Ok the pressure is really on now. I was in the office the other day and two of the ladies I work with were talking about blogs and without any hesitation I joined in the conversation and I said, "I have a blog too." Time suddenly stopped for me and everything went in slow motion. What had I done? I obviously overloaded my mouth before I engaged my brain! Both ladies looked at me and asked questions about my blog. What do I do, what do I say, I'm still a total rookie with this whole "Blog Thing". I don't know what I'm doing so why on earth did I respond, "I have a blog too." Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that one out myself, but there's a reason for everything right. Perhaps it's a good thing....
So like I said at the start, "the pressure is really on now." Perhaps it a good thing that others know I'm writing a blog. Maybe that will keep me in line so to speak when going down the "New Road" I've planned for myself. I've made some progress on some of the items I outlined in my previous post but today it became apparent to me that it's a lot easier to "Say It" than it is to "DO IT". Now I've actually put stuff in writing and others can see it too. That means I have now come to a fork in my "New Road" and the fork on the Left says "Say It" and the fork on the right says "DO IT".
(Notice the slight political humor there. You can bank on the fact that I'll take the "Right Fork" every time. I'm not a big fan of all this "Hope & Change" on the Left. I'm more of a Traditional, Old Fashion, Conservative, God, Guns, and Flag kind of guy!)
Back to the fork in the "New Road"... So I'm only twenty days into this and these two ladies at work unknowingly were the fork in the "New Road" for me. Was I writing a blog just for me and talking about stuff, or was I actually going to actively try to make some changes in my life? Well, I thought about that on my drive home from work last night and realized that in the past twenty days I've done pretty well at some of the things and not quite as well as some of the others. However, this "New Road" isn't just some little 100 yard dash it's more like the Boston Marathon. I'm not going to learn to play guitar in one day, I'm not going to be able to read the Bible in one day nor am I going to be able to start a business of my one in one day. Each of these things will require time, effort and focus in order to accomplish and do correctly. I would imagine that becoming an organ donor takes a little more than just a signature on the back of your Driver's License as well. Have you ever looked at the back of your Driver's License? In Missouri it takes two witnesses to your signature to become an organ donor. That's something I didn't know until just now when I paused while writing this to take out my License and look. Will you become an organ donor? I haven't signed mine yet. I'm still thinking about it to make sure it's the right thing to do for me. But when I make that decision and I know my 1st witness will be my wife. I think I'll ask Steve's wife, Melissa, to be my second witness. After all many of the things I've been talking about are as a result of Steve's passing and Melissa's writings so it would only seem fitting to ask her to be my second witness.
So what's it going to be? Are you just going to "Say It" or are you going to "DO IT"....
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
The New Road
So honestly I'm still trying to figure out why I'm writing a blog. I haven't told anyone I'm writing a blog, and frankly I didn't really know what one was until I found out that a friend of mine was writing a blog. I'd never really read a blog, didn't know how to start one, didn't know anything about it, and frankly I'm still kinda flying blind here, as you can tell by the lack of creative design on this blog. Well, if I continue doing this perhaps I'll learn more about how to "Jazz it up" in the future but for now I'll stick with what I've got, because honestly it took everything just to figure out how to get this far. I should have asked our teenage daughter about it, she likely would have looked at me and said, "Dad.... Seriously! This is easy!" as only a teenager could say. Then she'd click a few buttons and just like that my "blog" would look amazing. Technologically speaking I'm still in the VCR days. Stop laughing, because many of you likely are too.... Then again if you found this blog you're likely well ahead of me. By the time I figure it all out, blogs will be a thing of the past and everyone will be have heads up display systems on their contacts that will be linked to their cell phones.
It's now been several weeks since the loss of a very good friend of mine. A friend I didn't see nearly enough and that's why I chose the title for this post "A New Road". My lovely wife Wendy, whom I cherish very much, along with our Children are the center of our Universe and I've always been grateful for what I have. We are truly blessed and it took the loss of a truly great person for me to really sit back and take a look at my life. It's been nearly 10 years since the release of the song "My Next 30 Years" by Tim McGraw and I remember thinking back then that I was happy with my first 30 but I wanted my next 30 to be even better. That was 10 years ago!!! I'm already 1/3rd of the way through my next 30 and while I'm a good person, a good Dad, and a good Husband I'd really only give myself a C+ for the past 10 years in terms of accomplishing some of the things I said I wanted to accomplish. That's still a passing grade but it's not anything to look back at and say "WOW". Granted I'm likely much harder on myself than others would be, but it's time for the "New Road" and that new road was inspired by the way a good friend lived his life in his first 40 years.
I've spent much more time talking to God, and thanking him for what we have. Some might think that's corny but I don't. He's all around us each and every day. He's at work, He's in our kids, He's everywhere and He's not hard to find all you have to do is talk to Him. You may not think you get an answer right away but He answers us each and every time. It might take a while to hear it or see it but the answer is there. The more you talk to Him the more you hear and see. Call me goofy if you like, try it and see for yourself.
