Little House Near The Dairy

We live for moments, don’t we.

In speaking of himself, The Joker from Batman made quite the statement on humanity when he said he was like a dog chasing cars – he wouldn’t know what to do with it if he caught it. We are the same way. We fight so hard for moments not knowing how to keep them when they get here, or what to when they go away.

But we keep chasing them.

Throughout history, when people spend immeasurable energy, time, and resources on making the world a better place, what happens? The quote – “Modern World” tried to eradicate slavery, and what happened? It simply changed forms. Instead of plantation owners, we now have banks and governments. The common man in the United States itself continues to operate under the idea that it is free when it is actually a slave state in general. There is just enough freedom in every day things to distract from where slavery true hides in the banks, institutions, and the governmental systems. And it is said by many continuing to come into its borders that this is the best place to live.

But it is better said that the US is the best viewing position for moments. Like a meteor shower, beautiful moments are what we crave the most, be it art that makes us weep, or scientific discoveries that make us cheer, or – closer to home – the glance of someone who is interested in our well being. The US still holds the title for moment possibilities in the opinion of the author. But the cost is slavery, both mental and physical.

The point is that in spite of whatever obstacle or condition, humans seek moments. Good moments. Glorious moments. True moments filled with what life is made of. And after however many years of civilization, still no one knows the scientific formula for making them happen whenever we want. Even when our greatest moments happen, we try to hang onto them like Uncle Rico, never appreciating the fact that all moments come to pass.

Like a man in a home video trying to hang onto one boat while reaching for the next and ultimately falling into the water between them, so we are trying to live off the last great moment we felt, while groping in the darkness for the next. This, of course, is unnecessary if you know how to turn on the light.

But woe be to the person who tries to describe what light is like to a dark world! We have become comfortable in the dark, and light has become a terrible thing to us. How dare you tell another human being what good or evil is! Who are you to know more about light than some other person!

Unless, of course, we agree on the definition of light – be it a freedom rally or a religious book. Then suddenly we are right, and everyone else is wrong. We have the light and they don’t.

“That’s right! Tear down that statue! Show those backwards southerners what’s right by destroying property! Woohoo!”

How quickly the offended become the offenders, and they don’t even know it…when there is no light.

And while few can agree on how to turn on the light – and even more know how to turn it on but choose not to – the continual undercurrent of existence is chasing the next moment. So far, alcohol, sex, rock ’n’ roll, friendships, shopping sprees, new cars, and fancy hotels have yet to fix anything. They make make the darkness more tolerable, sure. But more often than not, our elixirs create more problems than they solve. They are simply the “newest” moments to chase, different than the ones before, offering false hope to the unsuspecting and/or inexperienced earthling.

Morality gives a people group it’s value and it’s strength. “Strength” in this instance is defined by its ability to put life in its place, rather than being tossed about by the winds of seeking moments. A moral people can put off immediate gratification for their own good, and the good of others. They will use their wealth to help others rather than increasing their own level of comfort past a reasonable level. In other words, a strong people group is characterized by how many moments they create, and how many others than moment impacts, rather than trying to find an existing moment to satiate their own desires.

Realize, too, that marches and rallies and laws are more about us feeling good that we did something, more than they are about changing the world. Just look at those who have pulled down statues and think that they’ve done something. Those states stand taller now in the hearts of the people that loved them than they did before. It was simply gas on a fire that ultimately won’t matter.

Contrast that with those who immediately mobilized to help Houston, sacrificing time and money to touch people, rather than try to change beliefs.

Pulling down statues thinking it will raise the morals of a society is a moment that felt good to those involved, but it’s gone. And the lasting effect will be the opposite of what was intended.

Saving families from death and disease affects multiple generations who will tell the story of Good Samaritans, inspiring further good for years to come. In other words, the direction of the fallout will equal the direction of the effort. These are true moments that were not chased, but created.

Are you chasing moments or creating them? (Hint: the secret of life is the latter.)

My wife is the Administrator of an organization called Kids Across Cultures (www.kidsacrosscultures.org/). This is what they do:

Our Purpose: Help That Enables

We don’t want to help change circumstances; we want to help change lives. KAC has no desire to provide services that breed dependence, or offer a quick fix. Aiding children through opportunities for good health, education, and economic development, is viewed as an investment in their future ability to help themselves and others.

