Tough One

To say the least, life doesn’t always turn out the way you would like it to all the time.

Since we are coming up on Super Bowl 50, I thought I would throw a few questions at you.  A few tough ones at that… 

1-What Super Bowl winning linebacker once said, “When emotions run high, logic runs low?

a)Matt Millen              b)Donald Trump         c) Mike Singletary       d)Bill Romanowski

2- Name the head referee for Super Bowl 50?

a)Ed Hochuli               b)Phil Luckett             c)Clete Blakeman        d)Ozzy Osburne

3- Name the quarterback who has appeared in five straight Super Bowls and lost them all?

a)Doug Flutie              b) Gale Gilbert            c) Doug Pederson       d) Frank Reich

 

ANSWER KEY:

1-The answer is d) BILL ROMANOWSKI.  Romo, as he was affectionately referred to in his playing days, was a controversial player to say the least with questionable character issues..  He once spit on an opponent and was widely considered by his peers to be a dirty player for other such questionable tactics.  But, he was right on the nose about how it is a tough thing to think clearly when we let our feelings get the best of us.

2- The answer is c) BLAKE CLETEMAN.  To say the least, the assignment of being the head official in the biggest football game of the year is a definitely a tough one.  The main thing most people remember about him is that a few weeks ago during the Cards-Packers game he had a controversial coin flip to start overtime, where the coin literally did not flip.  Oh well, who hasn’t made a mistake in their life.  Best of luck Blake.  

3- The answer is b) GALE GILBERT. This very little known back-up quarterback played for the Buffalo Bills in the early 1990’s when they went to the Super Bowl 4 straight times.  Then he was with the San Diego Chargers as a backup when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers in 1995. However, Gilbert is a great lesson that we don’t always get what we are striving after to get.  Sometimes, life can just be a tough one.  From what I can gather, he merely took it like a man.

With that being said, Gale Gilbert’s story reminds me of how we all need to keep moving forward.  A few weeks ago, while waiting at a deli for my lunch, I overheard one man ask another how he was doing.  The man simply responded- BEATING AND BREATHING.  How true.  Regardless of how we may have felt slighted or hurt by life, if we are alive it is best to make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

A tough one to swallow is when we waste a breath feeling sorry for ourselves.

Swavel

So Easily

Personal perception is simply not reality; it is rather what we believe to be true.

Pervading thought that so many of us live by: just leave me alone.

As I see it, most of us love comfort and what makes us happy.  Sadly, I think at least for me, most of my likes are just personal perceptions of what I want reality to be in my own little world.  We perceive, we believe, we want it to be, so we think it is.  When in reality, facts don’t change because we would like them to do so.

 SO EASILY WE FORGET:

-That bridges freeze before road surfaces. Who hasn’t laughed at this sign in the dead of summer?  Yet, this January in thirty some degree weather, black ice took me and my truck off a road narrowly missing the  bridge that I was driving on, as I consequently wiped out an innocent mailbox.  The fact is ice does not care if you are in a hurry or not.

-The things we promise to others.  For whatever reason, I have seen an uptick in this during the past few years. Young people in particular will say they will do something, unless something else better comes along.  The principle I was taught growing up was this - if you give your word, keep it…

-To stay focused.  We live in an ADHD world where it is optional to pay attention.  Subsequently, we make excuses for people’s poor behavior.  This I believe, in many cases allows people to do their own thing, often resulting in a detrimental outcome for them.

-To get what we came for in the grocery store.  This is a personal problem I struggle with each time I go to the grocery store alone. My only answer is to go with a shopping buddy.  I guess the merchandising geniuses are right when then set out to get you in the store for a free item and your cart ends up with stuff like ice cream and peanuts…

-To tell the ones we care about that we love them.  People know that we love them, why bother telling them.  If I had a dollar for every time I heard that load of horse manure, I‘d be a billionaire. If you love somebody leave no doubt, so that when you are dead and gone no one will even be able argue the point.

-To not be such a jerk.  Before I hit the black ice I was frustrated with the driver in front of me for driving so slow.  Truth is they were right and I was the jerk.

-To realize we were never really in control in the first place. Think about this one for a brief moment.  I mean really think about it.  You can prepare yourself for the day, but so much stuff happens that you can’t micromanage it all; no matter how hard you try.

-God does what He pleases. If you don’t believe in God, you have the choice to do what you want with your life. However, as a follower of God I have the privilege and need to follow Him wherever He leads. 

  

As far as I am concerned, anyone with a resume like created the world in 6 days and gave His only Son for me that I might live eternally with Him is good enough for me.  But, you can always choose to be left alone, to do what you think is best.

Human beings are creatures of habit, which even the best of men so easily succumb to more than not.

Swavel

Free Advice

Everybody has an opinion; the trick is paying attention to the ones that can change your life.

