Category: Buddhism & Philosophy

If You Spill A Bag Of Marbles, You May Wipe Out Trying To Pick One Up…

It’s an odd thing to me, how some people feel it necessary to stick their noses into other people’s affairs. And no, despite that snarky opening line, I’m not bitter, angry or pissed at anyone. If anything, I’m genuinely curious. I’ve seen this happen in almost all areas of life; work, personal and recreational. I’ve always fancied myself as being the kind of individual who stays in his own lane, works hard and makes an effort to be efficient in all things that I do, and work to repair the issues when I fail at that endeavour. But for some, it seems almost impossible to avoid the allure of either wanting what they have or commenting on how they do things.

If I take karate as an example, I’ve frequently seen students become angry or upset at seeing other students promote when they haven’t. Instead of looking into the REASON why they didn’t promote, they seem to find more value in being unhappy that someone else did. That’s a very odd stance to take, especially when you consider that only genuine way to promote in a traditional martial art is to work and train hard and make yourself ready for promotion. But I it sure doesn’t stop some people from being bitter when they’re overlooked.

If I take work as an example, it amazes me how many people are utterly consumed with focusing on other employees activities; when they come and go, how they perform their duties and what they’re doing while they’re on the job. When one is busy poring over these concerns, it can be easy to forget to perform one’s own duties and worry about one’s own job. Not a good approach towards ensuring one’s progression and advancement in the workplace.

From a personal perspective, we’re looking at folks who tend to stick their noses in other people’s personal lives. I have to admit that I’ve been guilty of this on many occasions, myself. Sometimes it can be hard to keep from commenting on someone else’s choices, decisions and lifestyle, especially when it conflicts with ours. In some cases, many cases, it can lead to hard feelings, ended friendships and damaged familial relationships.

The important thing to remember is to stay in your lane. And this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t express concern to someone, if that’s your end goal. Showing concern to others is important and shows one’s compassion. But if you’re training towards specific fitness and martial arts goals, focus on THEM, not the other students around you. When you go to work, don’t worry about the fact that a co-worker takes an extra fifteen minutes on their lunch break; rather focus on ensuring you follow the rules and stick to your duties and entitlements.

Focusing on others will never help you or be a healthy way to approach life. The only way to progress and improve in life is to look inward. Focus on oneself and push yourself to grow and improve. Only through this method will you be able to help others because you can’t help others if you haven’t Fort helped yourself. Stay in your lane! You’ll be all the better for it. Food for thought… ☯️

Traditions & Hopes…

On Saturday, my family and I got to attend a very special event, that of the wedding of a dear friend of mine from back home. Interestingly enough, he also became a Mountie and was posted here Saskatchewan. he chose to have his wedding at the RCMP Chapel at the training academy, which means I got to set foot on academy grounds for the first time in well over a year.

I felt an empty sense of loss as I crossed the chainlink gates into the parking lot of the academy, where I had parked my vehicle and performed my duties for almost five years before retiring from the Force. I got to see some cadets standing sentry, spoke to them and discuss their training, which brought back memories as well. Although I speak as though I retired years ago, it certainly does feel as though I was there a lifetime ago.

Patiently awaiting his bride (face blacked out to protect his identity)

We walked into the RCMP Chapel and saw a spread of people who had all attended to join in this happy occasion. Since we couldn’t find a babysitter, my wife and I opted to bring the boys; a choice that would end up costing me. But I’ll get to that later. The RCMP Chapel is a beautiful building and in fact, the oldest standing building in Regina. It’s wooden benches have been beautifully maintained and were originally constructed by serving inmates at the time.

The stain glass windows are iconic and represent various scenes from religious texts and the walls are adorned by commemorative plaques for fallen members and members who died in service to the people of Canada. There is always a sense of quiet calm inside the Chapel, even when there happens to be a troop hollering to one another outside. My kids, being young as they are, were at a loss to enjoy and appreciate the environment they were in.

Finally got ‘er done!

After some delays and the bride arriving late (the Chaplain made a point of saying that any good thing takes time) the ceremony was under way. Nathan was becoming restless and asking why we couldn’t leave yet, so I wound up handing him my phone so he could play a game on it. Pretty sad state of affairs when life requires this kind of distraction for children. In my day, I would have been told to shut up and wait for the ceremony to end and that would have been it. Sign of the times, my friends.

