If you want to motivate your 12.5 going on 30 year-old daughter not to test your will you might offer to show up at school.
Or should I say you might promise to sing and dance along with Beyonce’s Crazy in Love and specify you’re going to do Beyonce’s part.
And if you did make such an offer you’d be mighty pleased that the aforementioned daughter didn’t tell you she has 99 problems and a crazy father isn’t high on the list.
My favorite girl has a much more colorful vocabulary than I prefer but I don’t think she knows that particular song and I won’t be upset if she doesn’t come across it any time soon.
Hard to say, I remember seeing her at dance to Empire State of Mind at her cousin’s Bar Mitzvah four years ago.
It is a good memory and I remember thinking that since we were in New Jersey those kids must think of The City in very different terms than mine do.
What Are You Willing To Do
Sunday afternoon I went to hear an FBI agent talk about what to do if you encounter an active shooter.
It made me angry to realize there is reason and merit to going to such a thing but the world we live in sometimes throws the ultimate curveball at us.
The agent finished his presentation by showing a short video that I had seen before that encourages people to Run, Hide or Fight.
It brought back a memory of a conversation I had with my son just after Sandy Hook where he told me not to worry about him because he sat near the door in most of his classes and figured he could run if he needed to.
He was 12.
The memory brings no joy but it carries some sadness and anger.
My kids know what lockdown drills are.
When I was their age I knew about earthquake and fire drills but never once worried about what would happen if there was an active shooter.
I told a dear friend I hope I never find out how I’ll react and he said he was sure I would fight.
If you base what happens upon nature, yeah I am the guy who would want to take a baseball bat to the neck and knees of an active shooter.
But I pray I never am put in the position of having to find out what would you do.
Try & Try Again
Last Friday afternoon I proved to myself the benefits derived from adopting a never give up, never say die attitude.
The specifics about what and who don’t matter because sometimes the most important thing you can do is remind your inner critic that you can and will get things done.
It came at an auspicious time and reminded me that success is built upon little victories.
I put a ton of hard work into that and I am glad and grateful it came about.
It enabled me to start working on a much bigger project and reminded me about some conversations I have put off because I had to focus upon other things.
But soon I’ll swing my eyes in a different direction and look to complete some other tasks because some things can’t be put off forever.
Music Break
- London Calling- The Clash
- Hold on Loosely- .38 Special
- Ring of Fire- Johnny Cash
- Can’t Get it Out Of My Head- ELO
- I Put A Spell On You- Buddy Guy
- Saturday Night- Bay City Rollers
- How Soon Is Now- Morrisey
- Master Of Puppets- Metallica
- Hurdy Gurdy Man- Donovan
Intersections
I jumped over a small fence.
Probably wasn’t more than about 4 feet high, it was the kind of thing I wouldn’t have thought twice about going over…25 years ago.
I could have gone around it.
Could have avoided it.
Definitely didn’t have to test whether my legs would give me enough lift to clear it and almost didn’t try because the idea of crashing into it and the ground didn’t excite me.
But something inside me saw it and the Taurus within saw a red cape being waved at him and he insisted on proving man can fly.
Inside my mind’s eye I can see me take a running start right before I gracefully launched myself through the air and softly landed on the other side.
Reality was probably far different but to the best of my knowledge there is no video or film to be uploaded to YouTube and or shared elsewhere on social media.
****
When I landed on the other side of possibility and opportunity I looked at the intersection of possible and impossible and smiled.
It reminded me of words some scoff at:
Fate whispers to the warrior, “You cannot withstand the storm. And the warrior whispers back, “I am the storm.”
Smart people use whatever talisman brings them comfort regardless of whether they know it is not a real panacea or not.
Sometimes hope is found in peculiar places but that doesn’t make it any less powerful.
