Thursday, March 30, 2017

Huggies Not Druggies

I spent a whole weekend in a household with a baby. Said baby was just over a year old. Walking but definitely not durable yet.

You learn a lot in that environment. Mainly how to walk on your tip toes before 7am and that Aldi sells a baby food line. The other thing required of you is to be on baby watch at all times. Even if it's not your "turn" or "responsibility," the subliminal question of "Where's the baby?" is always present.

Nowadays we've gotten pretty advanced with our kiddo safety. Baby gates, wall outlet protectors, leashes etc. Personally, I think riding in the front seat unconstrained as a little chico established my free spirit side.

On baby watch duty, one of the key locations to beware of are the stairs. And rightfully so. As a youngster is learning how to navigate up and down the stairs, they need a chaperone to redirect them should any hiccups or imbalances arise. That got me thinking, in comparison to the infant's height, that's a pretty large obstacle to climb. To put it in an adult's scope, that may be equivalent to us hopping over a chain-link fence or getting onto a rooftop. Achievable with mild assistance.

In life, we're faced with the same scenario. We all come across things that socially, physically or morally gets in between us and our goals. For many of us, especially us guys, we think the best plan of action is to figure it out ourselves. Problem solve and then carry on. While I do embrace the problem-solving ability, I think we need to humble ourselves and realize that a helping hand is okay.

Maybe it's a shrink, maybe it's God or some version of religion. Or perhaps it's simply a community aka your friend group. Whatever your source of relief, don't let your pride keep you from seeking that healthy and needed help with whatever hardship you're facing.

Just like the little tyke climbing to his destination with a spotter to keep him upright, we often times need someone in life to help keep us morally balanced and onward to where we want/need to go. Yep.

New in my life: A cool byproduct of Juan's tomatoes being taxed at the border may be a garden eh? Prevent zone defense wins championships I think?  This chapter looks Brite.

Keep smilin'

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Full Moons are a Bit Cheeky

Why wouldn't rice cakes be next to the rice? I realize in the scheme of things, I could have worse worries, but every two weeks when I need my fix, Wanda at the grocery has to tell me they're in aisle 6 with the crackers. Just a cracker wandering down the cracker aisle. Straight up.

Upon my decent of the rice cakes, I find my options: certified organic, cheddar, caramel, lightly salted and original. In that moment I flash back to the documentary I watched the night before of a man chasing an antelope in the African safari in hopes of feeding his village.  I go with original flavor.

Why do I have 5 choices of rice cakes? Because I've earned the right? Because I filed my taxes on time? Because I support my local Girl Scout troop? Good karma? Nah. I just happened to be born in a specific geographical region of the world. Lucky me.

I was watching a captivating Patsy Kline documentary the other night and they took a short break in programming where I had the option to call in and donate dollars to a lady wearing a headset in the background. I flipped to the next channel and the preacher man was telling me to tithe my money to avoid the misery of purgatory. Most stoplights I feel the guilt of not carrying cash to give to the homeless selling newspapers.  We have social influences literally and figuratively on every corner.

Amongst our social medias, political rhetoric and general news of our day, it's difficult to really know what to deem as important. Cat videos are a good start, but to say we have options is an understatement.

So where do you focus your attention and money? With all the noise, there is a certain level of stress when attempting to make the correct conclusions all day long. What if you screw up? What if you text the wrong response to bae? Life goes on.

I propose that there is only one initial decision you need to make when you climb out of bed. The decision that you are going to happy today no matter what happens to you. Whether you get dumped, fired from work, in a car wreck or a bird poops on you. Shake it off and keep on keepin' on.  Program your brain to default to cloud nine despite any shade (negativity) thrown your way.  Because if you live in the same culture I do, you're going to have a run-in with something/someone trying to bring you down.

Amidst all of the social exhaustion with in our daily routines, this choice to stay on the sunny side is almost always going to be the correct plan of action.  Ensure your mindset knowing you're going to be smiling when your head hits the pillow later that night.

So as you are sitting in that unnecessary traffic while the sun comes up tomorrow, decide that regardless of how your day unfolds, that you are going to be a positive human come days end. It's easier than choosing the best flavor of rice cake.

New in my life: David Bowie sings a song about changes. It takes about 3 weeks off of social media for people to send out the search party. My inner hipsta is kaleing it.

Keep smilin'

JM