One of the biggest ways they are helping right now is to provide water filters for people who desperately need them. In support of that mission, they have an annual bike ride through Erath county called Tour De Agua (rideforthechange.org). That bike ride happened today, and it was amazing!

We had 250 riders that participated in this incredible opportunity to help others simply by enjoying what they already do while being pampered by the KAC staff.

Not only was the ride incredible, but Dublin Bottling works released new flavors today, including Red Cola, Grapefruit soda, and an out-of-the-park little number called Green Apple:

Not only is the soda flat-out amazing, but Old Doc’s soda shop had the brilliant idea to do caramel-green apple sundaes and floats. HO. LEE. COW. That right there is worth a trip to Dublin, to taste something you won’t taste anywhere else!

Go visit http://www.kidsacrosscultures.org/ , then make arrangements to visit Old Doc’s Soda Shop this summer to get an old-fashioned taste of summer delivered straight to your taste buds.

You can thank me when you get here.

James Young – Feel Something

Whenever I ask a random person what they need, the answer is pretty universal: “More money! They say this because they have confused a tool with a solution. Most people do this with their dreams:

“If I could only ________ then I wouldn’t have to worry about ________.”

Note that the problem is worry, not whatever is in blank number two. This would be an actual solution: “If I could only stop giving worry permission to enslave me, then I wouldn’t have to worry about anything.” That’s a solution that would actually end worry, rather than increasing it like more money tends to do.

The most notorious dream along these lines is winning the lottery. “If I could just win the lottery, then…”

But a different notorious – The Notorious B.I.G – famously rapped about Mo Money, Mo Problems in 1997: “The mo money we come across the mo problems we see.” Or, take Jim Carrey who said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” King Solomon wrote an entire book called “Ecclesiastes” that described how when he denied himself no pleasure on the earth, he found it was all chasing after the wind, a waste of time.

Listen to Joe Elliott, lead singer of Def Leppard, who said he got in a band specifically to get rich and have all the women he wanted: “It got really boring after a while. It was just too easy. Women throwing themselves at you every night.” I know, I know – a devastating reality check for aspiring band members  and, well…men…everywhere.

What about Will Smith?: “We spend money that we do not have, on things we do not need, to impress people who do not care.” This from a man who had a hit single before he graduated high school. He purchased a giant home, gave money to friends and family, and said he did stupid things like buy 22 pairs of the same shoe, in all different colors. He was often paid in cash and paid no taxes, as almost every high schooler would do, I’m sure, seeing as receiving large amounts of cash does not suddenly make one an expert on taxes or investment. When the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air came on, Smith was paying 70% of those earnings to the IRS for the first three years of the show.

And after all that, his advice was: “We spend money that we do not have, on things we do not need, to impress people who do not care.”

What’s the deal with all these guys? A lot of times, we tend to say, “Easy for them to say – they got what they wanted!” But we give ourselves way too much credit for thinking we would act any differently. See, there’s a secret about waiting for your ship to come in: nothing really changes about you.

If I move you into a bigger house with servants to take care of your daily needs along with a budget to match, nothing has really changed. You’re the same person you were minutes ago now suddenly thrust into a new scenario you’ve never even been close to before. You haven’t earned the ability to maintain the gift, so you’re destined to squander it. We aren’t wired for sudden maturity. Think about what would happen to your body if you went from age five to age twenty overnight. It hurts enough going from 11 years 20 says to 11 years and 21 days, as growing pains testify.

The best way to enjoy something is to court it, learn about it, prepare for it, then commit to it. Sometimes this is referred to as “work” or even “hard work”. However, a better description is “patience”. Indeed, patience might be one of the most impressive things you ever accomplish.

I love flying. I’ve entered sweepstakes to win airplanes. Truth be told, I was scared of winning. After winning there are sudden responsibilities that I know about, but have never had to exercise, like renting a hangar, purchasing aircraft insurance, and paying for maintenance. Thankfully, I’ve never won. I also decided to quit entering those contests until I had the resources to actually enjoy the gift rather than worry about it.

Committing to the pursuit of something you want without considering the cost of achieving it is sentencing yourself to a life of cruel and unusual punishment. This would be like a girl spending all of her growing up years planning her dream wedding, only to find out that there’s a whole lot of married life to be had after the wedding that she never planned for.

