A Phase

I’m having one of those moments where I have to just get a bunch of stuff off my chest.  I have a lot on my mind and writing it down is the best way for me to get it all out.  Lately, I am going through one of those wierd phases where I feel like I have to do something and I don’t know why.  There’s not really a logical reason to back it up… I just feel like i have to do it.  It doesn’t matter how much I try to convince myself how stupid it is or how many ways I try to justify avoiding the decision, the feeling just keeps coming back.  On top of the distress I’ve been feeling regarding this matter, I have the stresses of finals, group projects, a church calling, friends who need me (and the worst part) friends that I need but don’t really seem to be there for me.  That was a generalized statement, not meant for the majority of my faithfuls… but for some reason those that I want to be there for me most just don’t seem to be.  I am very familiar with the rollercoaster effect.  When life gets really really good (high), you can expect a big drop fairly soon.  It seems to me that the drop is arriving.  It’s not very exciting looking over the edge either.  I am reminded of the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (correct me if I’m wrong on this one) where Indiana has to take the leap of faith and step out onto thin air to find a pathway over a bottomless pit.  I just have no clue if I will be as fortunate as he, and have a solid stepping stone resting beneath me after I jump out… I hate this feeling…

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Spiritual Growth

Tonight, while surfing the blog-o-sphere, I came across a site with a post that caught my attention. The title of said post was “10 Tips On Making Life Fun.” I read through the post from top to bottom expecting some shallow, fluffy recipe on how to make a new friend every day or finding a reason to be grateful for doing the dishes or mowing the lawn. Instead I found a fairly interesting list of thoughtful acts and insights that we all know we should have, but forget about. It reminded me alot of a book I just finished reading. To be honest, reading this book has been the closest thing I’ve had to what would be called a “life changing experience.” The book is entitled The Greatest Miracle In The World by Og Mandino.

The book is so jam packed with amazing quotes, advice, stories, characters and anecdotes that you have to read it multiple times to even scratch the surface of its worth and potential to change your life. The book, in a nutshell, is about a man who has searched and studied all of his life to simplify a message that God has been trying to communicate to us for centuries through various masterpieces made by the greats artists and authors of our day. The message, in and of itself, is a prescription on how to live a happy life.

So many of us are unhappy, living lives that seem to be monotonous, pointless and pointing us in a path to what we deem a worthless destination. We don’t seem to realize that we have such great potential to make our lives happier, more interesting and full of opportunity. The tips (which finally come at the very end of the book) are so simple, yet so profound. They are:

1) Count your blessings. You can see a sunrise, you can hear a baby cry, you can feel new socks on your feet, you can smell bread baking, you can taste the sweetness of sugar, the sour of citrus and the spice of cinnamon. You have a functioning body that lets you experience life and all of its little blessings. If you have nothing else, you have this.

2) Proclaim your rarity. “Consider a painting by Rembrandt or a bronze by Degas or a violin by Stradivarius or a play by Shakespeare. They have great value for two reasons: their creators were masters and they are few in number. Yet there are more than one of each of these… On that reasoning you are the most valuable treasure on the face of the earth, for you know who created you and there is only but one of you… Never, until the end of time, will there be another such as you.”

3) Go another mile. “You cannot command success, you can only deserve it… and now you now the great secrecy necessary in order to merit its rare reward. Go another mile!”

4) Use wisely your power of choice. “Choose to love… rather than hate. Choose to laugh… rather than cry. Choose to create… rather than destroy. Choose to persevere… rather than quit. Choose to praise… rather than gossip. Choose to heal… rather than wound. Choose to give… rather than steal. Choose to act… rather than procrastinate. Choose to grow… rather than rot. Choose to pray… rather than curse. Choose to live… rather than die.”

Applying these 4 simple principles will really give one the ability to change ones life. Look for the good you have. Know your value and importance. Help those who are in need (as my mother said, “if you need to lighten your own burdens, help carry the burdens of another. Yours will seem much lighter afterward.”) And don’t forget… you have the power to choose. I hope this friendly reminder that we are in control of our lives, and not the other way around, will help some of you out there as much as it’s helped me. I recommend taking a look at Charles Hamel’s site which is full of life tips and advice on personal peace and spiritual growth as well as buying and putting into practice the steps found in Og Mandino’s book.

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Did I Say That?

If you are like me, and you have “foot-in-mouth disease” (you only take your foot out of your mouth so you can stick the other one in), you are sick of walking on egg shells every time you talk to someone. Its funny to me how people can get all bent out of shape over the smallest things. Lately I have noticed a HUGE increase of politically incorrect accusations in the media. Michael Richards made an apology on David Letterman due to some racial slurs he made on stage during his standup routine. Tim Hardaway, one of the greatest NBA players of all time, was kicked out of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend due to a comment he made on a radio interview about how he would have felt (if he were not retired) about playing on the same team as a homosexual. Someone even demanded an apology from Tiger Woods for stating, after three putting on three consecutive holes, “once I got on the greens, I was a spaz. ” It seems like everyone is looking for something to be offended about. Eric Snider proves it with an awesomely sarcastic article about discrimination on his website.

From Blacks and Jews to Gays and even women (who, at times, seem to claim themselves as a minority when, in fact, they represent over half of the human population on God’s green earth.) I am beginning to wonder when it will be my time to complain, file law suits and get national news coverage due to someone’s offensive statement or act directed toward me. I want to be famous for being a whiner! If I can’t get on a reality TV show, be featured on digg.com or have a video of me featured on the front page of youtube, I at least deserve to create a national crisis by standing up for my right to be who I am! I have the moral obligation to defend my standing as a white, twenty-something year old, middle class, medium height, semi-athletic, male of average intelligence. I want to take a stand! I want to protest! I want to revolt against my discriminators and the nation that permits such atrocities to take place within its bounds. I want to force a celebrity to apologize on national TV! Now I just need to find someone to hate me…

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Benefit Concert

I’m pumped! I just found out that my final project in one of my communications classes is planning a huge benefit concert for a local charity. We are in charge of the advertising and promotion of the concert, coordinating things between the school, the charity, the venue and the bands. It’s a huge task, especially since it’s due to take place in roughly 2 weeks and I have other finals to worry about as well. What makes it exciting is that I’m so obsessed with service, music and advertising. They are three of the things I feel most passionately about. In this project I get to work with all three! We are even working on recruiting some of my favorite local artists to perform. It should be a bang up show. I will post more details as they come, and I’ll also have a page on my blog dedicated to the concert as soon as I have material to post. Keep your eyes and ears open, this is going to be awesome!

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