A video game only kept Nathan occupied and in his seat for so long before he handed me my phone back and started doing that whiny begging kids do, when they really want something or they want to leave. Alexander started following suit and I hushed him by putting the Paw Patrol movie on my phone on mute and both boys sat and watched quietly for all of ten minutes. Then, they handed me my phone again.

That’s when I took the step that cost me dearly. In an effort to entertain the younger one (the older one had returned to his end of the bench and was sitting quietly for a moment), I handed him my RCMP Veteran’s card, which features my photo and some key information identifying me as a retired member of the RCMP. He played nicely for several minutes, giggling and pointing at my photo… In retrospect, I’m not sure if I should be offended by that or not.

Things were quiet for a few moments and it took me those few moments to realize that Alex was no longer holding my ID card. I looked down at the floor and realized it wasn’t sitting there. I asked where my card was in a harassed whisper, to which he pointed to the small compartment of the back of the bench on front of us. You know the ones, they hold hymn books and bibles and stuff in churches. I reached in and realized my card wasn’t there. Then to my horror, I realized there was a slight gap between the front panel of the box and the panel at the bottom. My ID was now trapped inside this thing, with no apparent way top get it out.

All of a sudden, the entire moment switch from being all about my friend’s wedding and all about my ID card. My wife and I searched frantically for a gap, a nail or some means of getting the thing open without damaging it. None was found. The wedding procession made their way out of the Chapel and I stopped the Chaplain when he was exiting to explain what had happened.

It was a fun day and I was happy to see my friend get married. I have no idea when I’ll get my ID back or whether I can get a replacement if I can’t. Of course, my kids WOULD have to do something to hamper the day’s joyous overtones. But as the old saying goes, “This is why we can’t have nice things…” I treated us all to some take out and we went home, none worse for the wear. ☯️

A Little Music Can Lighten Your Soul…

Yesterday, I wrote a piece about things you can do to eliminate some of the stress in your daily life and I apparently neglected to include something so integral to keeping one’s stress low and maintain good mental health; music. Every morning, I spend roughly 10 to 15 minutes travelling to work and at least as much, if not more, travelling back, due to end of day traffic. During this commute, I usually take advantage of the time to play some music (I have over 3,000 songs on my phone) and usually find myself singing along.

Doing so is incredibly therapeutic and plays a big part in my mood and mindset by the time I’ve gotten to work or by the time I’ve gotten home. Pleasant, upbeat songs can have a significant and positive effect on one’s state of mind. Although good music won’t pay your bills or get your boss off your back, a better state of mind can help how you manage those aspects of your day.

I’ve had this happen before but it always makes me smile and I couldn’t help but share… Yesterday evening, I was travelling home and I had the music just blaring in my car. Since I’m an A/C guy, I rarely have my windows down but I apparently had the music loud enough to be somewhat heard from the outside. I was north-bound on the main strip leading to my homee when I came to a red light at a major intersection.

I was singing along to the best of my ability when I glanced to my left and noticed a car full of young people (young to me, mind you) smiling and laughing in my apparent direction. Before I could decide if they were laughing at me or with me, they motioned for me to lower my window, which I foolishly did. I say “foolish,” because one can never truly know another person’s intention but I took the chance and everyone in their vehicle started crooning along with the song that was playing. Here what we were listening to:

It’s definitely a catchy song and it plastered a smile on my face to have these random people join me in my little daily ritual of singing some joy into my evening. On occasion, unexpected happiness can find its way into one’s day, if one is willing to pay attention for it. In this case, a small piece of music and a three-minute wait at a red light was enough to bring a half dozen people together in a joyous moment. What more can one ask for, in this life? ☯️

Don’t Stress While Reading This…

Stress is without a doubt one of the most insidious and harmful things that a person can fell, short of paranoia and distrust. The reason behind this is quite simple; prolonged stress will cause all sorts of measurable, physiological effects on the human body. In fact, prolonged stress in one’s life can be almost as damaging as Diabetes, in that it can cause digestive and sleep issues, cardiac issues, not to mention potentially harming and damaging personal relationships, if not managed properly.

“Self-care Is Not Selfish. You Cannot Serve From An Empty Vessel.”

