How You Start or How You Finish?

Happy New Year’s Eve! Another year has come and gone, our well-intentioned plans have either gone amazingly well or completely and horribly wrong and yet nonetheless, most of us are still here to celebrate on the eve of 2013.  My thought this morning is simple; “what is more important, how you start or how you finish?” 

Personally, I think my start was a bit rough, but one thing I did not, (and still don’t) allow was the world or its infinite problems to dictate my finish. It could have been far too easy for me to throw up my hands, become just another anonymous victim, and let life’s tragedy’s sweep me away as it has so many countless other people. I chose instead to be a rebel, and fight all that wished or desired to drag me down. In the famous words of Elton John, “I’m Still Standing.”

The great news is that for all those that are reading these words this morning, we still have a have a chance to finish well.  We are neither at our beginning or at our ending and the rest of our story has not yet been written, so how do you want to be remembered?

I think of those famous few we lost this year; Dick Clark, who will forever be remembered as the world’s oldest teenager and the honey smooth voice and MC of “American Bandstand”.  Maybe our desire is much more grand, like leaving our fingerprint on the world like Neil Armstrong.  Maybe our life’s work will be accomplished in something everyone will need and use everyday but never be known for such an incredible idea, like Eugene Polley, the inventor of the first ever wireless remote control. Maybe you will forever be remembered for standing up for what you believe in like Charles “Chuck” Colson.  

I think of the many famous actors who passed in 2012, that lived out their adventures inside my little 19” color television from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s like Andy Griffith, Richard Dawson (“Survey Says”) Sherman “George Jefferson” Hemsley, Larry Hagman (btw- who really shot J.R?) and Jack Klugman from the classic sitcom “The Odd Couple”; they don’t make shows like they used to.

We still have a chance. 

Maybe you are a music fan and can still remember the haunting notes of “At Last” by Etta James, Donna Summer singing disco or remember watching for the first time ever, a music show on TV completely dedicated to Soul music; “Soul Train” with Don Cornelius; yeah he’s gone too.  Some people will only be remembered for having such great talent, and yet taken way too soon like Whitney Houston, who  was remarked by some as the greatest voice ever to be on stage. Sadly, some of our last memories of such an epic singer will be the ones of her demise into the dark world of drug and alcohol addiction.  Watching her final years as she struggled to beat those addictions was dismal and disappointing. 

There are other people too that 

quietly left their indelible mark on the world in their own way. There was famous Professional Boxing trainer Angelo Dundee, Bert Sugar who famously wrote about those men he trained like Mohammed Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, and world champion boxers Hector “Macho” Camacho and Johnny Tapia; Tapia who mercifully finally succumbed to a life plagued by violence and drug abuse.  There is Davy Jones of the Monkees, and who doesn’t remember what a Thomas Kinkade painting looks like? For the hot rod crowd, there will never be another Carroll Shelby, or a Ferdinand Alexander Porsche who designed the classic 911. “Stormin’ Norman” is gone, as is, Ray Bradbury, master of suspense.

 

All in all, the silver lining that we can take away as we mourn some of the favorite and famous people amongst our generation is that, as crazy as it sounds, you are not one of these people. You can still wake up and make a difference just like they did. The challenge will be in what kind of difference you make in the lives of others.  

We still have a chance.

So, Happy New Year, and as you pop the cork on the bubbly tonight, as you toast, as you hug, as you kiss those loved ones and friends in grateful celebration, just think about this; will it cross your mind on how you want to finish? I hope so. Let’s finish strong together! See ya next year!

-Lou

Relax Lately?

“Waves crash all around me, in an instant, my troubles gone.

Serenity overwhelms me; a massive wave of warm and clear ocean,

Roaring, soothing, calling…”

-Louis Santana

There are times when you or I fall into the trap of hurriedness. Don’t be fooled, it is a trap.  We hurry and scurry all about, and yet only clear a day’s worth of clutter from our plates. In the morning when we wake, we are sure to see it once more, begging to be attended to.  That was my life before I went on a weekend’s vacation to the Pacific Ocean.  It was only a weekend mind you, and I must admit that I was reluctant to visit the ocean, in light of all the other wonderful and exciting things to be seen and done in Sunny San Diego. I am a doer, and the thought of actually taking time to visit a mere pile of sand and water fought with the inner hurried man in me that advertised its charm wholly in the fact that it was the absence of doing that was its greatest asset.  Still I hesitantly settled in on making the short outing to see what the big fuss was about in seeing a giant playground of sand and sea.    

