Something I Look Forward To

I look forward to being released from jail – PERMANENTLY!

As a county sheriff’s deputy, correctional officer, jail guard, screw, turnkey whatever you want to call me I am incarcerated 40 hours per week.  If you think about it that way, everyone who is employed is in jail for 40, 50, 60 hours per week.  By definition to be incarcerated is to lose one’s freedom, to lose one’s ability to do as one pleases.  I don’t think your boss would appreciate you sitting in the break room in your underwear watching the new Oprah Network for 5 hours, but wouldn’t it be nice to stay at home and do just that anytime you wanted?

In less than 1 minute I came up with 10 individuals that are in positions where they either:

1.       Hate what they do but stay there because they are comfortable in their misery

2.       Are slaves to their jobs because they are paid just enough to keep them in captivity

3.       Are in constant fear of layoffs

4.       Doubt themselves or their abilities so they stay in their current job when they can achieve so much more

5.       Have given up on the dream of having a life beyond mediocrity

I myself have suffered from 4 of the preceding 5 issues.  I think someone can overcome all 5 but that 5^th one is a killer.

I used to think somehow, someway I would find something that would make me successful so I always kept an open mind (I’ll even admit to falling for one or two of those work from home scams).  After a lot of years of being beat down by life and really a hell of a lot of poor life management I became content making an OK wage and being miserable in my job.  This went on until my wife Susy said she was presented with an opportunity.  Because I love her I supported her and faked optimism.  Well fake it til you make it baby, hope is once again alive!

We are business owners.  I don’t care what your brother says, what BadaBing@Yahoo answers says (knuckleheads know how to use the Internet now - just so you know).  We’ve been part of this awesome company for over a year now and we’ve seen the power it has and the good it can do for people.

So, can you be successful at this business?  Can we?  Well I think to be successful at this business or any business - it all boils down to 4 things:

1.       Belief in the system

2.       Belief in oneself

3.       Hard work

4.       Persistence

EMPLOYEE E YOU HAVE A JOB	BUSINESS OWNER B YOU OWN A SYSTEM AND PEOPLE WORK FOR YOU
S YOU OWN A JOB SELF EMPLOYED	I MONEY WORKS FOR YOU INVESTOR

Ask yourself, where am I on the above chart.  Then ask yourself, where do I want to be.  If you answered on the right, maybe I can help.  If you are a sharp individual open to exploring new things feel free to contact me through this blog to see if the opportunity might be right for you.

(I’ve used this before but I like it) So to steal from Dr. King – Throughout it all I’ve had a dream. The flame may have flickered but it never died. Now I live to feed the fire. I pray that if you ever had a dream that you keep searching for it. I also hope that you search with YOUR eyes, YOUR ears, and YOUR heart. Yours are the only senses that you can truly trust.

Regrets?

I’ve been contemplating this subject for some time now.  What do I regret in life?

This is an extremely difficult subject to tackle.  I have made oodles and oodles of mistakes in my life.  I have made many decisions that have hurt me, friends and family.  So you would think I would have an entire Oprah Winfrey sized closet full of skeletons to choose from.

However, I have become a believer in everything happens for a reason.  So while I am sorry for past mistakes I’ve made.  I am where I am, and who I am because of the decisions I have made in life, both good and bad.

I think we are who we are not entirely by what happens to us throughout our lives but (maybe even more so) by how we react to life’s trials, tribulations and tragedies.

If you know me, you know I’m more apt to make a self deprecating comment about myself than to toot my own horn.  But, I’m about to toot…

It has been nearly 5 years since the worst day in my life.  A day that made me question whether or not I could continue on.  Well I found inner strength I never knew I had and I fought the good fight.  I can’t say every decision I made was a good one, but I made enough good ones to make it through that period of darkness in my life.

So if anyone is reading this that is in a dark place right now I can’t guarantee that in 5 years everything will be ok.  I will tell you that you need to be strong.  Fight the good fight.  Try to make good decisions, at least give yourself a chance!

Who am I today?  Well I’m far from the person I want to be but at least I’m headed in the right direction.

Where’d I put my Walkman I mean IPOD…

Ok, so honestly I don’t have an IPOD I have a Sony MP3 player and yes it is a walkman.  Hopefully Members Only jackets will come back and I can stroll along the street in my ReeBok high tops beboppin to some Wham with my Flock of Seagulls hairdo.  I’d be so retro cool.

I’m making an audible on this blog.  These are not 10 random songs from my IPOD, how could they be I don’t own one.  Instead these are some songs that have a lot of meaning to me, along with a brief description of why that is so.

I remember pestering my brother and sister to play Boston and America when I was a kid, too young to play records myself.  These are two of my favs from them:

1.       America – Sister Golden Hair

2.       Boston – Rock and Roll Band

Two of my favorite bands from High School were The Outfield and Scandal.  They were just really fun groups and remind me of the joy of H.S.

