Roller Coaster Ride of LIFE!

So Father's Day was a cool one for me.  I learned something!  It was great!  I got to spend time with my kids.  They are all in their 20's and live up North, so anytime we can get together it's fun!  We were at Canada's Wonderland for Wonderjam 2018 and we ended up spending most of the day on rides.
I am not really a thrill ride guy, but this was about to change and a life lesson was coming my way!
We all did something a little out of the ordinary.  We got something called a FastPass.  It is super expensive, but worth it!  You get to skip the line and get on way more things than you would normally due to the long line ups for some of the more popular rides.

I was given the pass without any real notice, so guess what?  I am now on the hook to ride with my kids as much as possible on the scariest rides!  They love all the big drops and now, like it or not, so do I!

We lined up for Leviathan, which is the biggest drop of any roller coaster in the park.  My coaster experience is to encounter sheer terror as soon as the train leaves the station!  The ride is going to happen and you cannot stop it.  You can't wish it away or pretend it isn't happening.  You are about to drop 300ft and go weightless.  I generally think, this is the ONE time the machine will fail!  It will be my car that goes over the edge and off the rails.  The ride gets to the top and then is a white knuckle few minutes of checking my faith and praying to not die.

Then it's over.  That's when you go and get back in line, because you have a FastPass!  You go and do it again!  This is what is expected!  OK so now, I am a little more prepared.  I know the general ride, but the whole thing is still fresh.  We get locked in and here we go.  I loosen up a little and enjoy a few spots.  Then it's over again.  Then it's back in line again.  Now I am a veteran!  I know exactly where to put my hands in the air and just go with it.  You know what?  NOW I'm having fun!

Take a minute or two and watch the ride.  Would you do it?  Depends on how daring you are, but I think, depending on your health, you should try it once.

Here's what I learned.

Life is full of things that you are going to experience whether you like it or not.  When you are born, you are strapped or buckled in and the lap bar has come down.  Off you go!  Here comes the "Heartache Hill".  You hold on through the "Death of a Loved One" curve.  It's a wild ride through the "Bankruptcy Dip".  Oh and then there are times when the whole thing goes upside down!  These are things that either thrill you or terrify you, but they happen to people ALL THE TIME.  After a few times around, life gets a little easier as you learn to trust the ride and know that you are going to make it!  You may not know what bumps and twists are coming but you will be confident enough to know that if you just hold on, it will be OK.

Enjoy the ride!

Smoking

Photo by Ravi Roshan on Unsplash

It always makes me a bit sad when I drive by a school and see a group of teens standing just off school property, smoking.

Part of me wishes they wouldn't get trapped so early into such a habit, but part of me also wonders how it happened.

Here's something fascinating. 

Tobacco companies are not allowed to advertise their products.  Cigarettes are only available by asking for them from behind a hidden shelf in a convenience store.  The companies who make cigarettes are not allowed to buy internet ads.  You don't see smoking on TV or in movies.

What is drawing in new smokers?  Why are teens choosing to light up and affect the rest of their life?  What pushed them in that direction?

In a word...influence.

I think there is a lesson in here somewhere. 

Not many businesses could survive by having a 0% advertising budget.  (Aside from Costco!) 
Think about this, someone could be steered to begin a lifelong habit that will shorten their life and decrease the quality of their health, simply by the influence of others.

Let's turn it around.

EVERYTHING works this way!

I believe the good things people do to change their lives happen because of an unseen influence.

No one likes to be bossed around or admit that they are copying someone, but nonetheless it's true.

For good or bad we are influencing everyone around us ALL THE TIME!

Jesus Christ had crowds follow Him everywhere, His message spread through those HE influence by His life.  It's still going today!

What would you say were your influences and how do you think you're influencing your world now?

You Can Do What You Want

Here's a bible verse you can remember easily because of the numbers...

John 6:66

Ya, LOOK AT IT!  It's got 666 in it!  The Mark of the Beast, right?

Here's the verse:

"From that time, many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, "Will ye also go away?"

Some people made a decision to "walk no more" with Jesus. 

It's not talking about them getting tired of walking everywhere! 

They did cover a lot of real estate!

 It's talking about learning from Him as a teacher.  The lessons He was teaching them got to be a little too much for some of them and they said "We're done, goodbye."

Here's the interesting part...Jesus LET THEM GO!

He recognized that not everyone was going to follow Him at that time and it did not hurt His ego one bit!  I bet you He didn't write a nasty post on Facebook or spread a rumor about their "lukewarmness".  He also was not dismissive.  Their "club membership" was not revoked.  They were free to come and go whenever they wanted.

Jesus never manipulated anyone into doing anything.  There was no pressure to be part of the gang.

There was only an invitation, then unconditional love and commitment!

Remember the time Peter denied Jesus?  That must have hurt...a lot.

Jesus never gave up on Peter...NEVER!  I am sure of it.

He also never gave up on those people who walked away that day.

He won't ever give up on YOU!