– Eleanore Brown

It continues to amaze me, how people manage their stress so poorly. But don’t lat that amazement fool you; I’m just as guilty of being unable to do so. Even recently, I’ve found myself managing my own stress quite poorly and as I’ve written about before, you can’t truly help others until you’ve helped yourself. Therefore, if you’re stressed and managing it poorly, you’ll be ill-equipped to help others or deal with issues outside of that stress.

A lot of people are afraid of taking the time to self-care because they either feel that it’s a selfish thing to take time for oneself or are made to feel this way by others. The caveat there is that if you’re surrounded by people who consider you selfish for taking care of yourself, they’re likely a big part of the stress you’re feeling. And although I’m not suggesting throwing momma from the train, eliminating those negative sources of stress from your life is a huge step towards self-care.

There are a number of things you can do that are extremely helpful with managing stress within one’s own life. They seem obvious and may be common sense to some but if sense were common, it wouldn’t need saying. For that reason, I’ve decided to share some tips on what one can do to help manage daily stress. Here are a few gems:

1. Exercise Regularly: Look, I don’t care if cardio, weightlifting or fuckin’ speed-walking is your poison! Just get up off the couch and do it. Regular exercise not only helps improve your overall health and mood, it will help mitigate the feelings of stress. At least three or four times a week, set aside at least an hour for some sort of physical activity. I know that in the hustle and bustle of modern life, finding this time can be difficult. But the benefits of doing so far outweigh the struggle of finding said time. As the popular logo says, just do it!;

2. Maintain a Proper Diet: Again, this might seem like common sense but the reality is that if you eat like trash, you’ll feel like trash. And if you’re one of those people who justify their diets because they eat fish and poultry a few times a week, it doesn’t count if those foods are battered and deep fried. Eat lean proteins and be sure to includes some freakin’ veggies in that mix (something I’m sorely lacking). There’s nothing wrong with occasionally snacking, but this doesn’t mean eating the entire bag of chips or binging, even if it’s only one day a week. Contrary to the joke where an entire cake is only one piece if you believe in yourself, moderation is key;

“If Your Compassion Does Not Include Yourself, It Is Incomplete.”

– Jack Kornfield

3. Get Enough Sleep: Please take note that I didn’t say “get some sleep.” I said to get ENOUGH sleep. There’s a big difference, there. I recall a time where I could get away with five or six hours’ sleep and still function normally the next day. The problem with that kind of thing is that rejuvenating sleep is not cumulative. You can’t skimp on proper sleep all week and then sleep for twelve hours a night on the weekends. that won’t repair the damage it does. Proper sleep will greatly help in decreasing feelings of stress and anxiety one experiences. A rested mind will manage daily stress far better than the opposite;

5. Get A Hobby: Look, it may sound easier said than done but the purpose to life isn’t to simply go to work, come home and have dinner then flop on the couch and wait for bed. Wash, rinse and repeat. There needs to be some purpose to your life, whether that means playing with your kids, building models, playing with LEGO’s, whatever! There needs to be something that you do for yourself that takes you out of the humdrum habit of the daily grind; and

6. Find Your Inner Zen: Yes, I know! Not everyone is into religion or spirituality but you know what? You really don’t have to be, in order to reduce stress and anxiety within one’s life. Meditation, yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi… Hell, just go sit by the water and have some quiet, contemplative time to yourself. All of those things will go a long way towards helping you overcome stress and live a happier life.

Having some stress in life is normal. After all, a sense of urgency is necessary in order to reach and accomplish some goals. But if your stress is deep and affects your overall daily life, you may want to consider some of the above elements that can affect one’s overall ability to manage that stress. Your health’s be wellbeing are paramount to a happy life. And you can’t take care of others until you’ve learned to take care of yourself. Food for thought… ☯️

Where there Is Life, There Is Growth…

I started my current job in April of last year and I have to say… it’s been a total blast. I have good people, a good boss and the environment is conducive to my staying put for the foreseeable future, which is ultimately all one can truly ask for when contemplating employment. Enjoying what you do is an important part of maintaining a healthy life and eliminating suffering in one’s own life. But when I started in my new office, my wife and kids were kind enough to provide me with something of an office-warming gift…

This is Herb, my adorable little succulent plant. When I first got this little guy, I had him sitting on the corner of my desk so that I could glance at him occasionally throughout the work day in an effort to brighten it. As time has passed and my thoughts focused more on herb than myself, I moved him to my filing cabinet where he can get the most intermittent sunlight. I water him every Monday morning when I get to the office and I’ve come to be amazed at the growth I’ve seen in such a small plant.

