The perfect last bite

When I eat a meal I do so in a very particular order. If I've never had the dish before, I will go around the plate and try each food. Then I will start with the least tasty food and work my way to the most tasty.

I do this so that my last bite is the best one of the meal. I want to end it on a good note.

As I was doing this at lunch today, I started to think about it, and how I should be doing this with everything in my life.

I should try new things, for sure! Then decide what I like best, and work my way up to it. And I should end everything with that perfect bite. (no, not in a vampiric way) But in the sense that I am ending things on a good note.

I think that's something I can live with. A way of live that will produce few regrets.

Light bulb

I love it when you have those moments of clarity and things come together in your mind and just make sense.

It's a wonderful feeling. It feels like the sun after days of rain!

So here I sit, in the toasty sun, enjoying the clear day and my clear mind.

What I wish I could say...

I miss you.

And I'm sad I can't talk to you.

I think about you often.

Sometimes I laugh to myself when I think of a joke we shared.

I wish I could have said goodbye.

I miss you.

Polished turds

We all have vices, and while some of us are better at pretending we don't have them, or try to shine them up and make them look pretty, it doesn't change what they are.

You can polish up a turd, but at the end of the day, it's still a turd. It's the same for vices.

These vices or weaknesses can vary from person to person, and some of us have similar ones. Some are blatantly obvious, and others hide in the dark corners.

What would it be like if we all had to carry a sign, listing our three biggest weaknesses? Would we still judge others so harshly, when we know they can see our faults as well? Would we still try to polish them up?

Or, would we extend a hand of friendship and understanding? Would we seek the help of our friends and neighbors in overcoming our own weaknesses?

Would we, at the end of the day, be able to look each other in the eye, look past our faults, and see one another for who we are?

And in doing so, would we all not be so alone. I think so.

One of the worst side effects of polishing turds is you will just get poo all over you and stink. And the stench will create a distance between you and everyone else...and then you'll be alone.

So don't polish your turds. Okay? Okay.

Fear of failure

What would you do if you could not fail?

This is a question that I heard a while back. And for some reason, after hearing it, it really got me thinking.

For too long I had allowed the fear of failure keep me from success. When I heard this question I began thinking of all the things I wanted to do, if failure weren't an option.

And then...I started thinking, "what if I just did try all those things, even if failure was an option?"

So I did.

I started trying things I had once feared failing.

And I did fail at some, a lot even. But I also succeeded, a lot. With each success, trying something new became easier and easier. And failure hurt less.

Though I don't think failure will ever not hurt in some way, success has become so sweet that it's worth the risk.

Risks are still very scary. Thinking about possible negative outcomes can really freak me out. But then I think about the possible positive outcomes. And from my experience, the outcome usually lands somewhere in the middle.

I have gotten to point where I can take calculated risks, and to a point where I almost feel compelled to.

And, I have also gotten to the point where risks pay off. Even the ones that end badly, there is something I can learn from the heartache.

What would you do if you couldn't fail?

Graduation

Last night was my baby brother's graduation from high school. I'm so proud of him! It's all a little crazy if I think about it much. I remember when the kid was born, which was actually 18 years ago today. (The day of my oldest brother's high school graduation actually.)

I don't know how typical graduations go, but the Blue Ridge High School graduations are pretty much the same, every year.

The kids walk, they do the national anthem and pledge, they sit, they do speeches, they do a senior video, then they give each kid their diploma, which usually followed by a big hoo-raw!

There are a couple things I want to address about this particular graduation...

The national anthem- now I am not going to say it couldn't have been the bad acoustics, but boy howdy, it sounded bad. It was sung by three or four girls, and probably three or four of them were off key. It was great.

When it came to the senior video, though incredibly cliche and predictable, I was pleased to find the classic Green Day song "I hope you had the time of your life," was played on the video.

It's the perfect "feel good" graduation song. The type of song that makes you nostalgic for the past and hopeful for the future.

If I remember correctly that song was on my senior video nine years ago.

I was very hopeful for the future the day of my graduation. I was happy and looking forward to making a new life.

I didn't end up with the life I had I planned or hoped for...right away. It took nine years to reach the level of happiness I had on that graduation day, again.

It was something unpredictable, but in the end, it turned out right...and I've had the time of my life.

There are lots of fish...

....but I don't date fish.






So don't tell me to.