My Precioussssss!

Precious

Our family has had several cats.

They had odd names and quirky personalities.

Names like, "Baby", "Oreo", "Sherman", "Hurley", "Sparta", "Small Eyes", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Tigger".

They all came and went.  But ONE stuck around.  For a lifetime.

He was born on Canada Day 2004 in an house on Regina Street in North Bay.

The owner of the house was a fellow who was doing some work for me and happened to be in jail for drunk and disorderly conduct.  (I guess that's another story in itself.)

He mentioned in one of his phone calls from the slammer, that no one was looking after his house and his cat had kittens and would be hungry.

He was concerned, so out of the goodness of my heart, I went over to his place to have a look.

He had mentioned that the kittens were almost ready to leave momma and be "adopted" if I wanted one.

We discussed it, and thought we would see if one stood out to us as a missing member of the family.

As we expected, the kittens were a bit wild, not having much to do in a virtually abandoned house.

They were all cute, but one had these special ears.

They were big and a little floppy, like they were too big for his head.

He had a bright face and was lively.

Right away I thought, if he's the one, we'll call him Yoda, because of the ears.

I told the family about him and we went and had another meeting.  He was irresistible.

We took him home and decided together on a permanent name.

The big movies at the box office at the time were The Lord Of The Rings films, so in a nod to the ring itself, we called him "Precious"!

For a boy cat, it seemed a little bit feminine, but it really fit.  He was "Presh" for short.

During his first few days at our place we discovered that he must have had to fight his brothers and sisters for any scrap of food he could get.

He ate his own kitten food, but, if any bit of anything fell from our dinner table, he pounced!

He would also jump up on the table and help himself!

He was so quick, that we could hardly grab him before he devoured our human food.

We decided, we need to teach him as lesson early that our food is not for him.

We took some Cayenne pepper and put it on a scrap of food and dropped it on purpose.

That was the last time he came lurking under the table!

His whole life he would squint when anything spicy came near him!

We had him get his proper shots, get neutered and also de-clawed.

He grew and grew.  He was orange and fluffy.  He did not really have much of a voice.

He would sort of cackle.  He also barely purred.  You had to listen very close.

The only time he would really speak up was when someone was doing the dishes!

He found the clattering of plates and silverware very ANNOYING!

He loved the sun.

We knew he was happy, because he was pretty chill.

He chased many laser pointer dots over the years.

He came with us when we moved to Sudbury in 2008.

He adjusted to new surroundings in 6 new places.

He never liked the outdoors.  He was an indoor cat, seldom touching his paws to earth or grass.

He DID like to eat grass like most cats!

He loved being under blankets.

He loved head scratches and rubs under the chin.

He loved lunch meat, popcorn, fruit, bacon and chicken nuggets.

Precious has been living with my daughter, Victoria in Sudbury.

She has taken care of him and taken him to the vet.  Over the last few years he'd been slowing down.

He was on medication.  We knew his time was coming.

In March of this year, he began to act oddly.  He would seek solitude.  The signs of the end.

Just days before...

After 14 years of furry snuggling and bringing joy to our hearts, he passed peacefully in my daughter, Jasmines arms.

We are all sad.

We miss him a lot.

We're comforted by a gang of new cats, "Graham", "Kylo", Gizmo" and the latest..."Jango".

Precious and Jango Christmas 2018

Precious, you were a good kitty.

Haircuts and Fathers

I got a haircut last Saturday...and I got a huge lesson in fathering!

I had to prepare for a comedy show that night, so I wanted to look like at least cared a little about my appearance. 

When I arrived at the barber shop, there were three other people ahead of me and there were only two people doing the cutting and they both had someone in the chair. 

I felt a little impatient because I had other things to do that day that were going to be way more productive than sitting and waiting for a haircut!

I remembered that I had several games on my phone that I could play AND the salon had big screen TV's with my favorite shows on, Pawn Stars and American Pickers.

I settled in to relax while I waited for my turn.

That's when THEY came in!

A young man and his little son.

(I am assuming they were father and son, that's what it seemed like to me as you will discover from the upcoming events.)

In they walked and took off their coats and sat down.

I will say that this little guy was about 5 years old or younger.

He was what I will call "chatty"!

For a human with only a limited number of years under his belt, he had a lot to say!
It wasn't annoying, it was just there was a LOT of talking going on!
This is where the dad in me though about how I would have handled this situation.

When our kids were small, there was no such thing as a smart phone, so that was not an option for distraction while waiting for life to happen.
You had to go to a magazine or something like that.

Here is where I became impressed by this fellows dad skills
.
The whole time his toddler was speaking, he maintained eye contact and had his head and body in the little guys direction.

THE WHOLE TIME!

That kid has his FULL attention!

I watched to see if the guy even had a phone in his hand.  I did not see one.
The tot talked and talked right up until it was time for his haircut.
I was in the chair by this time and I was keeping an eye on what was going on.
The father put the child in the chair and then I saw that he DID have a phone!
He took it out of his pocket to show the barber the cut he wanted for his son.
He then went back and sat down in the little waiting area.