As I arrived, I caught a faint whiff of the wonderfully sweet-smelling ocean breeze. The wind was fresh enough to feel cool against my face.  As I made my way down the beach, I paused to slip off my shoes, and as I carried them I saw families playing against the backdrop of the horizon, the oceans roar growing ever so louder.  It was as if I was stepping back into time, and with each step on the wonderfully smooth silica sand, the engine inside me that ran at such a furious pace in the city began to slow down.  I drew closer and fully took in the wondrous site before me.  In the distance was a cliff from which off it I could see divers leaping into the frothy basin below.  To my right ran a wooden pier and on it, I saw a man and a woman in full formal attire betrothing their lives to each other in matrimony.  All around me were people fully engaged in the archaic art of relaxing. Young, old, big and small; two older men passed in front of me and waved hello, the sun reflecting off their silver hair and tan skin.  A group of young girls played in the surf, splashing about, laughing without a single momentary care in the world. Others jogged near the line of the incoming tide; some in their bare feet others in sneakers.  My own little one chased the current, scouring the damp sand for seashells. It was then that I was awoke by the highlighting of everything around me in a warm orange glow; the sea, the sand, and the cottages in the distance.  The sun swollen and fat, prepared to make its final descent into the boundless waves beyond the line where ocean met sky. 

The waves called to me. They whispered, calming my soul.  The tide reassuringly surrounded me over and over, the water cool and fresh.  The waves roared their excitement as they fell upon each other, and as I looked upon them I felt hope, and confidence; joy, and peace.  I was entranced and had a sudden urge to be completely engulfed in the cool water as I watched the waves roll in and out.  I stood there, letting the sun’s fading light warm me as I watched it radiate and reflect its mirror image in the surf before me.

Much too soon I begrudgingly knew that it was time to go.  My spirit completely rested, a foreign sensation I rarely get to have.  I also finally understood the myriads of amateur photos of people standing by the sea and the significance that moment captured in time must have meant for them too, something no one can ever explain to another fully. Thankful for my own moment, I know that I will soon find myself intentionally visiting the Great Sea once more and its entire vast splendor. My sober thought is simply this: “Is there anything so powerful that can slow down our engine enough to appreciate all that we have?” For me, it was the visit to the ocean’s waters that finally calmed my pensive soul.  Whatever it is, my hope is that you too will find it. 

-Lou               

Fuzzy Details?

It was a wet morning. I was taking my favorite 4x4 out for a drive.  It was a 1999 Limited Toyota 4Runner with every bell and whistle you can imagine.  I find myself still missing it today.  The rain was pouring down and in Arizona, that is unique.  I had just moved from New Mexico and unfortunately I was not used to such deluges.  As I entered an off ramp, I felt distinctly that my back tires had lost just slight bit of traction. It was then that I remembered that I had forgotten to lock the rear differential by activating the button on the dash.  If it was activated, I am sure that I would still be driving my 4Runner today.  Anyway, as my rear tires lost their traction, I corrected just a bit, and suddenly my rear tires swung violently in the opposite direction.  The rear of my truck slammed the concrete barrier and shot straight toward the opposite side towards a 40-50 foot drop off that was only cordoned by a single metal guard rail.  That guard rail would be put to the ultimate test that day to verify if it was capable of stopping a 2 ton out of control vehicle. I closed my eyes, said a prayer and waited.  All I felt and heard then was the pop of glass and steel as the vehicle tumbled in a direction that I didn't know.  When the vehicle came to a stop, there I was safe and sound, altogether in one piece.  That day changed my life.  I am much more cautious on the exit ramps I travel, almost to a point where I find myself slowing down too much.  Many people today encourage me to let that day become a blur in my mind so I can get over my newly found phobia, but that is exactly what prompted today’s question.  How will you remember life?

Life, if you are an adult, is a much too fast and fleeting anomaly that most of us can’t even begin to comprehend the full meaning of.  People die young, some die old.  Some are taken from us in tragedy and others live on despite their maniacal actions.  In this brief moment we have, we sincerely try to understand the full scope of the life we have been given, only at times to feel a sense of being much too overwhelmed. 

When we boil it down, life can be skipped over like a blur, or it can be fully lived out in detail.  I don’t always want to remember the foolish things I did.  They serve as a reminder of how crazy my life was and I’ll admit, sometimes still is.  But it’s in those details where I find that I truly can see the amazing journey I am on, and also where I am headed. 

When we live life merely in order to get past the day, many of the important lessons I feel we are supposed to learn get washed away.  It is only in those details where we will ultimately find the answers to our questions of, “Why?”

In the meantime, let me encourage you to enjoy the details without regret.  I promise you will fall a few times, lose control a few other times, and sometimes even behave badly, but treasure them.  They are golden moments that move you forward. 

 There will always be Weddings and Funerals, Birthdays and Anniversaries; but it is how we choose to remember them that give our life meaning and purpose. 

I am reminded of the now classic movie “Life is Beautiful.” Ironically, it is a movie about the Holocaust.  What makes this tale so unique is in the way the main character chooses to experience each of the traumatic experiences that are unfolding around him. That’s the answer. Our life will ultimately be what we choose it to be.  Positive or Negative. 

There is no time machine, there is no 2^nd chance, and in no way will we ever be able to exchange our life for that of someone else.  This is our one shot, live it out loud in fine detail, just like it was meant to be! 

-Lou   

The Danger in Being a Sheep.