What better time for some advice than when the year is still so sparkling, brand new. So, here is a list of some free advice that comes to my mind…

-Always have a good mechanic.  You never know when your car might have its water pump go in ten degree temperature. I speak from personal experience.

-Slow and clear.  The aforementioned car mechanic leaves this little tidbit on his answering machine, right after he tells you to leave your name and number.  I think its excellent advice; because if no one can understand what you are saying there is no way they can properly assist you.

-When you fall down get back up.  This sounds like a no-brainer, but far too many of us allow life to get the best of us.  Like a boxer who just got cold cocked, we lie on the mat getting the ten count, because we are tired of being hit.  What we don’t realize is that the other guy must be getting tired too, as he just expended a lot of energy to knock you down.  The last thing he wants to see is you get back up again.

-Try to be slow to anger.  This is easier said than done.  Yet, remember people tend to respond to kind words over people who are seething at them.  Screaming never really gets what you want. It just bullies people into letting you have what you want, and who really wants that.

-Try not to think the worst of someone else.  Allow others to jump to conclusions about those who they don’t know the full story about, because knowing the full story is God’s job.

-Stop leaving the milk out. Fairly self-explainable, yet, as an adult I still struggle to remember to do this consistently.  Well, maybe this year. 

Recalculating is a good option.  Never stay stuck in a bad situation or with a bad way of thinking.  Just like the GPS says RECALCULATING when you make a turn it doesn’t like, and then helps you get where you need to go.

-Bent is not broken.  Bent people are just people who have had some stuff happen to them, and it has messed them up real good.  No one is perfect and hopefully we all learn from our mistakes and eventually can get things turned around.

-Losing is gaining.  Everyone at this time of the year wants to lose weight.  Eat less and exercise more basically.  However, what’s truly more sustainable is losing our complaining attitudes.

Well, technically I may not have given you the best advice for the New Year, but hopefully some sound advice. At the very least, it is free advice. Then again what do I know, I struggle with leaving the milk out overnight.

Free advice or not, the best advice any one can ever receive is to never give up.

Swavel

North Please

There is no place to go but up, is always a better thought to embrace than why bother. 

 

There are just some images you can never get out of your head.  A strange man holding a cardboard sign which read, NORTH PLEASE, is one such depiction for me.

To fully explain, I must back up about a year.  About once a month, as part of my old job, my work partner and I would drive our box truck on road trips out of state.  So, last winter we were given a job that required us to drive on the highway approximately four hours one way.   Consequently, my partner and I would stop halfway at a rest facility to take a bathroom break.

On this particular trip, it was quite frigid as I got out of the truck.  It was then that I saw an odd man appearing to be in his twenties, sitting on a bench in plain view of all who walked by to visit the restrooms. He was dressed in worn out clothes and was holding a cardboard sign reading NORTH PLEASE.

  

As I passed by, he said nothing, I said nothing.  He reminded me of a modern day hitchhiker, someone who struck me as mysterious and someone who seemed a little dodgy. To pick up a stranger at rest facility is not only risky, but was prohibited by company rules, so I kept moving.  However, that sign with his simple request, NORTH PLEASE, stayed with me.

What would happen, as we approach a new year, if we tried to be more positive and looked up more, and went north instead of south with our attitudes.  It is a far better alternative than being disgruntled while looking down, and playing the woe is me card.  Being positive doesn’t fix everything, but it can make our journey in life much more enjoyable.

North please, is not just a destination, but can be a very gratifying state of mind.

Swavel     

Most Costly

Some phrases bear repeating, just simply because they do.

It just isn’t truly Christmas for me, till I sing, IN EXCELIS DEO.

This catchy phrase is from the Christmas hymn, Angels We Have Heard on High.  It is a song that I have sung since I was a child and in my late teens was taught by my choir director to sing it as In Ex-SHELL-is Deo.  Still do it to this day.  But, for all the heartwarming memories, I never really knew much more than it just sounded really majestic to sing this glorious old tune.

So, now I decided to dig deeper and find out what In Excelis Deo really does means.  According to dictionary.com, the origin is Latin and literally means Glory to God in the Highest and the English version is Glory be to God on High.  This makes sense because it sounds like a profoundly moving declaration that angels would proclaim about the Almighty God. 

With that being said, allow me to give you my take that I just recently discovered about In Excelsis Deo.  About a year ago I heard Angels We Have Heard on High, sung by the group, Mercy Me. Halfway through the song they sung a new verse that went like this.  How could Heaven’s heart not break, on the day that you (Jesus) came.  Salvation’s reason to celebrate, on the day that you (Jesus) came.

I get it now.  God gave up His Son, Jesus, something most costly, given as a gift to all mankind, so that we all might truly live.  Well, at least so we could all have the opportunity to do so.  An act that must have hurt God deeply to do so.

So, now when I hear In Excelsis Deo, it reminds me that angels were proclaiming with joy and sadness how great our God truly is and how much He loves us.

The most costly gifts, the ones given from the heart, are always the best.

Swavel