3.       Scandal – The Warrior

4.       The Outfield – Your Love

This song reminds me of the awesome group of guys from my H.S. baseball team:

5.       Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days

Also what would H.S. be without sappy love songs or a song about heartache?  This song reminds me of a young heart too unwise to know the difference between love and obsession:

6.       Foreigner – Down on Love

These are some songs from H.S. that helped me get through the tough times of being an often depressed teenager:

7.       Triumph – Fight the Good Fight

8.       Never Surrender – The title of 3 different songs by Triumph, Bruce, and Cory Hart

A deceased love taught me that like this song says: it’s not always rainbows and butterflies its compromise that moves us along:

9.       Maroon 5 – She Will be Loved

This list would not be complete without a song from my favorite band of all time.  This song is not my favorite but it is an awesome song that is a true celebration of music and the joy that it can bring:

10.   Rush – Spirit of the Radio

How about a bonus song?

* Bonus                                Bob Marley – Three Little Birds

 I first heard this song with my wife appropriately enough.  She taught me: "Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"

I stole this (does admitting it make it ok?)

When Tired & Lonely

by Ven. Samu Sunim

When you’re tired and disappointed,

Write a poem.

If you can’t write a poem,

Be silent.

If your feelings are painful,

Go to the park.

Watch the vibrant eyes of squirrels

Listen to the chat of sparrows

And Stand in Line with the Homeless.

“There shall be no outcasts in the world!”

When you’re full of complaints,

Write a poem.

If you can’t write a poem,

Have a glass of cold water.

Go for a run

Watch your steps

Look up to the sky.

Complaints are but a taint,

They are uninvited guests.

When you’re angry and hateful,

Write a poem.

If you can’t write a poem,

Do 365 prostrations invoking compassion*

Lower your body-mind with each bow

and rise again as a true person.

Surrender yourself to the Buddha within

Empower yourself with love and compassion.

There shall be no scumbags in the world!

When you’re poor and miserable,

Write a poem.

If you can’t write a poem,

Remember you’re still among the living.

Be grateful!

Learn to be content with what is available.

Being poor hurts

It is a blessing in disguise if you don’t mind.

There shall be no poor and lost souls in the world!

When you lose hope and are in despair,

Write a poem.

If you can’t write a poem,

Watch your mind.

Plains and streams play together to entertain all beings.

Is this not good enough,

Is this not good enough?

Wake up early tomorrow

Go for the sunrise.

There shall be no helplessly abandoned in the world!

*If you don’t like to perform prostrations, then climb up a mountain.

Day 5: Tuesdays, Februarys and the joy of 42 (At this age I thought…)

Really?  Does anyone ever think about what they’d be or where they’d be at 40 – something?  It’s really a wasteland of an age.  You couldn’t be further away from being young and cool, and retirement seems like a distant oasis to a person lost in the desert dying of thirst.

40 something – it’s like Tuesday.  The previous weekend is already a fading memory and Friday seems like a world away.

40  something – it’s like February.  Christmas is over, New Years is over, and the Bears were blown out in the playoffs (prediction).  It’s cold and really March may have the official beginning of spring in it but really that month blows too.  April?  I’m sorry but you suck too!

So to answer this one I guess I’ll just say I never thought about 42.  But for a Tuesday in February it’s a pretty good day!

Day 4: The Perfect Date

I guess our perfect date would take place while Susy and I are on vacation in some tropical spot.  Maybe start off with some fun on a wave runner followed by some hammock time and maybe a nice siesta.

Then maybe a leisurely scenic motorcycle ride. 

Then a boat ride out to a private island for dinner.  I’m thinking a nice filet and lobster.

A barefoot walk along the beach.  Sit and relax awhile and listen to the waves crash onto the shore.

Hightail it back to our suite overlooking the ocean.  Make a little love, get down tonight – get down tonight.

From here I’d say go back down to the beach for a nice beach side show – but really I’m sure we’d just end up snuggling in bed and watching some TV before drifting off to sleep.

Wow!  Do you want to head somewhere warm as much as I do right now?  Think I’ll go check out Travelocity!

Day 3 - Stesses Me Out!!!

I guess I could say home repair, maintenance and remodeling stresses me out.

I'm truly horrible at these.  I really wish I'd spent more time with my old man in the garage and less time playing with my Barbie's when I was growing up (just kidding I didn't play with dolls when I was a kid - they were ACTION FIGURES!) 

I can remember trying to fix a flat on my bicycle tire when I was a kid and I literally came about a half inch from driving a screw driver into my eye and possibly into my brain.  That incident pretty much set the tone for my career as a handy man.

So right now at home I have a living room that has some holes in the wall that need to be repaired, and some paint touched up.  In the basement I have a ceiling tile about to come crashing down (yes my previous handy work).  We have a kitchen and a bathroom that are complete disasters.  Outside we probably have one of the top 3 worst lawns on the block, the landscaping needs some TLC.  The gutters need cleaning (yeah I'm afraid of roofs, I'm such a wuss!).  The porch and garage door needs painting.

OK yeah, even writing about it stresses me out.

In the words of Frank Costanza - SERENITY NOW!!!