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