Not that such a thing ever happens.

If I were give you the desires of your heart this very second, what would you do? Would you be able to keep the gift and care for it, or have you not thought past the getting?

We imprison ourselves for years trying to achieve something that we have never learned to maintain because we spent all those years getting it rather than earning it. When all of your energy is spent on access rather than training, it’s a recipe for disaster.

If I actually won that sweepstakes airplane, and jumped into it without training, I would increase the number of wrecked airplanes on the planet by a factor of one. So then what should I do? Start saving up for an airplane over time so I don’t rush into it?

No! All that becomes is a slow-motion lottery.

What I really need to do is spend a little money on some flight training. Then maybe learn how to wash an airplane properly so I don’t break anything. It might be a good idea to talk to long-time pilots about the long-term effects of owning an airplane. Maybe hang out in that community constantly and meet people and make friends. Each step actually brings me closer to owning an airplane the right way: by earning it. Not monetarily, but through actual steps that train me in the art of being an owner-operator, and not just a dreamer.

The goal, then, is not really owning an airplane but flying an airplane myself. Once viewed that way, the path to the goal changes into something achievable.

When I was a boy with posters of airplanes on my wall, I imaged what it was like to fly them. As I got older, I got some flight training and even earned my Airline Dispatch ticket, which is flight planning for the airlines. Once I got to see what aviation was really like, the romance of it all faded away. When I realized I still loved it even without the romance, I knew for sure that I should somehow continue to pursue it as life allowed. But it no longer possessed me.

Few people have been able to pilot an airplane during their existence. At some point I have to be satisfied with that, and let everything else be icing on that cake.

Your goal should be to not waste your time on something that ultimately disappoints. You have to spend a lot of time as a wannabe to figure that out before commitment. That takes patience, which we don’t like, especially in America. But it’s far better to learn how to be content while exploring your options, than suddenly having all things given to you, only to be disappointed when nothing changes.

Avoid the mistakes of those who thought accomplishing their dreams would solve all their problems. Learn first how to be a person that solves problems while being content. Then when mo money bring mo problems, you’ll be ready.

Don’t count on your dreams to fix things. Count on you. And if that’s harder to accept than believing in some fictitious ship to come in, start there. After all you’ve been through, you’re still around to read this. Do you understand yet how strong you are?

Jesus was right: you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

I saw an amazing thing last night, and it reminded me of you.

I was at a fun little pageant that was designed to let little girls aged 5-7 dress up in beautiful fancy dresses and feel good about themselves, with friends and family cheering them on.

They get to do the pageant thing of walking the stage and having their bio read. And then, at the end of their walk, they get asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Each year, this mostly goes off without a hitch, and with some interesting responses. But tonight was a bit different.

There was one girl who was beautifully out of place. Her ethnicity was different than all the others. Although multiple ethnicities were represented, she was the only one of her background there. She looked like a storybook little girl that would grow up to be a storybook princess. Disney artists have been striving to draw someone like her for years. She was so peaceful. Her smile was charming. She had perfect posture. Everything seemed to be just right.

But when it came time for her to answer her question, something happened. Something subtle, yet profound occurred right there in front of everyone. As the MC knelt down with the microphone and started to say, “What do you want to be…,” a single, transparent tear slid down her left cheek. The MC didn’t stop, and neither did the girl. She answered the question with the same peace and poise with which she had ascended the stage.

“A dentist, so I can help people be healthy.”

She said it with an air of intelligence which communicated that all that was left was the doing. There was no wavering in her voice to mirror the tear that slid silently onto the stage. Just pure presence in the face of a difficult circumstance. It was so amazing that I immediately wanted to start a trust fund for her dentistry school. I wanted her to know that with such strength , she would be able to be whatever she wanted.

Then, I thought of you.

I thought of all that you’ve been through to get this far. I thought of that time there was no other way but to face your fear, and you did. I thought of how inspiring you are. I thought how important it is for you to be proud about who you are and what you want to be. I thought about how you usually don’t see yourself that way, but you should.

“Adult” merely describes your physical maturity level. In a universe that’s been around awhile, every last one of us is a child, exploring a world that’s always slightly different than the one our parents knew. No one has this down. Even the ones who seem to have everything together can be brought to tears if placed on a certain stage. No: this life – your life – is the first time your life has ever been lived. But learn this from a seven-year-old princess: you can make it through the tough questions, and get safely off the stage.

