Only Ugly People Eat Mustard
About twelve years ago I was at a restaurant with one of my best friends and his four year old son.
He had ordered a burger his son and enthusiastically his son asked for him to put some mustard on for him. ‘No son’ he said ‘only ugly people eat mustard’. At the time I thought it was pretty funny and I made some remark about future therapy.
Not long ago I talked to my friend for the first time in a while. His son is graduating from High school and getting ready to go to collage. For some reason I remembered the mustard incident. To this day his son does not like mustard. The remarkable thing is he doesn’t know why.
The point is we have all been told lies. Most of the time these where told to protect us. Sometimes they where meant as jokes. Kids take most everything adults say very seriously. Sometimes they are just mistruths that someone passed on to them they didn’t even realize they are aren’t’ true or no longer apply. For instance ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ Money is normally made from paper and so yes it does grow on trees. You have have money to make money. Sometimes they tell us you can’t do that even though we can.
These things that people tell us shape our beliefs often without our even knowing it. Be careful what you tell your children and be very careful what you listen to.
LIFE
Last week was very special to me. I witnessed the birth of my daughter. My wife went through a very difficult labor in the end the doctor had to perform an emergency C-section. I used to think I was tough. After all I am a former U.S. Marine and I do know more than one Martial Art. However after seeing what my wife has gone through and how quickly she is recovering I realize I’ve got nothing on that one. My wife is one amazing lady.
My daughter is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. When I look into her deep blue eyes I am floating in a sea of gratitude. Who would have thought something so small would bring so much joy.
We have named our little miracle, Zoe which is Greek for life.
I want her to live up to her namesake and experience life to its fullest. I have already started the brain washing process. While giving her her bottle I will remind her in a soft pleasing tone that she will be going to a good univeristy, to only date nice guys, and that she should enjoy the small things in life.
I hope for you what I hope for my daughter that you live an enjoyable fulfilling life!
A Good Home for Mo
A couple of years ago I was listening to Denis Waitley speak and he was telling a a story about his older neighbor planting a shade tree that he would never feel the shade from.
I found this to be a most profound story about our disposable ‘instant gratification’ society. There is a definite need to act in ways that will improve life in the future, even if we never experience the results of our labor. Those that come after us can appreciate our labor… our legacies to them.
Enter project Mo. You see Mo is a Mighty Oak tree currently trapped in the guise of a potted plant. After hearing the Waitley story I planted an acorn that I then named Mo. It was a great lesson for me not to see things as they are but for seeing them for the potential for what they can be.
You see I have a vision for Mo. Although he currently only stands 5′ 8” one day he will be a nice shade tree. Birds will nest in him and children may climb him. I was quite the tree climber when I was kid. Perhaps a tire swing will hang from one of his lower limbs.
I nurtured and watered Mo and have transplanted him to the biggest pot I could find. The other day I went to move him and he had put a tap root down through the bottom of the pot.
The investment property I planned to move him too didn’t work out and I need someplace to plant him. My yard has too many large oaks already and there is no room for him to grow.
If you know of a nice sunny spot that we can plant him where no one will cut him down…. a place where he can grow to his full potential please let me know.
Remember to plant shade trees for others that you might not ever see the fruit of.
Mo's Dad
The Ultimate Adventure
I have been a bit lazy in my postings and I apologize. As I have yet to monetize this blog it normally takes a back seat to DPA’s (dollar producing activities). I will begin posting a little more often about a wide variety of subjects. And of course there are many grand adventures to be reported.
In fact I have been chosen to experience the ultimate adventure! An adventure more incredible than jumping out of planes or diving with sharks could ever be!
Wait for it… that adventure of parenthood!
Yes in July I am about to be a Daddy. Like most adventures I am excited but a bit apprehesive. Since we are a little older my wife is undergoing all kinds of extra tests. Every outside possiblity of a problem is explored. Like in most things you must prepare yourself for the things that can go wrong while avoiding giving yourself a nervous breakdown over things you can do nothing about or arent’ going to happen.
Yes I am sure this parent thing will be a lesson in personal development no seminar can teach( although being a seminar junkie I will take one on parenthood)
Fun in the Sunburnt Country
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- Downtown Melburne
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- Melborne Botanical Gardens
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- New Years in the Country
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- The road less traveled
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- A view from the top
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- Mckenzie Falls
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- Koala
My time in Oz was well spent. It gave me a much needed rest and allowed me to recharge the batteries, so to speak. I met some really cool people while I was over there and got to see some really amazing things. Most of the time time we stayed with friends and family but when we did book accommodation we went first class all the way right down to the jacuzzi tub. A while back I talked to a consultant. I expected him to hand me some stone tablet with the keys to success.He just gave one real simple piece of advice. Stay in a first class resort. Your brain will remember what its like and, if you enjoy it, your subconscious mind will want to take you back. Living in style will be a memory not just a dream.
