Ideas Are Good…

The worst thing about rising to greatness in any area is that all of your flaws have to be remain hidden in order to get there. Why? Because people can not accept that you just might be human and thus, imperfect. If you are great at ONE thing… you must be perfect at ALL things. I believe Tiger Woods is the victim of character assassination and just like Michael Jackson, you helped bring him down. You set Tiger up because you took your eyes (focus) off the ball and put them on his balls.

Here are some questions to ask when considering my above allegation.

1. Why does it bother so many people what Tiger Woods is/was doing off the golf course?
2. What does his private life have to do with how well he plays golf (a talent for which he is a star)?
3. Can you enjoy watching any other golfer play NOT knowing who he/she is poking?
4. Did he really “fall”? Do you think he might have been “not-so-honest” leading up to his greatness?
5. Is your sex life any of my business?
6. Why is sex the number one killer of character in the collective conscious of the public?

If you think someone is perfect because they hold office, play football, play the guitar or preach, you really need to get over yourself.  Most likely, all great people are as jacked up as you may be in some area of life. Oh, but you’re perfect. That’s right.  “Let he who is without sin…” is something we say in church or when we ourselves are “not so clean”.

I admire people like Michael Jackson, Tracy Lords, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee, Britney Spears, Bill Clinton and Michael Vick for being imperfect and rising to greatness in some area of life. It takes a lot of commitment to be great in spite of ourselves. History will remember Tiger Woods for the great things that he did on the golf course with those little white balls. Oddly, that is the only reason people even cared about him in the first place.

Remember, famous people are smart. Lady GaGa, Marilyn Manson, Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper and the Kardashians all use our self righteousness to their benefit. Without them most of us would have nothing to talk about. That is the real commodity for which we are all paying for in giving credibility without grace to a member of our human family.

We got married on November 7th, 2009. It was an amazing day on so many levels. Mostly is was amazing because it came off on a shoestring and with the help of friends and family. Without them, there would not have been a wedding at all, at least not one like the one we had! The past two years have been challenging for self-employed people like myself. And over the past year, (like many) we have cut back and changed many aspects of our lives. One month before our wedding date we moved into a smaller place because we could not afford to stay where we were any longer. We have learned to “get by”. You hear that alot these days, “getting by”. My six year-old son said to me the other day, “Dad, I can’t believe we are broke, man.” Standing at the skating rink with him, a soda in his hands as music pumped in the background, I realized how relative the word “broke” can be to us Americans. While we are far from broke, we are getting by and that is ok.

I have come to realize that getting by is a great way to live. Getting by means no dollar comes into the house that is not fully appreciated. Getting by means that every part of the chicken is getting used and eaten (Crockpot). Getting by means baking ginger-bread cookies is a past-time on a Sunday afternoon. Getting by is the smell of homemade stew (Crockpot, again) all day long. (Hey, that’s a lot of food references, but Fallon is a foodie.) Getting by is enjoying the things we DO have, the way we had hoped when you bought them but forgot once we got them home.

A big thank you to my Father-in-Law for all the work and support these past few months and for Fallon’s amazing dress. I have to thank my Mother-in-Law, Rhonda and her husband Troy for covering so many expenses. A loving thank you to my dear friends Alfred and Cheri Garr for the salon appointments, wedding bands and the decorating. I have to thank Joe Heilman for marrying us with such elegance and honesty. And Jack Pepiot for taking such amazing pictures that captured the mood of the evening so well. Lastly, I would love to thank all the people who came to our wedding and gave so many wonderful gifts and good wishes.

If having people like you in our life is “getting by” than I can think of no greater luxury on this earth.

In 2002, Seth Godin’s, The Purple Cow was a marketing sensation. We learned why some businesses thrive over others and it made sense. A Purple Cow is something phenomenal, counter-intuitive and flat-out amazing. A Purple Cow gets noticed simply because consumers come across so much boring stuff (brown cows) that the Purple Cow becomes nearly unforgettable. A recession in late 2008 then began to shrink up our cash flow and many people’s aspiration to be purple. “Getting by”, for many of us is the biggest objective. So what now?

As a freelancer, I have discovered that many businesses (brown and purple), are finding it hard to believe there is enough money out there for their efforts to make a difference. I hear them say things like, “…when this recession thing is over”. There is a prevailing belief that it does not matter to do something great because “…no one has any money”. This view is not entirely true.

In addition to having an exceptional product, dish, experience or service, we have to be willing to do two things; endure inevitable change and fill needs in the lives of others. Without those abilities, it may not matter how good you are or what color your cow might be.

Honestly, I do not know why this cool little place closed two locations. I do know they offered a wonderful experience with great folks behind the counter and on the floor. I will miss your purple shakes, but we have been making them at home. They’re just not purple.

That is what they told us growing up. Work hard, make money and THEN enjoy life. We watched our parents age, crack and splinter under the strain of working to get a Buick and a clothes dryer. They worked hard to make money so they could one day enjoy life but the enjoyment never came for many. Why? Because having gone so long without, they were trained that happiness is a new home, a new car, a diamond ring and to keep up with the Jone’s was healthy. They never told us the Jone’s might be crazy broke and miserable. We inherited a twisted belief that enjoyment comes from work and money.

Money has nothing to do at all with the enjoyment of life. NOTHING. Americans have learned the hard way that the time to enjoy life is right now, regardless of what is going on. The enjoyment of life will be short-lived once we move in, drive away, dial in, bite into or stick it in whatever we think is going to make us happy. We have had it all wrong for so long and never knew it until we had it up to our eyeballs in possessions and bills. Then with the tears in our eyes and prescription bottles in the cabinet we try to fend off the truth that none of this makes us happy at all. There is no wonder we have ailments only found in this country that are related to stress. Let us and future generations learn to enjoy life first, whatever that means for each of us. And may we all find things we love doing and share those things with others!

Old thinking is still around and enjoyment of this wonderful phenomenon called life is being sold for the pursuit of possessions offered to us at interest. This sign which resides at the corner of a busy intersection in Virginia Beach is a recruiting call for automobile salespersons. Where once stood the newest models of vehicles are just empty slabs of gravel and dark spotlights. I guess enough people aren’t working hard enough to “buy” right now.

Enjoy life, do what you love and the money will come. This sign could have read “Enjoy Life? Have Fresh Ideas? Help Us Put Cars Back On These Slabs!”