I saw the other day how a commentator was observing that we have become a nation that heavily follows trends; trends that dictate what we watch, how we dress, the foods we eat and even the way we think.   As a rebel, many times I have turned the opposite way of the trends simply because I don’t like to follow.  Sometimes that has worked in my favor, while at other times being the trailblazer takes a lot of determination, self-will, and perseverance simply because I have experienced that there are not many who will pat you on the back as you blaze that trail in your own unique direction.  I think what scares me the most is that trends kill imagination.  Trends disqualify any original ideas from taking root, and group otherwise great and innovative concepts into a melting pot of less quality but wholly accepted beliefs.  There is a danger in following these trends in a way that I don’t think we will be able to fully understand until those habits have given birth to fully grown and complex issues that can’t be easily undone. 

It is easy to see that our world right now is in a heightened state of conflict.  Everywhere you look, people are debating, rebelling, fighting, or protesting.  As we approach the elections, there is a sense of political heat that no one in the U.S. is able to escape no matter how much they try to remain oblivious to what’s happening around them.  What fuels these armies of protestors and others involved in the conflict is at the root, trends. A trend that they first once believed as a good idea that gave birth to a way of thinking, that grew finally into an all-out belief system where the mindset now is that others with a different opinion do no count, or do not matter. 

I do believe that as trivial as we want to make trends in the world around us, it does shape how we view and live everyday.  On the most controversial of topics, abortion, gay rights, and finances, I think that as people who are more heavily invested in trends than in caring about people disqualify themselves of helping anyone simply because they can not fathom coming along side a person who may have a differing opinion.  That is the danger in being a sheep.  One who follows, even if it nullifies helping, caring or encouraging our fellow man. 

If more of us chose to bravely take the “road less traveled” and cared more about people than policy, would our world look a bit different?

I feel that I will always be a rebel, but I want to do so, not like James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause, but a rebel for all the right reasons in the hopes that the infestation of people that in a sense, play out their lives with a certain sense of entitlement, or self-righteousness, can finally take a backseat in lieu of genuine care of other people no matter their past, their beliefs, or actions.  Who knows? Maybe one day, we can once again return to and become the United States of America.  

Vermont- My Punch in the Gut

Have you ever seen a place so beautiful, that the moment you saw it, you felt immediately like you had been punched in the gut? For no explainable reason, that is the way I feel about Vermont.  My inner being aches with the hopes that one day I can set foot upon and enjoy just a piece of the wondrous state of Vermont.  Frank Sinatra sang about it, Ben and Jerry call it home; Maple Syrup became famous there, and John Deere made his very first tractor there.  Since first hearing about Vermont, I have always wanted to go. Not as a party of 1 mind you, but the only way that Vermont can truly be enjoyed in all its glory, with the love of my life, as the song by Old Blue Eyes so romanticized in his song. 

Of course I had no Idea even where Vermont was. Sure I studied it and the other 49 as a youth in school, but the years deteriorate the mind fast, and it wasn’t long before I couldn’t pick out more than merely a handful of Eastern states by appearance alone.  When I found out it was way out East beyond New York, I was humorously flabbergasted! I could not believe that in order to get to this amazing Heavenly dot on the map, one had to pass beyond the Northeast border of New York to get there! In fact, depending on what tiny town of visual excitement within Vermont I chose, Maine and Canada were only a hop, skip and jump away!

           “…People who meet in this romantic setting, Are so hypnotized by the lovely...

            Ev'ning summer breeze, Warbling of a meadowlark…Moonlight in Vermont…”

Never before had a state bewitched me so, other than what is now my most recent longing,  the constant sites and over the top (but effective) blatant marketing for the sunny Aloha state of Hawaii as seen through the new Hawaii 5-0 drama series. Vermont is beautiful for so many reasons. It is what the West is not; lush, quiet, secluded. The West in all it’s excitement from Vegas to L.A. can not begin to offer the romanticism that Vermont pours out abundantly from it’s fingertips at the southernmost point in Brattleboro, to the Northernmost edges of Vermont, including Lake Champlain.

Whatever the hold that Vermont has on me, I am hopeful that one day I can exercise the yearning that is within me to drop in from a very long flight, rest my feet on some of God’s most beautiful country, and take it all in; the colors, the sights, the romantic glow that seems to drip steadfastly from every tree, every covered bridge and every piece of antiquated architecture. 

So there you have it, Vermont, my punch in the gut. A place that is so fantastically beautiful, my fear is that once I arrive, I will never want to leave.  I will chase my dreams; my wish is that you have the opportunities to chase yours!

-Lou

“…Falling leaves, a sycamore, Moonlight in Vermont…”

Are You an Island?