Then you can move on to being whatever you wish.

Sorry for the delay in posting, recently. I hope you’re still up for some life observations and encouragement. In that vein, I have three posts for you: one about what your life is for, one discussing rising above, and one about turbulence.

I see my job as that of a photographer. I’ve said before that I like and dislike photos for the exact same reason – they show me incredible moments in time that I missed. I see my reflections on life in the same way. I offer you images and angles seen as only I can see them. And like any other art, the intent is reflection, increased awareness of the world, and a vehicle for exploring yourself.

If you’ve been wondering what happened to me and why you haven’t heard from me lately, start with Turbulence. Otherwise, enjoy the freedom to receive encouragement in any order you wish.

Previously, I wrote from 30,000 feet. Today, I’m on the return trip. But there was an interesting difference on this flight.

Turbulence.

Aside from the toll it takes on the airframe, I quite enjoy turbulence. That’s because it lets me know I’m in flight. Otherwise I’m just sitting there. Of course, the side of me that wants to read, type, or not spill drinks in one or multiple laps begs to differ. But the flight side always laughs and says, “Too bad, suckers!” and throws his hands up, enjoying the roller coaster.

Turbulence in its most basic form is a section of air that is moving differently than the air around it. This actually bothers no one, and that’s important to understand. It only affects an object that enters that space. This is unlike tornadoes or hurricanes which tend to seek out trailer parks and gulf coast states, respectively, as if trying to meet a yearly quota. Turbulence moves, but far more mindlessly, itself being pushed around by other forces, rather than being a force of its own.

Airplanes are trying to get from one place to another. They move through sections of air to do so, and lots of them. This is the equivalent of running through all the front yards of all the neighborhoods in your city. Eventually, you will find the old man that yells, “Get off the lawn!” He did not go looking for you. You found him. That old man is turbulence.

After a month or more of turbulence in my business life, I finally have found some smooth air. This does not mean I have arrived. Please don’t confuse the two. Smooth air is simply the space between pockets of turbulence, a place of temporary peace. This is the moment we can reflect and change course if necessary, or be honest about our course, and reset for the next encounter. This is where I find myself: now at 39,000 feet, with periodic small jostles that remind me we’re still flying, and there is still the potential to run into something rough up ahead.

When you think you have arrived – you just finished getting everything stabilized after a lot of hard work – and you hit turbulence, it’s a double shock. The first shock is the actual jolt itself, when suddenly what used to be dependable no longer is. We tend to be disagreeable with this condition. The second shock comes from being surprised by the instability. You have to be able to admit that you fooled yourself. You thought you had landed, but you’re actually still in flight.

The faster you can get through the second shock of realizing you are in flight and turbulence is to be expected, the faster you can free yourself from the anger caused by the interruption.  This is critical for handling the turbulence.

Expected or not, planning your reaction to turbulence in advance can determine how you emerge on the other side. There are three possible outcomes: 1) continued shock, 2) neutral and 3) ready. If you end up in condition 1, it means you now must get yourself back to neutral before being able to get ready for the next encounter. If you are neutral about it, you can immediately begin planning for the next occurrence. Ready means that your plan for handling rough spots worked – as in shock absorber – and you have to spend zero energy on preparedness.

It is this last case that makes things smooth, even when they aren’t. Giving turbulence a place defuses its ability to mess with things. The wings on an airplane flex in the bumpy air. If they did not, the wings would be torn off. Thus, turbulence is not allowed to have full reign, and disaster is averted.

If you are finding wave after wave of things happening, look for what stiffness can be jettisoned. The kryptonite to Super Turbulence is flexibility. More often than not, it is our unwillingness to let go that gives turbulence free reign. Notice, too, that I didn’t say to seek fairness or justice. Sometimes letting go of what you are duly owed is the best shock absorber.

After all, what does the universe actually owe anyone? It’s more like the old man of the neighborhood is making a concession: I’ll let you stay on my lawn as long as you make yourself useful.

But he’ll still yell at you now and again. No one is surprised by this. 

You shouldn’t be either.

From 39,000 feet, somewhere over the great southwest, I wish flexibility, readiness, and de-fool-ation in your general direction.

Don’t be shocked. Be ready.