Tag: Mid Life Crisis

Five Words….

Received an email from a good friend yesterday. No big deal there. Happens all the time right?

This one is different. It made me think. Deeply. And I can not disagree with this young soldier’s point of view. In fact, I think he has every right to call Americans callous. Seriously, I do.

And I’d like to extend my deepest regret for falling into the trap of conformity. Isaac, I’m very sorry.

Thank you for defending the blanket of freedom we Americans sleep under every night.

Here is the content of that email, without any editing from me. I do not know who originally sent it. And, in this crazy cyberworld we live in, I have no way of truly knowing if a soldier even wrote this. However, whether it was a soldier or not, I’m still touched by it’s relevance:

Date: Saturday, July 4, 2009, 5:37 PM
This is written by a young soldier serving his third tour of duty in Iraq. Thought you might find his take on the Michael Jackson news interesting and he’s right.
Okay, I need to rant.I was just watching the news, and I caught part of a report on Michael Jackson. As we all know, Jackson died the other day. He was an entertainer who performed for decades. He made millions, he spent millions, and he did a lot of things that make him a villian to many people. I understand that his death would affect a lot of people, and I respect those people who mourn his death, but that isn’t the point of my rant.Why is it that when ONE man dies, the whole of America loses their minds with grief. When a man dies whose only contribution to the country was to ENTERTAIN people, the Amercian people find the need to flock to a memorial in Hollywood, and even Congress sees the need to hold a “moment of silence” for his passing?Am I missing something here? ONE man dies, and all of a sudden he’s a freaking martyr because he entertained us for a few decades? What about all those SOLDIERS who have died to give us freedom? All those Soldiers who, knowing that they would be asked to fight in a war, still raised their hands and swore to defend the Constitution and the United States of America. Where is their moment of silence? Where are the people flocking to their graves or memorials and mourning over them because they made the ultimate sacrifice? Why is it when a Soldier dies, there are more people saying “good riddence,” and “thank God for IEDs?” When did this country become so calloused to the sacrifice of GOOD MEN and WOMEN, that they can arbitrarily blow off their deaths, and instead, throw themselves into mourning for a “Pop Icon?”

I think that if they are going to hold a moment of silence IN CONGRESS for Michael Jackson, they need to hold a moment of silence for every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They need to PUBLICLY recognize every life that has been lost so that the American people can live their callous little lives in the luxury and freedom that WE, those that are living and those that have gone on, have provided for them. But, wait, that would take too much time, because there have been so many willing to make that sacrifice. After all, we will never make millions of dollars. We will never star in movies, or write hit songs that the world will listen too. We only shed our blood, sweat and tears so that people can enjoy what they have.

Sorry if I have offended, but I needed to say it. Remember these five words the next time you think of someone who is serving in the military.


“So that others may live…”

Isaac

Happy Birthday Aunt Jennifer

Happy Birthday Aunt Jennifer.

My Aunt Jennifer’s birthday is today.

She may never read this, but that isn’t stopping me from thinking about her and hoping she has her best birthday ever.

Some people say it stinks to get old.

I guess it could if you let it.

Don’t you think getting old is one of the greatest gifts God bestows on us?

I do.

Carpe diem, jeff noel đŸ™‚

Thank You Father Richard

Thank you Father Richard Lopez. Huh? Yes! Thank you Father Lopez.

On my connecting flight from Atlanta, home to Orlando, I had the privilege to sit next to Father Lopez.

I’m walking down the isle of the Delta aircraft, and I see a Priest. I’m secretly hoping two things:

  1. We get to sit together.
  2. He’ll have a few minutes to talk.

Well, number one came true, I was assigned to sit next to him. But, he had a thick history book, couple hundred pages to be sure, on his lap. I figured this might be a subtle tactic to find some quiet time – for a man everyone wants to talk to. “He probably never gets any rest”, I thought to myself.

Guess what, we talked the whole way. Wow, was I grateful.

He was such a wonderful man to talk with. And, above all things, I’ll remember him being an excellent listener and a generous soul – giving me his undivided attention the entire flight.

I only hope he got half as much from it that I did from him.

You never know when or where your next wonderful opportunity to learn will come from. However, I will bet one thing, it’s right around the next corner, or just down the isle.

Carpe diem, jeff noel đŸ™‚

I’m Afraid of Success

I’m afraid of success. I think. Not sure exactly.

In teaching yesterday afternoon, here in St Louis, while my colleague was speaking, I had these little moments where I did a quick inventory of my life.

It went something like this.

“Am I a living example, a role model so to speak, of the concept I just spoke about”?

There’s a “thing” I have with many professional speakers – much talk, little action. I’d like to be a professional speaker with much action and little talk.

I poured myself out, giving everything I had, emotionally, to our audience yesterday. So much so, that I was nauseous after the five hour program. In the van ride back to our hotel, thought I might vomit in front of all my peers.

I took some advil, rested, found something I thought I could stomach from the room service menu, and waited. Eating enough to satisfy my hunger and long enough for the advil to work, my severe headache faded away.

While this was happening, I checked Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Apple and Earthlink email.

Came across a great You Tube video link to a Paul Coleman song. And from there, found this Brandon Health song. It’s the type of song Z88.3 plays (see July 14 post).

Here it is: Give Me Your Eyes

There are times when I feel like what I do will only matter if everything I get, I get so I can give it to someone who needs it more.

Ya with me? Think I’m crazy? Carpe diem, jeff noel đŸ™‚

Surrender. Self-Control. Service.

Surrender. Self-Control. Service.

Know how long it took to develop that tagline?

A few days. Not a bad investment.

I’m also open-minded to changing it, if it would be more effective.

Change. Proactive. Vision. Passion. Entrepreneur. Risk. Peace.

I love words, especially words that inspire me. Do you get inspired by a single word?

What about two words? Carpe diem!

Three? Surrender. Self-Control. Service.