I’m a big fan of chewy candy. I love salt water taffy, Mike and Ikes, Airheads, etc. As a birthday gift, my two-year-old niece, Lilly, gave me a big box of sour gummy stars. The kid knows me pretty well. Shortly after I opened them, she repossessed the gift. She put one in her mouth. As she began to put another in her mouth I told her not to. Sometimes she minds better than other times. She put another piece of candy in her mouth. I explained this may be a bad idea. Have you ever tried to reason with a two-year-old?

She grabbed another gummy star.

Continue reading →

I’ve never been a big fan of Reality TV. Maybe because I know it’s not real. Or maybe I’m still bitter about Vanilla Ice stealing all my dance moves and using them to make it big. I’ve just never understood the attraction to the “reality” drama. Despite my aversion to these type entertainment offerings, I have gotten sucked into The Voice the last few seasons. I love that show. I didn’t give it a chance at first because a few years ago I watched American Idol and hated it.

I was thinking about my different feelings towards these two series. On American Idol, if someone messed up it was a free for all for the judges. Off came the gloves. The smarmy guy with the funny accent would scold them. “That was, without a doubt, undeniably, irrefutably, no question, the worst thing I have ever heard. (Pretty sure he said this every show). Your voice is horrible. Your hair is ridiculous. I don’t know how your mother could have loved you or what reason you could possibly have for getting out of bed in the morning.” The guy was just mean. Continue reading →

The night before Dan’s funeral I couldn’t sleep. Went downstairs, grabbed the laptop and started typing. Was so out of it, I didn’t really know what I had written. I read it the next morning and decided to print a copy and take it to the funeral to give to Dan’s parents.

A few minutes before the funeral the minister approached Ben, Tyler and me and said,”Dan’s parents would like the three of you to say a few words during the service.” When my turn came, I stepped to the pulpit, and couldn’t say a word. My throat locked up, my eyes welled, and my brain froze. And then I felt some papers in the inside pocket of my suit pocket move. It took everything I had to read these few words.

I had been pretty mad at God that week. But, I like to think that a rustling of paper in my suit pocket, at a moment when I needed strength, was a kind of an apology, or at least a message that I was not alone. Continue reading →

Recently, I’ve given some thought to how lucky I am. I’m not sure if it’s because of
the friends that I’ve chosen or have chosen me. Or maybe I’m in some way blessed. But, I’ve been fortunate to have some really incredible people share the road with me on this journey through life.

A lot of philosophers and psychologists will disagree with me. I’ve always held the belief that people are inherently good. We can debate this another time; but, I’m happier thinking this than I would be if I didn’t. Because of my blind faith in people, I’m often disappointed. However; occasionally, fate will place someone in my path that completely restores my belief system.

Mike Justice was one of those people. Continue reading →

The church parsonage in Murphy shared a driveway with Duke and his wife, Edna. Before school I would walk down to the bottom of the steep hill, grab both of our newspapers, and deliver Duke’s to him. My motives were not completely altruistic. Duke, at one time, owned a restaurant. After retirement he continued to cook. Every day he would prepare enough breakfast for about 20 people. His friends and former regulars at his restaurant would stop by throughout the morning. They would eat, drink coffee, and hang out for a while. His first visitor of the day was usually the nine-year-old kid from next door bearing his paper.

He and his friends would discuss the news of the day. And in the late ’70s there was a lot of news. Headlines told us of earthquakes and plane crashes and a nut in Jonestown leading a murder-suicide. It seemed like a daily occurrence that hundreds of people were dying in some sort of natural disaster or catastrophe. I was nine and already becoming desensitized to death.

Then one day I learned a lesson from Duke that changed the way my mind processes tragedy. That morning I walked in with the paper and helped myself to a hot, buttery, flaky, spicy, delicious, sausage biscuit. Duke had sausage biscuits figured out. He opened the paper I handed him and read the headline. “Twenty-three people killed in a bus crash.” The stupid, desensitized, invulnerable, breakfast mooching nine-year-old responded, “that’s not that many” and continued to eat his biscuit. Continue reading →

My Dad is a retired Methodist minister. He’s one of those guys that instead of preaching to or at you he tells stories and uses parables to teach lessons.

I remember one Sunday he was talking about faith. He told a story of a small village. One day in this village a lamb fell down into a deep hole. This was in a time and a place where losing livestock was a pretty big deal. You couldn’t just head over to Sheeps-R-Us and buy a new lamb. Continue reading →

“When he took time to help the man up the mountain, lo, he scaled it himself.” – Tibetan Proverb

One of my college friends lives across the street from Jason Lezak. You may not recognize that name. My pal says he’s a great guy. However, Steve’s sons are a little less impressed with their Dad’s plastic motocross trophies since Jason let them wear his gold medals.

In the 2008 Olympics the Americans were losing a race. Then Jason swam the anchor leg of the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay faster than anyone ever had. Without Jason, Michael Phelps would not have won his record 8th gold medal. After the race Michael couldn’t say enough about Jason and how much he owed to his effort.

A few years later, after the Jamaicans won the men’s 4 x 100 relay (the on land version), some of Usain Bolt’s first words were “I am a legend. I am number one!” Granted, he is. And he is the fastest man alive; however, I expected some acknowledgement of the other three guys on his team. His team probably did, too.

Sometimes, we pay more attention to the mountaintop we’re standing on than the people who helped us climb it.

As you ascend peaks; stop, take a look around. Who is on the top of the mountain holding the other end of the rope? Let them know you appreciate them not letting go of it.

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” – John F. Kennedy

The chicken was marinated. The sun was setting. My favorite time of day. Time to light the grill. Once the thermometer hit 400 degrees I threw on enough chicken to keep me fed for the next few days. As the last piece hit the grill and started to sizzle I heard a horrible sound. Five tiny puffs as the burners went. Crud. Propane tank is empty. No worries. I’ve got plenty. I opened up the door to Grill Central (my outdoor closet) and grabbed another tank. Empty. No worries…I’ve got four tanks in here. And surely, when I took the last full one I would have gotten at least one of them re-filled. Nope. I’m the proud owner of 5 empty propane tanks. Continue reading →

“Don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do.” – Joel Runyon

One of my favorite things to read is the ImpossibleHQ Blog. The writer, Joel Runyon, is one of those guys with an outstanding perspective. One of his mantras is that “if you want to change your life, you have to change your life.” Do you want to lose weight? There is no magic pill. Would you like to visit another country? There is no Star Trek transporter beam. Feel a desire to be better at your job or get promoted? There’s not a shot that will do that for you.

You and you alone have to make the decisions and sacrifices and effort to make these things happen.

Take control of your own destiny.

“If you want to change your life, you have to change your life.”

Have a great day!