Category: Life Lessons

You have everything to gain, JUST DO IT!

I must have be 19 or so when I came across this Nike ad.  I loved how it motived me, so much so that I wrote it down on a piece of paper.  I recently found this piece of paper in a box of old stuff, now tattered, torn, and yellowed. I’m so glad I held onto it to enjoy yet again.  Enjoy yourself…

Too often we are scared.
Scared of what we might not be able to do.
Scared of what people might think if we tried.
We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.
We say no when we want to say yes.
We sit quietly when we want to scream.
And we shout with the others, when we should keep our mouths shut.
Why?
After all, we do only go around once.
There’s really no time to be afraid.
So stop.
Try something you’ve never tried.
Risk it.
Enter a triathlon.
Write a letter to the editor.
Demand a raise.
Call winners at the toughest court.
Throw away your television.
Bicycle across the United States.
Try bobsledding.
Try anything.
Speak out against the designated hitter.
Travel to a country where you don’t speak the language.
Patent something.
Call her.
You have nothing to lose
and everything
everything
everything to gain.
JUST DO IT.

The original ad…

[ADULTS ONLY] Ogres can live happily ever after too, not just Princesses!

{Don’t get excited, I said Ogres, not Orgies!}  ROTFLMAO – Rolling On The Floor, Laughing My Ass Off! <- for those not hip to the internet lingo.

I’m warning you… don’t let your kids read this unless they are old enough.  You have been warned.  Good luck explaining it to them.  😉

Do you want to live happily ever after?  Is this “ever after” on Earth?!  Let me tell you…

There’s no such thing as a fairy tale.
There are no Princesses older than 18.
And you don’t have to kiss a frog to find a Prince.
There is no magic wand, no magic bullet, no magic hair that glows.
No magic potions or spells, but don’t touch the pixie dust.
No wizards, no witches, ghost, or goblins.

There are however, Angels and Miracles.
And a wonderful and beautiful place called Heaven.
Some people you love are there waiting for you! :-) And some are not! :-(
There is also a Hell.  Think of that as a place absent of Love.
Who would want to live there?!?
Just as there is Good in the world, there is also Evil.  Evil is a lack of Love as well.

There is no Santa Claus, no Tooth Fairy, no Easter Bunny, nor any other fictional hero.  There are REAL HEROS however!  Soldiers, teachers, ministers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors.  If you can’t decide what you want to do in life, one of those professions will enrich you enormously.   More than most jobs.  Remember, money can’t buy happiness, so I’m not talking rich in terms of money, but spiritually rich.  Make sure you do what makes you happy though.  Quote my dad said, “Do what you love and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.”

Live your own life. Refuse to let anyone else tell you how to live your life, not even me or your mom {after age 12-18 depending on your maturity level}.  Someday you will figure out that your mom and dad don’t have all the answers in life. Please ask for our opinion if you want to hear it (or not), but don’t live our lives, or anybody else’s.  Make your own decisions! Happiness is a choice, I hope you choose to be happy.  As Manu would say… “Have fun, be careful!”

Oh… and if other kids tell you there is a Santa Claus, agree with them and be quiet.  If other kids tell you there is not a Santa Claus, tell them there is to such a thing as Santa Claus… and tell them their Mommie and Daddie are Santa Claus!  LOL :-)

{Recommended movies: Shrek 2,  The Santa Clause}

“Someday… you’ll be dead!”

Sitting around the campfire at Uncle Jim’s last night, I told Jim I was tired of saying, “Someday I plan to do [this]” or “Someday I want to do [that]”. I wanted to start accomplishing some of my goals, my list of things I’m going to do “someday.” And Jim being 74 years old, summed up perfectly where my thoughts were leading, “Someday you’ll be dead!”  We both cracked up laughing because it was so true!

Moral of the story: take time to live your dreams before it is too late. Make someday TODAY and EVERYDAY!

 

What I value most in life… LOVE!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Cor. 13:4-7

God said it best in the Ten Commandments… “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus said “Love one another as I have loved you.”  And even The Beatles said “Love is all you need.”  Pretty simply rules to live by, don’t you think?!

As for other things I value in life, in order…
1) Love
2) Happiness
3) Time
4) Health
5) Integrity
6) Patience
7) Determination
…
Last place) Money

Money breeds greed.  Some say greed is the root of all evil.  But Love is what makes you rich!

My cold water challenge

I volunteered in the player locker room at the ATP tennis tournament in Mason, OH (Cincinnati) for 20 years.  One year, 98 or 99, Rafter won a long, late semi-final match and had the final match the next afternoon.  To help his leg muscles recover faster, his coach wanted him to quickly alternate between a really hot shower and a tub of ice cold water.  We didn’t have a tub, so we grabbed one of the tall cardboard boxes used as a towel bin.  We put in a couple plastic bags and started filling it with water and bags of ice.  As it filled, we had to wrap the whole box with tape to keep it together.  The water had to be 32 degree as there were inches of ice floating on the top when we were finished.

Rafter got in the hot shower for a couple minutes, then we helped him into the ice water for 2 minutes.  Ice and water spilled over the edge as we lowered him in.  The cold water went all the way up his legs, close to the family jewels.  He repeated this several times, with his coach’s thought that the expansion and contraction of his blood vessels would help remove the lactic acid in his muscles.

While Rafter was in the tub, he said he would pay someone $20 if they could stand in the cold water for 5 minutes.  I asked his brother, his coach and a couple of other players and coaches and had $90 waiting for me if I could stand in the cold water for 5 minutes.  I hopped in and used a little secret to last the whole 5 minutes.  I kept my legs as still as I could.  If you stay still in cold water, your body will warm the water next to your skin and will act as an insulator from the colder water… as long as you stay still and not circulate the water.  It was an easy $90! :-)

I don’t have a picture of the cold water challenge, so this will have to do…