…there are days, it seems where we are all our own little islands, each standing for something different with our own individual flags.  And although we might for a brief moment, hop from one island to another or view another’s flag from afar, we in reality are far… from each other.  Maybe that is why our world is so messed up.  With the loss of community we have inherited the gift of ostracism. Our communities of neighbors have been transformed into individuals living through social networks on the internet.  When is the last time you remember getting into the car with your family and just dropping by to visit the neighbors or friends?  Now, if the get-together isn’t driven by some major event, it is deemed that there is no reason to get together at all.  That thought provokes this question in my mind; are we more happy now that the semblance of select-privacy has taken a front seat over a cooperative relationship with friends and family? Or that the motivational banner above us screams, “Life is Really About Us!”  We have all had great times of laughter, but can any of us remember the last time we had a prolonged period of unabated joy?  I for one can not recall such a pure and honest time like when my family or friends got together for a weekend camping trip or an evening out on the porch simply to pass the time away.  With that thought slowly becoming a harsh reality, I am saddened thinking to myself that if I don’t snap awake, if I don’t take those times to do that now, I will surely find myself on my death bed, wishing I had gotten the chance to those very same things I longed for. 

            In life, we have two choices.  One is to lower our head, firm up the chin and head straight into the storms of life, battling as we go, and with each victory moving further and further towards what our perceived dreams, goals, hopes and aspirations might be.  The 2^nd choice is to defer from meeting the storm head on, and pick the unusual route of the vantage point on the hill; measuring what is most important to us and letting the mirage of what people only think “success” looks like pass us by with the sober comprehension of what “success” can really be disguised as; a dangerous distraction that will eat away at the fabric and core of our lives until we are but a shell, wishing we hadn’t missed the train on so many of life’s really important events.

            I am not against the idea of success, but in chasing our goals, have we ultimately lost sight of what is most important?  I for one will pursue many of my personal and professional goals albeit knowing that what is most important to me are the times I miss the most about growing up; the times when we broke away from the daily rituals of the rat race, took off the uniform and invested in an antiquated notion, community.  

10 Things that Scream "I am a Parent of a Small Child!"

      

  I was hanging out with my kiddos the other day, and I thought to myself, "These crazy times are flying by so fast." Although it seemed that my wife and I were on a perpetual cotton-candy carousal where the music always seems a little too loud and just a little too wacky, and where the collection of horses, hippos, dragons, and zebras never cease from going up, down, up, down, it was bittersweet because I knew that this time would never be as long as I would like it to be. Still I hope the following makes you laugh a little, here goes: 

10 Things that Scream "I am a Parent of a Small Child!"

1. The toothpaste cap lasts about a week before becoming permanently “lost”
2. Your daily shower routine involves some type of action figure, Disney character or Barbie doll staring back up at you
3. You always put on your shoes twice- the second time is after you shake out the loose marbles, barrettes, toys or coins you find in them the first time
4. If your normal “cruising” songs on the radio on the way to the mall have anything to with barnyard animals, monkeys or other zoo animals, and some sort of exercise like clapping your hands, turning around, or jumping
5. If you find that it is perfectly normal to watch children’s programming in the evening
6. If you know what “being the horsie” means
7. If your cupboards are stocked with a surplus of sippy cups, silly straws, and various restaurants “kids menu” glasses
8. If you can not remember the last “Big Person” movie you watched in the theater
9. Each morning your feet are greeted by various pens, pencils, crayons, legos or Hot Wheels
10.  All you really crave is to have one adult meal, at a grown- up restaurant sometime before they turn into teenagers!

 Enjoy this time my friends! It won’t last for long!  Life will become much more serious and much faster than you want it to, and these comedic times, where your house looks more like the staging area of a clown’s closet than a home, will grow quiet once more, and I know you will wish you could have this time back again; a time when they are still small, you can still hold them in your arms, and they still look up at you like you are their whole entire world.  Well guess what, you are! Hug them now, kiss them now, and let them squeeze your neck, mess up your office, wear your shoes, create disasters in the kitchen, and dig up your yard while they still have the chance. I promise that these days will be some of the best ones of your life.  Now, isn’t it great to not have a toothpaste cap?

-Live Inspired, Lou 

Hurrying Up or Slowing Down...

Hurry Up Won’t You?

What a beautiful day isn’t it? As people rush around trying to arrive on time to their destinations, I sit at my desk, coffee cup in hand and wonder how long it has been since I have read a book that was truly amazing. I think harder and harder, forcing my memories to push into the farthest and uttermost darkest recess’s of my mind and yet, the only books that I can think about, are the ones that I faintly remember reading quite some time ago.  Books like “Of Mice and Men”, “Screwtape Letters” and “White Fang” come to mind, but there are a few modern ones thrown in the mix that I also recall.  Fairly recent books like “Bringing out the Dead” (this is a great book, later turned into a movie), and Blood Work, (again, another movie) that were both well written and told an epic story of struggle and victory.  I caught myself thinking and asking out loud, “What has happened in our world that the pure joy of reading has now taken a backseat to the social media frenzy we now see today?”

