Stop Being and Just Live

When you are a kid you are told that you can be anything if you just set your mind to it.  The world is one big oyster just waiting to be opened and inside is a huge beautiful pearl.  We spend our childhoods thinking about what will be, how famous we'll become, how rich we'll be, and how many adventures we'll have.  We are free of the burden society places on us, we are free of the day to day monotony, we are truly free spirits.  Somehow and sadly that changes over time.  As we enter out adulthood we realize that we can't be anything we want to be, we won't be rich, and the biggest adventure of the year involves a dry cleaning incident.  We start to focus on things that as kids we thought adults were stupid for engaging in.  We stop speaking our minds and we hide behind barriers that society deems as acceptable or safe.  We start to analyze the people we are friends with, is he/she good enough, do they make enough money, what will my other friends think if we are seen out together as a group.  We become vindictive, spiteful, judgmental, sacks of organs just trying to make a buck and survive.  We let imaginary rules of society's judgement shape our lives without so much as a thought as to why.  We stop reaching, stop risking, stop dreaming, we stop living and start being.  We stop being kids.


I often hear that life just flies by when you are an adult, but we know that's not the case.  There are still 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year, but as adults we are so focused just being that we stop appreciating the world around us.  Remember when the rain puddle outside was a lake for your GI Joes, or when the tree in your back yard was a jungle hideout?  Now the rain puddle is a nuisance and the tree in the back yard drops walnuts in the fall and screws up the lawnmower.  I know I sound like a Debbie Downer right now, but I think it's important to stop and realize that just waking up in the morning and going through the motions from 25 to Death isn't living life, it's missing it.  But you and only you have the power to change it.


This past weekend I spent 15 hours out with friends, starting at 9:00 AM on Saturday and ending at around 12:30 AM Sunday morning.  The time didn't fly by, but it moved at a pace that dates back to my childhood.  Each minute counted, each hour was something new, the time was meant to be enjoyed, not wished away. What was fantastic about it is that we all took the time to just enjoy each-other's company, we laughed, took silly pictures, made crude jokes, we ENJOYED life, we EMBRACED life, we LIVED life in the manner it was meant to be lived.  Sure I have the same days as a lot of people where I just go through the motions, but I work hard to ensure the majority of my days aren't like that.  I have a job where I can be myself and I am appreciated for the work I do.  I am married to a wonderful woman who loves me just the way I am.  I've had almost all the same friends since High School and we don't see the need to change who we are just for the sake of impressing some stranger giving us an odd look as we make duck faces to prove how it's not a sexy look.  The point is I stopped caring about what the majority of the world thinks of me, why should I change who I am for their sake?  If I'm not good enough for them the way I am, then they aren't good enough for me.


I'm sure people look at me and think "He can't be anything he wants to be, he's not rich, there's no adventure in his life", but they would be wrong.  I can be anything I want to be, it's called an Dungeons and Dragons bitches.  I am rich, I have more love coming from my friends and family than some old rich scrooge locked up in his mansion all alone, and every damn day is an adventure.  Folks I present you with a challenge.  For once in your life stop just being a part of it, pick up the GI Joes, and the My Little Ponies (or whatever little girls these days play with), turn the TV to Yo Gabba Gabba, and Wiggle, Wiggle, Wiggle your way into LIVING it!

Bittersweet Goodbye

A few years ago if you told me that I would be leaving the IT field I would have told you that you were crazy.  After all, I love computers and more than that I love the challenges they present when the break.  I thought I'd be in IT until the day I retired but things change.  I worked as an IT consultant for Apex Systems on assignment at Anheuser-Busch Inc when the InBev merger happened.  With so many rumors surrounding the outsourcing of IT it made sense to search for another job, which was not what I really wanted to do but I had just purchased a home.  It didn't take long to find another job and on top of that one that looked very promising, it turned out I had been lied to.  I was hired as an E-Commerce Technician at Network Solutions, who's goal was apparently to bend over all of it's customers and ride them to the grave with a sandpaper condom.  I was appalled at the way Network Solutions treated it's customers which in turn resulted in customers raining down sheets of hatred onto the techs.  After 15 months I had enough and was lucky to be able to return to my old position, now with Anheuser-Busch InBev as an IT Consultant through Ajilon.  I was finally recharging the batteries when the news of outsourcing hit the Help Desk.  Part of me was not surprised in the least, I mean how many times does the universe have to tell you that you need to leave the IT field before you listen?  However, I decided to ride it out while scores of people I had known for 2 to 3 years left for other jobs.  It turns out that patience is a virtue and a job I interviewed for with AB InBev was offered to me.  The news was amazing and took a huge load off my shoulders as I know my job is safe and on top of that I achieved a goal I had since my first IT assignment with AB.

