like crumbs and cat hairs invisible to the naked, shadowed eye. 

It's the paradox of life. 

Sunshine is so giving. So great. To soak it up like Timothy Green is an amazing feeling. But too much sun withers and fades as well.  

Sun giveth, sun taketh away. 

The good and the bad. We can't feel one without the other. You can’t feel the joy without experiencing the pain. The pain of a scar runs deep but the scar remains seen to give us strength. 

The imperfections of a perfect Sun. 

As is life.