What I mean by that is simply this; that in most cases, if a line of script we see is more than half a page long, we usually bypass it in favor of a much more abbreviated, and shorter “update” that won’t take too much of our time. Newspapers subscriptions continue to shrink while more and more people are getting their information from videos and electronic devices. That raises a question for me, “Are people reading less, or are they merely getting their reading from other resource other than books and newspapers?”

            I credit the growing inability to remain focused on a single page of writing on the continuing pressure to “hurry up” in all we do.  We are in a constant “hurry up” mode from the time we awaken to the time we finally are able to ward off the last distraction and our world can once again go silent and dark, resting the overworked brains and bodies we have pushed and pulled on for most of the day.

Hurry up. I don’t know if anybody has noticed this, but while we are zipping past all the things that once used to hold our attention and thus created a solid community in our homes and neighborhoods; things like board games, visiting the neighbors with no agenda, and family TV time ( I still remember ABC’s TGIF programming), we have lost the ability to enjoy something so simple as taking a prolonged moment to read, to laugh, or to simply be an observer of the world around us, rather than a ravenous consumer of our world that only looks forward to their next meal.  We used to hunger for some R &R, and now we hunger after the “Next Great Technology.” We burn up our time and energy standing in lines for what will be outdated in less than a year.  We spend the average equivalent of a Third World’s yearly income purchasing things we think will make us happy, and have lost the ability to merely sit back and enjoy that which we have already.  Those that do are considered “boring.”

            Today what I am going to do is this; drink my coffee, enjoy my kids, and be glad that I have eyes that can enjoy the world around me. I am going to push away the plate of technology and consumption, and I think I will even turn off my cell phone.  I know, it’s boring, but that’s ok… it’s somehow, simply wonderful! 

The Cost of “Paying Attention”

I was in a line the other day waiting to pay for something, when I overheard a wife begrudgingly nudge her husband with her elbow saying to him, “You’re next, pay attention.” He glanced at her, and with a wry smile replied, “Sweetheart, I am too poor to pay attention.”

That got me to thinking; if we were to place a concrete value on paying attention, just what would that value be? Thus far, it has always been an expression used as a means to invoke purpose into our daily lives, but really, just what is the cost of paying attention?  If you are like me, you realize that paying attention is an attendant that never sleeps. It always awaits right around the next corner for you to cease from paying attention so that it may insert some form of unexpected delays, snafu’s, or mishaps into our lives. Paying attention means that your focus is now on the minutes, sometimes the very seconds as they sweep in some sort of never-ending race across the face of your watches and clocks, rather than merely the hours of the day. Paying attention forces you to take in every facet of your surroundings, examining them for meaning and purpose.  Paying attention does not let you lose sight of all that you hope to accomplish, hope to see, or hope to do.

When it comes to the lives of others, paying attention allows you to clearly communicate how much those others mean to you, and at the same time monitor their sincerity and interests toward you.  Paying attention allows you to accomplish with confidence, simple random acts of kindness that in turn help people appreciate your existence in their lives. 

Consider this; if you are a parent, paying attention means that you are emblazing in your mind every single “da-da” every single smile, every single tear, and every single time your children wrap their tiny arms around your neck.  If you are a parent, paying attention means that you, not “oops” reigns in your household and that you are able to easily ensure the well-being of those children because of it. Paying attention means that you care to have distinct and bitter-sweet memories of their constant growth, as they leave the footie-pajamas for clothes that must be deemed as “cool” by their peers.  Paying attention means that you can clearly recall the times you were up all night, changing diapers, bed-sheets, clothes, and exchanging them for memories that you now find yourself laughing about.  Paying attention in a child’s life means that you are grateful for the past, joyful in the present, and excited for the future of what your child is to be. 

If you are a spouse, paying attention means that as you see Father-Time slowly marking his days by the lines on your face, you can still appreciate all the times of love, struggle, victory, defeat, and a greater sense of purpose and companionship you have spent with your loved one. Paying attention means that you can sense before it is spoken when your loved one is ill, frustrated, sad, joyful, excited or withdrawn.  Paying attention means that even in parting, your memory will serve as a movie screen forever displaying your own life’s “greatest moments”

If you are a family member, paying attention is a simple tool to remember all the times both good and bad, and has served as a platform much like a launching pad that has been the watchful teacher to show you the way to go, or the way to defer from going down the same path.  Paying attention allows you to say with strong declaration, “I will go this way!”

So just what is the “cost” of paying attention? The cost is dearly for some; for those who wish to live a life bursting with color, excitement, vigor, and splendor. Paying attention allows you to make most of the many mile markers that all of us encounter, and impress upon us the highest form of intention. 

To those whose days are but a foggy haze, the time to wake is now and allow the bright rays of “paying attention” to penetrate your world and illuminate your future.  