10 years I've been in the IT field and I wouldn't change anything about it for without each and every thing happening in the way it did I wouldn't be where I am today.  I will be forever grateful for the opportunities the IT field provided and would be lying to say I won't miss it, but it's time for a change.  Yesterday was my last day working in IT, Monday I start my new job on the business side of the house as a part of the BSC Operations division.  Though I am excited to start my new career it truly is a bittersweet moment for me.  On one hand I'm saying goodbye to 10 years of hard work and determination, but on the other hand a whole new world of opportunity and possibilities await that never would have presented itself in the IT world.  I've been lucky to have been on the journey that brought me here and look forward to what the future will bring.

Happy Mother's Day

Well folks, it's that time of year when it's time to take some time and recognize all the hard work, dedication, and endless bounds of love that mothers around the world provide to their children.  Today is the day where moms should get to relax and have things done for them, where their children come to visit and have lunch or dinner and just relax with good ol' mom.  Some will do this, others, like myself will call due to the distance, others will have a moment of reflection as their moms have passed onto another place.  The point is whether or not your mom is still walking this Earth it's important to stop and remember that you are who you are because of her.  When you fell down as a child who kissed it and made it all better?  Who was proud of you at your 2nd grade school play when you were just a tree?  When you broke the rules who grounded you and taught you the importance boundaries?  Who helped you get back on your feet when you realized the consequences of bad decisions?  Who else on the planet has the heart to tell you "I don't have to agree with everything you do, but you're my child and I love you no matter what."  Only a mother has the patience and heart to withstand all your ups and downs.  At least that's how it is in my world.  Unfortunately some people don't have a mother they can count on, but I bet they know someone who acted like a mother to them, someone they can stop and say "Thank you for everything you did for me"

My mom may be 600 miles away but she's always there for me when I need her.  I may be 29 but I don't think I'll ever stop needing my mother in some capacity.  Sure I'm married, have a good job, a house, and some dogs, but sometimes you just need to talk to mom, because she understands.

I love you mom and Happy Mother's Day!!!

The world owes you what exactly?

Life just plain sucks!  Now hear me out here, we get up in the morning tired, go to work where we are treated like dogs for 8 to 12 hours out of our day, go home exhausted and have to deal with the pile of crap that accumulated while we were gone, then go to bed knowing the next morning is just going to be the same.  If that isn't bad enough then 10 years later we realize we're still in the same rut we've been in for what seems like an eternity.  We pay the bills, mortgage, school costs for the children, taxes to Uncle Sam, sometimes we wonder where the money is going to come from, stressed out all the time we ask "Where the F*** is mine, when do I get what's coming to me!?"

Now, let's sit back for a minute and look at all that, really take it in.  Is that your outlook on life?  Sure it's easier to blame your problems on your neighbor, boss, friend, God, basically anyone but yourself, but once you start doing this it becomes a cycle.  Soon enough your entire life sucks, you're not happy at work, your marriage starts go get rocky, you stop hanging out with friends.  Not only that but you keep perpetuating the behavior because it's easier than trying to turn it around.  What's worse is that so many people have this outlook that it affects those around them who not only pick up on it, but begin to exhibit the behavior pattern themselves.  Basically we've become an angry, needy, hateful baby that needs to be put down before it grows up to become the Anti-Christ.  Sounds awesome doesn't it?

HOWEVER, there is something you can do.  Crack a smile.  That's it, it's just that simple.  Start with one small smile at your wife/husband, children, neighbor, co-worker, hell even the Fed-Ex guy it doesn't matter who it is, the point is your one nice gesture will if even for a fraction of a second brighten someone's day including your own.  It doesn't seem like much, but that one small action so long as you mean it, can trigger a change that becomes just as addictive as a destructive lifestyle.  That change, being frigging happy.  I have a friend on Facebook who posts a positive message just about every day and what is that message?  "Today is the best day of my life"  Always first thing in the morning, because it sets the tone for the entire day.  Maybe he'll get yelled while at work, doesn't matter, maybe someone cuts him off on the interstate, doesn't matter.  He's accepted that the only person in control of his life is himself and that his attitude has the power to shape everything around him.  I have to admit I do admire his outlook,so much that I've taken to using it to change my own outlook and since I have well, life is good...  Things that used to bother me don't I just shrug them off, sure I still get angry at stuff but it's an in the moment kind of thing, once it's past it's gone, no need to carry it with me the rest of the day.

The point of all this is that sure life isn't full of sunshine and rainbows, there are barriers and roadblocks throughout all of life, but it's how you choose to approach them, how you choose to let them affect you that defines your life.  Sure life isn't fair, but that doesn't mean that it can't be fun, you may not be able to control everything that happens to you, but you have total control over your attitude and how you treat others.  So crack a smile once in a while, I hear it's even healthy for ya.  So the world owes you what exactly?  Well the answer may surprise you, it's nothing.  Life is unpredictable, it gives and takes as it pleases, but it never owes anyone anything, so sit back, relax and chill, as a wise man once said "Don't worry, be Happy!"