I unfortunately don’t have a “before” photo… I took some when I first got the plant and I’m sure they’re still in the original post from a year ago but for the purposes of this post, a current photo will suit the purpose. As you can see from the photo above, Herb has significantly sprouted up since last year. When I first got him, his stalks were completely flat against the rim of the pot. Now, we can clearly see that his stalks are pushing up.

What’s even more interesting, is that the stalks are shifting in such a way too face the sun. This fascinates me and I’ve made a point of turning the pot on occasion, as the stalks at the back (facing away from the sun) are yellowed compared to their sun-facing counterparts. The overall plant has gone from being all but completely flat to being almost two inches tall.

Plants can be finicky at the best of times. Depending on the type and breed of plant you have, keeping them alive and healthy can be a challenge. In my case, my wife got me the perfect type of plant for me; one that requires very little watering or care and only needs intermittent sunlight. This is perfect for an office setting, where there may be a number of days where I wouldn’t be in the office. Plus, there’s no denying that having a silent touch of life in one’s environment can help to improve mood, temperament and overall productivity. ☯️

Hopping In To Help…

An interesting occurrence took place on Wednesday afternoon. It seems that a large crow took it upon itself to attack a rabbit and it’s two kittens (Yes, that’s what they are called! I checked!) It was loud and raucous enough that the rabbits thumped against the front of the house a couple of times and caught my wife’s attention. The end result was that one kitten was killed on my front lawn and the mother bolted and took off. The second kitten was found some time later, wedged beneath the wheel of our recycling bin. It didn’t happen that a rather large, fat orange cat reminiscent of Garfield, was floating around like a scavenger, looking to reap the benefits of the carnage.

I came home from work early that afternoon, and my wife was able to show me the remains of one of the kittens as well as the remaining kitten that I was able to confirm was still alive and trying to wedge itself as deeply beneath the wheel as possible. It was obviously frightened and possibly in distress, so I reached out to social media to seek assistance as to what I should do. I also contacted my City office to seek guidance as they might have access to animal control and humane society resources that I couldn’t easily access on my own.

Introducing, Fluffernut!

Some people over social media were quite helpful and provided contacts for certain wildlife rescue and animal non-profits. Others, not so much. It was very reminiscent of how far we’ve fallen as a society, where people still find something negative to say even when the situation very clearly involves helping another fellow living creature. In fact, the vast majority of people who commented basically told me just to drop this poor, vulnerable thing back out in the open and come what may! Although it makes sense and I learned as a child that one should never interfere with the process of nature, this felt different.

I ended up helping the kitten get out from under the wheel of my recycling bin. I had a small, wide clear plastic box that I lined with a small dish towel, a small bowl of water and I even went to a local pet store for advice and bought a small bag of timothy hay for the little guy to snack on. The intention was to keep him protected until I got some constructive advice on how to proceed. That constructive advice wasn’t forthcoming, with even the animal advocate groups I had reached to, telling me to just put the kitten back out in my front yard where I found him. Unfortunately, I DIDN’T find him in my front yard and rescued him from his predicament.

Energetic and apparently uninjured.

One thing that was frustrating was how many people were trying to explain that the mother returns only twice a day to feed them and leaves them be, otherwise. I kept trying to explain and correct that the kitten wasn’t found hidden under a bush or in a den, waiting for momma to come back with food. This was an active situation where the momma and the babies were being attacked and killed. This changed the dynamic for me and I felt that since the mother had bolted, it may have changed it for her, as well.

The one wildlife rescue group I messaged, and obviously I won’t be naming any of these organizations because I’m not trying to shed negative light on them, basically told me to leave the kitten outside overnight and if it was still there and alive the following morning, that they’d consider picking him up. Given my personal beliefs, I feel that I have a significant respect for all life and I couldn’t bring myself to just drop this guy outside and go sleep in my warm, safe bed. I was taken aback with how little regard people had and how little they were concerned.