   

Say Cheese! The Danger of Not Keeping Up

Times are a changing aren’t they?  Just this morning I got my Wall Street Journal, opened it up, and saw that Eastman Kodak had filed for bankruptcy.  Yes, the Eastman Kodak, the largest retailer in the film industry for oh I don’t know a hundred plus years, declared that it had finally run out of financial funding.  Kodak got its start in 1881 and invented the first flexible and rolled film.  At its peak in the early 1980s, the company employed 62,000 people in Rochester, NY and over 130,000 people worldwide. Today, Kodak employs only a fraction of that; 17,000 people worldwide, 8,000 of them in the U.S, which is nearly a 90% reduction in work force. To understand that visually, take your body, chop every part, and keep one hand and a little bit of your forearm- doesn’t really work does it?  This got me to thinking about how many other businesses were ultimately doomed because they too failed to keep up with the ever changing world of technology. We all know about the GM fiasco, and how the Japanese Big Three; Toyota, Honda, and Nissan scooped up a majority of the profits due to quick reflexes that adjusted to customer’s ever changing demands.  While GM was throwing money into the 8 mpg Hummer, Toyota was putting the finishing touches on the Prius; while GM haphazardly launched an entire new company in Saturn, Honda was honing its design and developing its premium brand Acura to strike a mighty blow to the likes of Cadillac. GM finally came face to face with the reality that every other American encounters; a nation that has acquired an appetite for financial greed, even if it means their own catastrophic failure.  Thanks to the Good Ol’ Government, GM was allowed to save face and stay in business (I wonder if the President would give me bailout money), meanwhile their CEO’s were busy giving themselves bonuses and raises while their stocks continued to plummet.  Greed and an inability to keep up with the new demands of a savvy consumer market that now demanded higher MPG and safer vehicles is what eventually ruined the profitability of General Motors.  I think the same obstacle of not adjusting to the ever-pressing needs of the consumer is one of the key reasons Eastman Kodak is also now facing financial ruin (again a 90% reduction in employees over 20+ years).

The fascinating part of this is that Kodak was actually the first company to invent, patent and bring to market the first digital camera.  Weird huh? So what happened? Kodak took an overly conservative approach to the predicted needs of digital photography and allowed other companies to move ahead in the race to conquer the digital world.  Companies like Sony and Cannon became the front runners for this new digital method of capturing photos and video, and what profits those two companies left on the table, were taken by other smaller start-up digital companies.  

No one wants to talk about failure, but you have to admit, if you are anywhere under the age of sixty, that we too must recognize the lessons of these two former industry icons and continue to sharpen our minds, adapting to the technology that surrounds us.  I’ll admit, I was one of the last hold outs in the anti-smart phone campaign, however I finally succumbed and now, I stand in awe of just how much my little smart phone can process.  It’s like having a small computer on my hip. Those that elect to close their eyes to this new technology will eventually learn the similar lesson that GM and Kodak are now experiencing.  They have been left behind; whereas only two choices remain; change, or get out of the business.  For us hard-working Americans, we can exercise our rights to enjoy the high-tech world we now live in, or be desperately left in the dark wondering why nobody buzzes our pager anymore (Admit it, you had one at one time.)

Until Next week, Cheers!

-Lou 

Password Soup, and Playoffs vs. the Apple

If you’re anything like me, with any connection to the electronic age either through your workplace or at home, then you are a person of many resources.   What that really means is that you probably have and maintain a ton of electronic accounts and passwords to go with every single one of them just like me like email, work related web sites, bank accounts, You Tube, and don’t forget about the ever overbearing Facebook account (you know it’s true, they kind of play the electronic big daddy, deciding what’s best for us and specifically dictating just how we connect on the social web).  If you are like me, it all can be a lot like password soup.  They all become a huge mental ball of letters, exclamation marks, under scores and asterisks, waiting to be sifted out the next time you log in.   Just the other day, I kept entering what I believed was my password for a work related site, only to remember (on the fifth try) that it was actually my email password.  Of course by then, it was too late to try again because I had gone over the limit of attempts, and now had to change my password to an all together different one, hopefully counting on the fact that next time, I could keep all of these passwords floating around in my brain in such a way that when needed, I would miraculously remember which password went where on my first attempt, and whola! Perfect.  Of course, you and I know that never happens.  God forbid we go over three attempts, for if we do, you and I are stuck trying to come up with a new one (is “Thispasswordthingsucks!9277” taken?). Long gone are the days where one password fits all.  These days, even my Craigslist account password requirements have gotten a little out of control (please use one lower case letter, one upper case letter, one number, a special character, and at least eight letters but no more than twenty-five letters) all this to simply post a free worn out mattress?  Oy vey!