My friend Steve did everything right and one day he got let go from Sprint and he built his own business and that business focused on helping other people. I've been seriously thinking about starting my own business because it's something I've always been interested in doing and I'm starting to take the initial steps to do just that. They're baby steps at this point but you have to crawl before you can walk right? At least I'm heading in the right direction. Ironically I had the idea for this business and after Steve's passing I put a post up on my Linkedin Account that said, "Lost a great friend to a tragic accident this past weekend. Call someone you haven't talked to in a while just to say hello!" Shortly after doing that someone contacted me that I haven't talked to since College and we had lunch together. Before that lunch meeting we were talking about my business idea and he has two companies of his own. He felt my idea was sound and he said, "Go for it and when you come across a hurdle JUMP OVER IT! Don't let anyone stand in your way." I'm starting to look at what it would take to start my own business. That would be a very 'New Road' for my Wife and I to take but how sweet it would be if we succeed!
I've promised myself that I would make sure and read the Bible. Not just a little bit here and there but from cover to cover. I don't want to get to the pearly gates and have to look St. Peter and God in the eye and say, "No, I'm sorry I didn't read the Bible". I don't think the excuse of, "I didn't have the time" would work do you? Me either.
I think I should be an organ donor as well. Steve's wife Melissa said that Steve helped at least 50 people by being an organ donor. That even includes his corneas. Can you imagine being able to help give someone else the gift of sight. How AMAZING would that be!!!!
I'd also like to learn how to play the guitar because I absolutely love music and I always have. So in the next 10 years I hope to be much further down this "New Road" playing the guitar, owning my own business, having read the entire Bible, becoming an organ donor, and being well on my way to making certain that my Wife and Children are well taken care of in the event that anything tragic ever happens to me. I have some of that taken care of but I have a feeling I need to do much more. "The New Road" will be exciting, a challenge, a learning experience, and a great journey to take with my beloved Wife Wendy, who Melissa reminded me to "Cherish" and I plan to do just that as best I can.
It's now been several weeks since the loss of a very good friend of mine. A friend I didn't see nearly enough and that's why I chose the title for this post "A New Road". My lovely wife Wendy, whom I cherish very much, along with our Children are the center of our Universe and I've always been grateful for what I have. We are truly blessed and it took the loss of a truly great person for me to really sit back and take a look at my life. It's been nearly 10 years since the release of the song "My Next 30 Years" by Tim McGraw and I remember thinking back then that I was happy with my first 30 but I wanted my next 30 to be even better. That was 10 years ago!!! I'm already 1/3rd of the way through my next 30 and while I'm a good person, a good Dad, and a good Husband I'd really only give myself a C+ for the past 10 years in terms of accomplishing some of the things I said I wanted to accomplish. That's still a passing grade but it's not anything to look back at and say "WOW". Granted I'm likely much harder on myself than others would be, but it's time for the "New Road" and that new road was inspired by the way a good friend lived his life in his first 40 years.
I've spent much more time talking to God, and thanking him for what we have. Some might think that's corny but I don't. He's all around us each and every day. He's at work, He's in our kids, He's everywhere and He's not hard to find all you have to do is talk to Him. You may not think you get an answer right away but He answers us each and every time. It might take a while to hear it or see it but the answer is there. The more you talk to Him the more you hear and see. Call me goofy if you like, try it and see for yourself.
My friend Steve did everything right and one day he got let go from Sprint and he built his own business and that business focused on helping other people. I've been seriously thinking about starting my own business because it's something I've always been interested in doing and I'm starting to take the initial steps to do just that. They're baby steps at this point but you have to crawl before you can walk right? At least I'm heading in the right direction. Ironically I had the idea for this business and after Steve's passing I put a post up on my Linkedin Account that said, "Lost a great friend to a tragic accident this past weekend. Call someone you haven't talked to in a while just to say hello!" Shortly after doing that someone contacted me that I haven't talked to since College and we had lunch together. Before that lunch meeting we were talking about my business idea and he has two companies of his own. He felt my idea was sound and he said, "Go for it and when you come across a hurdle JUMP OVER IT! Don't let anyone stand in your way." I'm starting to look at what it would take to start my own business. That would be a very 'New Road' for my Wife and I to take but how sweet it would be if we succeed!
I've promised myself that I would make sure and read the Bible. Not just a little bit here and there but from cover to cover. I don't want to get to the pearly gates and have to look St. Peter and God in the eye and say, "No, I'm sorry I didn't read the Bible". I don't think the excuse of, "I didn't have the time" would work do you? Me either.
I think I should be an organ donor as well. Steve's wife Melissa said that Steve helped at least 50 people by being an organ donor. That even includes his corneas. Can you imagine being able to help give someone else the gift of sight. How AMAZING would that be!!!!
I'd also like to learn how to play the guitar because I absolutely love music and I always have. So in the next 10 years I hope to be much further down this "New Road" playing the guitar, owning my own business, having read the entire Bible, becoming an organ donor, and being well on my way to making certain that my Wife and Children are well taken care of in the event that anything tragic ever happens to me. I have some of that taken care of but I have a feeling I need to do much more. "The New Road" will be exciting, a challenge, a learning experience, and a great journey to take with my beloved Wife Wendy, who Melissa reminded me to "Cherish" and I plan to do just that as best I can.
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