Hanging out in my garage with Fluffernut

When my 7-year old son realized there was a baby rabbit in the garage, the reaction was exactly what one would expect from a child. He was excited and fascinated and almost immediately started rationalizing why Fluffernut would make a wonderful pet. I had to explain in no uncertain terms that he was a wild rabbit and we couldn’t keep him and had to try and get him back to his mother. With no constructive information coming my way from any source and a lack of understanding otherwise, my wife and I agreed to bring him inside for the night, leave him in the makeshift bed we provided and see what the morning would bring.

While I was doing dishes in my kitchen, which overlooks our driveway and front yard, I suddenly noticed three large, adult rabbits sitting on my driveway. I was caught off guard as I’ve often noticed one rabbit at a time in our front yard but never sitting on our driveway and never in such high numbers. Were they looking for Fluffernut? Were all the heartless idiots online right and I should have left him outside? I retrieved Fluffernut and brought him outside. My plan was to put him under the base of our pine tree and let the rabbits retrieve him (if that was the goal).

As soon as I started trying to set him down, he started making panicked noises in my palm, which didn’t help with the heartbreak I felt at just ditching him outside. I begrudgingly left him in the shelter of my pine tree and retreated to the house. I prepared my children for bed, watch a bit of television with my wife and tried to make my peace with the chaotic and sometimes seemingly cruel nature of, well… nature! My wife and I eventually went to bed and the day had ended, rabbits and all.

I went outside almost immediately the next morning and noticed that Fluffernut was nowhere to be found beneath my tree. Although I’ll never know what actually happened, I like to think the mother came back and retrieved him. There are more lessons to learn about this whole scenario than I could possibly write in one post. But the most important to me, is that we’re all living in the same world. Although many would have argued that we should have just left all of this alone, being willing to allow a vulnerable creature to be killed or die needlessly, especially on my property, is what’s wrong with the world. Compassion, caring and the reduction of suffering could NEVER be a bad thing. I’ve unfortunately discovered that the majority of the population in my city haven’t learned that lesson. ☯️

Trust, A Blind Leap of Faith…

Like most people, I’ve suffered through trusting people who have burned me badly in life. This has applied to both my personal and professional life, with some of the ones who violated my trust being something of a surprise when it happened. It’s a special kind of hell when someone you know and trust contravenes that trust, especially when you opened yourself up and made yourself vulnerable; something you may not have done in most cases.

As my 7-year old awkwardly found out a couple of weeks ago, trust is a bit like a fart… If you have to force it, it’ll likely be shit. We all have an inherent instinct to recognize when someone is significantly untrustworthy. But what about the ones that AREN’T significant? Does that make that lack of trust any less important? I guess it depends on the nature of the mistrust.

For the most part, people tend to fall under two categories: the ones who believe that trust is earned and the ones who feel that they can trust an individual until they betray that trust and then the trust needs to be rebuilt or re-earned. I’m sure there are many other sub-categories” and I’m mostly thinking out loud, here. But it’s important to acknowledge that unlike respect, which includes individuals who may have some passing entitlement by virtue of their station or association to you, trust falls under a different category and can be murky waters to try and navigate.

Nothing that I’m saying here is rocket science and I don’t think any of you are slapping your forehead in some sudden shock of epiphany. All I’m saying with today’s post is that life doesn’t care about one’s plan and some times, the only way to genuinely learn is by taking the leap and seeing where it takes you. There are a number of individuals that I’ve met, associated and befriended that although I don’t necessarily wish I hadn’t, I recognize that they’ve said and done things that have brought damage and difficulty to my life and are no longer deserving of my trust.

If such instances never happened, one could easily develop and unfortunate “blind trust,” where one believes that trusting anyone in any situation is just fine and there are no issues with that. Ultimately, we all need people we can trust in our lives. For me, I’m blessed to have my wife and a few friends and associates that I know I can trust implicitly. But the only way I know that is because I’ve been through the difficult situations that are the opposite of that.