Religion and the Apple

There is a religious debate going on around the nation right now and no, I am not talking about Mitt Romney and Mormonism (remember, thankfully I don’t get into politics).  I am talking of course about what the rest of the world just can’t leave alone; Tim Tebow and the fact that so many people have ostracized him for his devout and often overly public display of his faith in Jesus. What I wonder about is how people can actually think that because the Denver Broncos lost on Saturday, that Jesus optioned out of helping Tebow on that night, and therefore God must have wanted Tebow and the Broncos to lose.  I can’t really imagine that normal thinking adults do in fact think this way, could they? Of course you and I don’t think that way, of course not.  Just as much as we also really don’t believe that walking under a ladder or in front of a black cat really brings bad luck.  Let’s go way out on a limb for a second,  apart from the mob mentality and try this much less used opinion of Tebow; could it simply be a case of him merely being excited about having a personal relationship with God, grateful for the paycheck that comes with playing in the NFL, and couple that with the fact that he sincerely wants to be a public ambassador for his faith? Stranger things have happened right?  What is the difference between Tebow’s personal and (due to a heavy presence of television cameras) often publicly caught display of prayer and any other commercial we see on tv?  I mean we wouldn’t go as far as to boldly claim that those commercials are insisting we convert to their products would we? Again of course not.  To say that Tim Tebow is “pushing” his faith on us is like saying that Apple is “pushing” their high end (and non sharing) gadgets on us (oh wait a minute, they do do that).  Isn’t it our choice whether we become inspired by a young man that by all rights, should have never been born (The doctor at the time suggested strongly that Tim Tebow be aborted to save the life of his mother due to a foreign bacteria in her system), only to have his brave and courageous mother take a risk of dying during labor and delivery just to have him?  If anything, I think Tim Tebow has a healthy awareness of how close he came to not even existing and now he is living life to the fullest, thankful to a God that he truly believes in, which because he calls the United States home has a right to do so.  Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t many of our men die overseas fighting for the right that Tim Tebow practices? I am thinking yes.  Far too many men never came home simply to ensure that we had freedom, and that freedom includes what many people have deemed as Tebow’s overtly religious antics, and yes, in spite of all the pomp and circumstance, we still all have the right to appreciate Tim for his genuine belief’s but still say no.. (Did you hear that Apple? I said no!)  Freedom y’all, with liberty and justice for all (That kind of includes Tim Tebow too).  You have an awesome day, see you on the other side, Cheers!

The Cost of “Free”

I have had the privilege and the pleasure over the last few weeks to watch the New Year unravel slowly from the comfort of my leather chair in my office, in a somewhat successful attempt to get my works ready for publishing.  During this time, there are many things I think about, one of those which I want to share with you today.  It dawned on me one particular morning as I was sucking down the last part of a cup of coffee so strong it could have walked by itself out of my cup, that for the first time in almost 10 years, I had actually taken more than 1 week off consecutively. Many of my days away were “mini” vacations; weekend getaways where I hoped to slough away the work related stress, and recuperate my worn out mind in 48 hours or less! That got me to thinking about the amount of people that I have run into both past and present, that have told me that given the chance, they too would want to be “free.” 

The Race for “Freedom”

In almost 40 years of being on this planet, I have seen it all; there are the salesmen “freedom pioneers”, who with a gleam in their eye, chase each network marketing idea they run into, thinking that this is going to be the “real deal” if only they are willing to sacrifice time and stay committed for at least a couple of years.  Much to my chagrin, a few (read a few) have actually made it, and for them I am genuinely excited.  What strikes me as strange regarding these pioneers is that many of them maintain busier schedules than mine; with the numerous meetings, appointments, rally’s, and weekend conferences they attend, I tend to wonder, “Is that freedom?” Their lofty goal is to not have to go to work everyday, spend more time with their family, and make a ton of residual (meaning “not right now”) money to boot. Yet because of a demanding schedule, network marketers tend to put in more hours than a full time job.  

I think of your average John and Jane Doe; the people out there that work hard for a living, enjoy an occasional vacation with the family, but  always have this gi-normous, pie in the sky idea and dream of being “free.”  What does that mean to them? For some it is the hope that they will cash in on the famed lottery, for others it’s having the ability to retire, and yet for others, it’s the chance to live off their investments and pay off their debt.  Whatever the case may be for you, we can all agree we want freedom on the sooner side, rather than later while we are still able to enjoy it. 

Freedom Now?

I am now back to work, finally getting back to the normal hum drum of life, but I did learn one thing in that office chair and I want to pass that on to you: you can have freedom now.  That’s right! You can have freedom right now, and the application of that is simpler than you think.  All you have to do is wake up with the mindset that you will enjoy what you have today, rather than placing your happiness in a perceived and possibly never to be, joy that may or may not come later.  See, while it’s great to have dreams of being the next network marketing superstar, or retiring (and your age doesn’t limit you from the activities you had hoped to enjoy), or even cashing out on a windfall from the lottery, there are no guarantees with any of those. Here is your 1 guarantee.  If you are reading this, it means you are alive right now, and that means you have what it takes to go out and enjoy the world around you today. 

Smell a flower, kiss your sweetie, go for a drive, and experience something today. I’ll leave you with this, it was a statement put up in a California bathroom, and I still have it on my phone today, the message is simple:

“The person who wants to do something finds a way; the person who doesn’t finds an excuse.”  

 Don’t let those lofty dreams of “Hopefully Tomorrow” step in the way of your “Absolutely Today”. 

Enjoy the rest of your week, Cheers!