Did he take that time to play a game on his phone?  Update his Facebook?  Tweet?

NO!

He kept the phone off and watched his son get a haircut!  Smiling the whole time!
The kid could look in the mirror and see his dad watching everything going on!
At this point the little guy was not as chatty!
I suspect he was sitting secure in knowing his pop was right there watching.

Wow.

It was not something you see very often and as a father, it reminded me of all times I should have been more attentive to my children.

Thanks buddy, you are a great example to fathers everywhere!

Good Job!

Photo by Tommy van Kessel on Unsplash

Living Water

You never know where you are going to learn something spiritual!

I was in the Water Depot on the weekend, getting our jug filled with alkaline water.

Just a regular thing to do on a Saturday.

I was standing by my jug watching the level rise, when an older man approached me and started a conversation.

He asked me about my choice of alkaline water over reverse osmosis.

I remarked on how there were many health benefits to alkaline water.

He responded by telling me about how he had 4 bouts with cancer and that, cancer cannot grow in your body if you are alkaline.

I was amazed that he looked so good for having overcome cancer!

He said the radiation left him hard of hearing and with some vision issues, but other than that, he felt great!

I told him he looked good, he said he was 80 years old!

I gave him a pat on the shoulder for being a fighter and wished him a great weekend.

I capped my bottle and was on my way.

Here's what I learned.  (It happens.)

This man was a stranger yet he initiated a conversation with enthusiasm.  

He was excited to talk about something he had experienced that was wonderful and horrible at the same time.

He captured my attention.

He shared with an authenticity that drew me in.

I left with something added to my life,  an appreciation of alkaline water and living a healthy life plus inspiration from having encountered someone who went through something very difficult and had a positive attitude.

As a radio host and as a Christian person, there are many lessons here!

1.  Be ready to use any and all situations to be an encouragement and a positive influence. 

Sometimes we just want to get things done or get where we are going and forget about the people we encounter along the way.  The cashier, the other driver, the man on the street playing road hockey with his kids.  They are in your path for a reason.  Be open to taking time to say hello or give them a shout out.

2.  Share your passion.

Excitement cannot be faked.  If you don't believe in something, no one else will believe you when you tell them about it.  This man's word had the ring of experience behind them.  He left a mark on me, and probably the next guy in line behind me!

3.  Your story is worth sharing.

We all have a story.  My grandma watched a lot of TV, and she always called a show "a story".  She would shout "Put a story on!!"  We watch stories on TV, hear about them in the news and read stories in books.  You have one.  More than that, you can write your own ending!  The man I met wrote a different ending to his story than what the doctors told him!

4.  Leave people with something good!

You may meet someone once in your life and never encounter them again.  Think about that!  They may chat with seven negative people before they get to you, you can disrupt the pattern with enthusiasm and joy!

I got more than water that day, I got a refreshing drink of optimism!

How about you?

3 Ways You Get Yourself Into Deep Water (And How To Avoid Them)

You did it again!  You're in over your head and you don't know how it happened!

"How did this relationship get so distorted?" 
"Why am I a part of this group?"
"How do I get out of this terrible commitment?"

I believe some of the answers can be found in this story.

A group of people were driving somewhere and they followed a GPS app on their phone to guide them.  The car ended up in a frozen lake because the app told them to drive out on to it.  

As crazy as that sounds, there are reasons why we humans do such silly things.

It could be the same reason YOU find yourself involved in things you wish you weren't!

1.  You take things to literally.

Just like the driver who thought they were doing the right thing by driving out on a frozen lake, we can become blind to our surroundings by letting someone or some thing tell us what we should be doing.  Sometimes the rules and the instructions can only serve as guidelines at best.  I build model kits and sometimes the instructions have a few different options on how to put two pieces together.  Sometimes those pieces are poorly made and don't fit!  You have to be flexible.

2.  You don't plan.

If you don't have a plan for your life, someone else does.  These folks didn't bother to look over their route and spot the obvious problem.  Life can either happen to you or you can make it happen.  Being proactive and talking about your goals is a bit of work.  You have to think!  You have to let go of the things that hold you back, make tough choices about how you spend your money.  Take time to figure out what YOU want to do and everything else will line up.

3.  You ignore that little voice inside.

Call it intuition, call it a nudge, call it the voice of God.  It's there for a reason.  If there are alarm bells, don't drive into the lake!  Take a pause and listen to the inner voice that's saying to you "Hold up!"  There have been people that gave me that feeling right away, but I ignored it.  There have been groups that I should have been more cautious about, but I wasn't.  Just like anything, you have to learn what that little voice sounds like and how to tune it in!

These poor folks had to get their Jeep hauled out of the water and then explain to their insurance company, why they did what they did.

YOU don't have to get into deep water.  You can avoid it.

Stay warm and dry!