It sounded like good advice to me! So I started doing it.
Australia was Awesome
I hope your 2010 has started out great. It looks to me like it’s going to be an amazing year! I started mine out in exploring Victoria Australia. Not only was it great to get away it was also nice to meet a whole bunch of new people from the Aussie side of the family. ( and new friends as well)
Traveling that far afield has alowed me to get some new perspective. Something I feel is important is having different perspectives to look at the world from. Wouldn’t you agree?
As the nature geek that I am I was also able to encounter all kinds of interesting wildlife that Americans just don’t get a chance to see. Whenever I can I get out into the woods or the bush as its called in Australia. Nothing allows me to think as clearly as when I am out in nature. If you get far enough away you can forget about all the troubles and stresses of the normal world. You are completely engaged in the experience around you. This creates a strange kind of meditative state. All kinds of creative ideas will pop into your head. You will feel exhilarated!
“Question: What do many of the Characters from the bible, the knights of old and the ancient shamans have in common?
“Answer: time alone in the wilderness”
Unknown
Happy Holidays & Goodbye to 2009
From my first trip to OZ holding Medusa so named becasuse she is so cute she will turn you to stone
I apologize I have not been posting with any consistency for the last couple of months. I have been using that energy to write a book. I will tell you more about this later.
I hope this holiday season finds you and your family well. May 2010 be your best year ever.
I am off to Australia for the holidays. Christmas Down under so to speak - I am sure I will have all kinds of adventures to report back when I return.
Next year we have all kinds of crazy things planned for this site.
Learning to See
How fast can you spot the two otters in this picture
People tell me I have an uncanny ability to spot wildlife.
This is a skill I actually learned in the Marines. We where always playing war games in which we were looking for each other and setting up mock ambushes. You learned to scan the terrain for anything inconsistent. Anything out of the ordinary. Many times ‘the enemy’ was hiding in plain sight.
So I took this skill and used it to spot critters. They usually do the same thing: try to hide in plain sight. The main thing is that I bother to look when most people are lost in their internal dialogue.
One day I was driving around with some Real Estate investor friends of mine. We were talking about net operating income or something along those lines when I shouted out “There is a red shouldered hawk!” I think they thought I was weird as many people do.
I like to hang out with investors of all types. Why you may ask? Because they have have learned to SEE OPPORTUNITY!! Most of them say “opportunity likes to hide in plain sight.” Sometimes it likes to disguise itself as hard work.
The important thing is if you look for something you can probably find it. All you have to do is train yourself to see.
Beware the Vampire
Vampires are everywhere! They could be at your work; they could be in your home, at the grocery store even on the Television.
No I am not talking about the kind with fangs that turn into bats. I am talking about energy vampires. They are everywhere and they will suck you dry if you let them.
Energy, spirit, chi, ki, or prana exist in some form in every culture. It is the life force that binds all living things. People that live in the now tend to have more energy. These are the adventurers, the entrepreneurs, the imagineers that create wonderful things. The ones those are not afraid to do things differently.
The problem is energy travels in a downward gradient. In other words energy travels from highest concentration to lowest concentration. The people with low self esteem, with poor mental attitudes, and the belief that they can never do it have a very low level of energy.
People with low amounts of energy often gravitate to those with more energy. They seek to drain out some of that energy so that everyone is on the same page. It is not even always on purpose. They will use their evil draining power on you if you let them. ‘You are not good enough. The grass isn’t always greener you will never get that idea off the ground’ and other such nonsense will spill out of their mouths.
Don’t let the Vampires get you! Keep your dreams alive by feeding them every day.
Mile Stones
Last week I hit one of those mile stones in life.
I am now at the point in my life that most people refer to as middle age.
Strangely enough I felt no urge to go out and buy a Corvette or other phallic shaped car. Not that they are not nice cars. They just trigger a certain stereotype in my mind.
What it did do however is cause me to take inventory of yourself. What do you want to do now? I thought of all the cool things I have done up to this point. I thought of all that I have accomplished. I thought of the many failures I have experienced and the mistakes I have made, and hey I am still here. Most of the things that went wrong weren’t nearly as bad as I imagined them to be. In fact in hind sight many of the things that looked the worst turned out to be some of the greatest opportunities or at least necessary learning tools to get you to the next level.
Well I for one plan on kicking my adventure level up a notch starting with my trip to Australia this December. So be prepared for some wild stuff on this site.
Remember life doesn’t really get good until you hit (Fill in the blank)
Enjoy today and may your own life be filled with….