-Lou 


BTW- here's a link to a powerful video that might help put things in perspective in regards to enjoying those freedoms (read blessings) today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D38S9o_6qnc&feature=share

Climbing the Corporate Ladder, Clay Aiken Doubles as Horror Movie Doll, and Check your Daddy’s Ears

Only a week into the New Year and already we are back at it, running the perpetual rat race, striving to climb the ladder to success. One would think that because of all the fancy gadgets we have, we may have invented a different way by now to climb the corporate ladder.  

You could of course, try the Water Propelled Jet Pack. A ride to the top will cost you about $100 an hour or you can buy one new for only $10,000. 

Of course if you are afraid of heights, you can take a Bugatti Veyron Super Sports car. The car that tops out at an unbelievable 270 mph, is available for only $2,400,000. that right two million, four hundred thousand dollars.

Or lastly, you can try the world’s most strangest type of transportation, the Magic Wheel, very easy to understand; no seat, one big wheel, one small wheel and no brakes. The skateboard, uni-cycle hybrid (hybrids are hot right now) is available only in Hungary and in Switzerland much to your disappointment I am sure... looks like that could be a little painful.

Clay Aiken is the latest American Idol crooner to be featured on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice.  New photos made me do a double take.  Is it just me or with the new plastic surgery, does he look a little like Chucky? You decide. 

Since we are on the subject of Celebrity Doppelgangers, thought I would throw a couple more at you:

Russell Brand and Beetlejuice. 

You have to admit that there is a slight resemblance. I will admit that Beetlejuice has the better razor, but after all he does have a few more years of shaving experience doesn’t he?

                  Lady Gaga and Brahm Stoker’s Dracula. 

Now this photo just cracks me up.  How did the famous Undead One be able to look so far into the future and copy his favorite singers hairdo.  Remarkable. 

Finally, I want to end on the ever so important subject of ear hair. What used to be a monthly plucking has now become a weekly ritual for me of looking for, and asking other people to look for of all things, stubborn ear hair that keeps popping up like stalks of corn every time I see myself in the mirror. I used to see men like that and wonder to myself, "What in the world is going on inside their ear?"  I am now sad to report, one of those guys.  In doing some heavy research on this subject, it turns out that genes for this trait are passed from generation to generation, just like family rings and recipes only in this case, its ear hair!  Let me take this opportunity to say a heartfelt, "Thanks Dad!" 

I hope I made you smile today, Cheers!

Ring the Bell!

A new year is here, and with it the hopes of accomplishing all the little things we didn’t get a chance to tackle in 2011.  One of the things I am reminded of as I see my children growing is that time is all too often shorter than what we wish for.  It seems like only yesterday that I was living out my ordinary life, riding the school bus (the nightmares I could tell you about those adventures) and hoping that my schooling would be over so I could begin “the real life.” If any of you out there are like me, you too wished that time would speed up its hands so that you could be free from whatever laborious chores you were up against and you would be released upon the world to pursue what you really wanted to do in life. 

Time does speed up for all of us doesn’t it? I have always found that intriguing that although the summers I spent as a child riding bikes (we used to do that sans helmets, mind you) until the streetlights came on, played a what would be foreign today game of Kick the Can (rules were simple, kick the can), and hung out thinking the summer had no end, has now become a lightning speed cataclysmic world, where 8 am turns immediately into high noon, followed by an immediate 3 o’ clock rush hour on the highways and byways home.  How did it all happen?

One thing we must mind is that those times that were slow to us then, but disappointingly and frustratingly sped up now, must be taken advantage of; we no longer have the option that we did as adolescents, saying that we will put off tomorrow what we should have done today. We now are faced with the stark reality that what should be done today, must be done today.  That goes for as much the tasks that are put before us as the many opportunities we have to enjoy the world around us.  This brings me to the question I have twirling like a somersaulting ballerina in my head today; what are your priorities for the New Year?  I am not asking about your resolutions; I can only imagine that it is to be better than you were the previous year and ranges from some sort of diet regimen that you will try to stay on top of (until mid February) to the financial resolutions of cutting your debt, saving money, get a promotion (oy vey!).  More importantly, what are your priorities? There is a difference because unlike resolutions, priorities take the form of what you place at the top of your list, things you will embrace, not just carry out to benefit you.  Priorities sometimes will benefit you, but many times also take sacrifice, devotion and dedication to fully encompass those priorities you have targeted as most important to you.  Resolutions are a way to better yourself where as priorities hang a huge banner that say out loud and confidently, “This is who I am, and what I care about most!”  

Don’t let another year slip by where you are caught playing the “Could of, should of” game.  Take those priorities, shave off a few less important resolutions, and LOL… no, not laugh, Live Out Loud. I’ll be the first to tell you that the kind of priorities we set for our lives is directly indicative of what or who we care about most.  What are those to you?

There is a difference between merely existing, and actually living.  My hope is that we all experience the Latter. Cheers!

-Lou