The Lesser of Two Stevils

If only, I had more time. If only, I had more money. If only, I got that promotion ... that new job ... a new car. We've all been there. We wish our lives away sometimes. If I could only survive this week at work. Or, once I finish with this project, I'm going to fill-in-the-blank ... write the Great American Novel ... get a new job ... start working out ... lose weight. We've all been there. I read a passage in the Book of Awakening the other day about straying from the moment. Once you stray from where you are in the moment, you create a tension between where you are and where you want to be. And this tension blocks you from being truly alive. The moment you quit living in the moment and start thinking about something else, you set yourself adrift. Lost in the moment of where you need to be and thinking about where you want to be, think you need to be, wish you could be. Your efforts cease moving you forward in this life and put you in a perpetual

Yeah, I suck. LOL. You can't claim to write a blog if you're only out here once a year. But, I guess the good news is you can always start again. A lot has happened in the last year and I think the time is right for me to commit to this process full-time. No more excuses, no more reasons not to. Just have to do it. So, let's get this back in gear. 2016 has started as a fantastic year, so now is the time. Our oldest son, Shaw, bought a house in Lafayette where he continues to excel at a CPA firm there. Our oldest daughter, Shelby, had a baby -  Mason Fitzgerald Skipper. Beautiful healthy baby boy. Our daughter Ryann, who got engaged in 2015, bought a house. And our youngest, Matthew, is nearing the end of his college education and on the verge of starting his career and life. Lot going on. And, I - after a 31-year break - finally graduated from college with my bachelor's degree. Technically, I haven't walked yet, but I finished the last class and now it's

I see you. With today being what it is, I couldn't resist the opportunity to say something about the impact of Martin Luther King. I'm really inspired today because I happened to look at the calendar and realize it's been nearly 50 years since he died. Shot down for his beliefs. You would think in 50 years we had made some significant progress. Alas, no. We still see people according to skin color, gender, sexual orientation. Rather than look inward at the character and the integrity of a person, we take the easy way out. Why spend time getting to know someone and what they stand for, when we can take a simple glance and say, "Oh, he's black." "She's a woman." That is tragic. Rather than spend a little time getting to know a person, we'll rely on a stereotype. If you think I'm painting with a broad brushstroke, take a look at the news and all the racially-charged violence we still see and gender inequalitites that exist across the g

OK, apologies for the long absence. I never meant to wait this long to update this. But, as we all have happen - life got me distracted and on to different things. However, this morning, when I noticed it was New Year's Eve, I thought "What a perfect time to get back on track." So, here I am. Now that we gather tonight to say farewell to one year and pin our hopes to a new one, I think a call to focus on the positive in life is in order. I was reading Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening and I found a passage that I think will help with our thoughs for the New Year. In this one particular passage, he writes of a tradition in a certain section of Africa. There the natives have a verbal greeting they use whenever they see someone on their daily travels. One says - "I see you" - while the other replies - "I am here." Now, on face value, I admit, that sounds a little goofy.  I mean, here's to a grasp of the obvious! But Nepo discusses the dee

The tale began ages before the dawn of man. As we crawled from the primordial ooze to gaze with wonder upon this new land, we were imbued with a sense of instinct and curiosity. How does this work? What makes it tick? How can I put it back together? Why did I take it apart?And why do I have all these left over parts? Oh well, I'll just throw those away. OK, maybe it didn't work quite like that. But the tale of the foot napkin was borne from that same sense of discovery. My good friend Bill Heerman was traveling to work one day. He had taken MARTA - the people mover in downtown Atlanta. He parked at the station, driving from his home, and rode MARTA to the Southern Company headquarters at Ivan Allen Plaza. However on this particular morning, it was raining quite heavily in Atlanta. So much so, that as Bill approached the office, he was faced with what was normally a downtown road in Atlanta - but today it was a small river, as rain water rushed down the avenue. His only ch

Here's a video I saw on the ted.com website, which if you haven't checked out - it's definitely worth a view. Videos on a variety of topics ranging from technology to human interaction. I recently saw this video and it was part of the inspiration for this blog. The key to life is focusing on trying to be happy first, success will follow. If you focus on success first, as a requirement to be happy, you'll never get there. http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work And don't worry the foot napkin story is next.