They may have sucked and have been difficult to get through, some have caused damage to my life that I may feel for years to come, but they were a necessary part of my growth and life experience. As long as one ensures to protect oneself as best as they can, that’s really all one can do while navigating the stormy seas of life. As usual, food for thought… ☯️

It’s Not A Solitary Journey…

Once ion a while, you may encounter someone who has the ability to push through and reach their goals without any assistance or guidance from the outside world. These people are pretty rare and are the exception to the rule, not the common theme. And even for those who go it alone, they’ve usually learned the skill or reached the goal they’ve set by learning from a source that was written, filmed, developed or provided by an another individual. If you look at it from that perspective, they’ve still gotten help from someone else. And there’s an important lesson to learn from that…

Originally, and I’m talking way back before we stood upright, humans were nomadic animals. We stopped long enough to find food, mate and bear children and move on. Eventually, as we evolved and progressed, we came to realize that certain things were easier when we stuck together. There was strength in numbers, we were safer in packs, food was easier to attain and we could maintain a better lifestyle in groups. This became the norm as humans eventually became sedentary and would seek each other out for this purpose. Although you can still find the odd individual here and there who lives completely off grid and by themselves, they’re pretty rare.

The moral of this morning’s narrative is that humans have evolved to come together to tackle common causes. And some of them are substantial enough that they would be all but impossible to learn by oneself. And this is where karate comes in. I recognize that someone, somewhere, closed their fist and used it as a weapon for the first time, although one could argue that this was likely more instinctive than anything. But for anyone who has studied karate extensively, can you imagine trying to learn that art by yourself? Sure, you could find books and videos, either online or in stores but there’s nothing that quite substitutes the presence inside the dojo.

Everyone who is in the dojo has come together for a common cause; to learn the art. Although one’s reason for wanting to learn may be different than another, that end result will always be the same. This is why it’s important to come together within the dojo and help each other out. There’s no room in a traditional dojo for egos, attitude and cheering for one person over another. The dojo environment is meant to serve as a safe space for all students to learn. The only thing worse than a McDojo (look it up, I’ve written several posts on this) is a dojo where the instructor ignores, belittles or openly ignores one of their students.

I once wrote about something referred to as the martial arts ladder. The concept is pretty simple: a student advances and progresses to a point where they can teach and pass on knowledge to another. Once the other student begins to learn and progress, they may climb that ladder and surpass the one who was helping them along. It’s important at that point to stop, turn around and assist that surpassed student in climbing higher as well. And this is how we grow, by helping each other up one rung at a time.

Last but not least, it’s important to communicate within the dojo and with your instructor. If you feel that you aren’t being treated fairly or that there is something off, you should talk about it. Although there are rules of conformity within any dojo and it’s important to show proper respect, your instructor likely can’t teach you properly if they don’t know there’s a problem. And it genuinely sucks to be training in an environment while suffering in silence. Talking about such things is not a sign of weakness but a sign of maturity; the modern dojo has no place for the disregard of a student. Food for thought… ☯️

A Little Reminder Of What’s Important…

Once in a while, I tend to recycle old material I’ve already written about. Kind of can’t help it when you consider that I’ve been blogging for about four years at this point. But once in a while, it’s important for any of us to remember what’s important in life. And this brings to mind a story i read when I was in college, way back in the 1990’s. I kept a paper copy of this story as it inspired me back then, almost as much as it does now. Some of you may have heard this story before, but here it is:

A professor stood in front of his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar slightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous YES.

The professor then produced two bottles of beer from under the table and poured their entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things such as family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions. And if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff. If you were to put the sand into the jar first, there would be no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.”

It’s important to pay attention to the things in your life that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your spouse and children. Visit with your parents. Take time for your health. Treat yourself to dinner. Play another 18 holes.

Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the professor’s students raiser her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked that. The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beer with friends or family.” ☯️

Happy Birthday, Laura!

Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been with this beautiful woman for nine years. She continues to amaze me with her smile, her temperament and the way she always manages to make me smile and be happy to come home. She’s put up with more of my shit than any combination of people, living or otherwise and continues to maintain that smile despite everything we’ve been through together. truly, all my accomplishments are hers, since I never would have made it this far without her.

I’ve always hated my own birthday. It often serves as a grim reminder of one of the worst instances of terrorism reported to the world in one day. But birthdays are important as one needs to know where one has come from in order to know where they’re going. They become even more important once you have children. I have the benefit of seeing that one more added digit is one more year I’ve loved my wife. Tonight, I get to spoil her. Happy birthday, Laura!