A great day in history

I’m running on a few hours of sleep. I feel like I was in under the Running of the Bulls. My body is suffering from a gang beating of chips, taquitos, ice cream bars, and four different kinds of dipping sauces. And my throat is sore and raw.

I’ve had the best day EVER!

The Green Bay Packers have WON the 2011 Super Bowl!

I’ve been a fan of Green Bay for years and there’s been a lot of years where that team made it really hard to cheer for them, but not this day.

Like most people I was a die hard fan of Bret Favre. The guy was flat out amazing. But his shoulders weren’t wide enough to carry the entire team, and frankly, that’s what he did many, many times.

When Aaron Rodgers took his place I was, possibly, his most harshest critic. Everything from his vacant stare to his, almost, endless string of bad passes. I tell you, I couldn’t stand that guy.

But, even I couldn’t deny that game after game the Packers were fighting their way up the ladder towards the Super Bowl. I’m a football fan, but not a football FAN. I can’t tell you the stats of this guy or that, the passing average of whoever, or things like that. But I could see that Rodgers getting better and so was the rest of the team. In their game with the Bears I was worried the Packers wouldn’t have the fight in them to win. I was wrong. In the first half of the game Rodgers was like a sniper with a football for his bullet. Getting his head rocked by a hard tackle messed him up and the second half was touch and go for him, but the entire team was playing, not just Rodgers, and they won.

When I watch a game I let myself get into it. Hardly ever will you see my back touching the couch cushion and last night was no exception. Every time the Steelers had the ball Mark and I would start pointing all over the place to confuse them. We’d yell out directions to fumble or throw an intercept. I think it worked, although Mark was doing it better than me.

I was cheering and yelling through out the game and I have the ragged voice to prove it. It was a great game. The Steelers were no push over. They fought hard. Too hard for my nerves. There were so many heart stopping moments that my friends and family were discussing what recesitating equipment was near at hand.

Even as the final seconds ticked off the clock I refused to call the game over. I had to see it end. I had to hear it officially announced. I am thrilled. After 12 long, frustrating, disappointing years the Packers fought their way into the Super Bowl and won. It is a great day.

Easy questions Difficult answers

Over the weekend I had a conversation about the proposed building of a mosque in Los Angeles. This is a conversation many people are having, both pro and con.

At the heart of the matter is the question of whether mosques represent a threat to us. In light of 9-11 and our war against terrorists in the Middle East it’s understandable that people are feeling uneasy having something associated with these events in their own neighborhoods. Following on the heels of these concerns is the memory of the US round up of Japanese-Americans in World War 2. The regret and guilt felt by that time gives many pause that they don’t overreact to what’s happening now.

Concerns are not eased when a 1991 memo was discovered during an investigation of The Holy Land Foundation. One of the largest Islamic charities in the US were found guilty of laundering money to Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization.

The memo was written by Mohamed Akram, a senior Hamas leader in the US, who’s also a member of the Board of Directors for the Muslim Brotherhood in North America  and one of many unindicted coconspirators in the HLF trial. In it were a list of strategic goals. One of them is the use of a “settlement process” as a “grand jihad” eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated….”

Many have begun to refer to this as a “stealth jihad”. What was viewed only as rumors were then confirmed when a panel of national security analysts belonging to The Center for Security Policy issued a report to the government citing examples of this stealth jihad happening in America.

So the questions arise. Should we allow mosques to be built? But, freedom of religion is one of the basic tenets of this country. Terrorists don’t walk around with a sticker on their shirt, “Hi, my names Akmed and I’m a terrorist”. How does one tell if someone is a threat or simply a peaceful person wanting to worship at their house of God?

What steps do we take to ensure our safety but protect the rights of others? Or is that even possible? It’s a dilemma we face in a land where the expression “innocent until proven guilty” is heard every day. But other voices remind us that if we wait until someone is ‘guilty’, the damage has already been committed.

Nervous? Oh yeah.

I’m on the edge of my seat. The Green Bay Packers are one game away from being in the Super Bowl.

Worse yet, they’re having to go against the Bears to get there. To those who aren’t into football, the Bears are good. Very good.

Leading the Packers is Aaron Rogers who took over from Farve, and to be honest, I’ve never liked Rogers. He’s let me down time after time with his deer in the headlights expressions as he’d throw one intercept after another, fly the ball high over the receiver, fumbles, etc. Each time throwing away the game.

Yet, the Packers are one game away from the Super Bowl. Last week Rogers played amazingly and the Packers hammered the Falcons. I have to give Rogers his due for bringing the Pack this far.

I want to believe Rogers won’t choke. I want to see the Packers in the Super Bowl and win it, but that’s a lot of hope to invest in a team that’s disappointed me so many times in the past.

Okay, so who am I kidding, right? Come this Sunday I’ll be glued to the TV watching every play like a hawk. I’m reading up on the player and team stats. Packers have strong numbers for offence while the Bears just inch ahead for defense.

One thing is sure, it’s going to be a battle. And yes, if you think I’ll be a nervous wreck when the game starts Sunday, if the Packers win this one I’ll be a basket case leading up to the Super Bowl.

It happens every year

At the beginning of this year I wrote about resolutions. Yesterday I went back to that post and re-read it. It applies as much now as it did then. If you’re new to the Beastly world, or even if you’ve been a loyal reader for years, take a minute to read it.

So, do I make resolutions? Yup. I try to make ones that make sense; that’ll add something to my life. I don’t stack up a large number of them. Four at the most. At least one will be something that really challenges me.

I give some consideration to resolutions. They have to have meaning. Substance. Getting high score in Angry Birds would be awesome, but it doesn’t quite have that ‘quality of life’ thing I’m looking for.

One of the valuable things I learned about resolutions is that I don’t tell people what they are. There’s a strange thing that goes on when I tell people about a goal. Everyone is very supportive and encouraging and before I’ve even started on it my brain is filling me with the good feelings I’d get if I’d already reached the goal.

There’s a slightly less positive side to telling people about resolutions and that’s the people who are a bit less encouraging. The ones who say things like, ‘Yeah, I remember making a resolution to do that. But, you know, things get in the way. I couldn’t find the time.’ or ‘That’s a good goal. But if you don’t make it, it’s okay. You’re only human.’

I’m not even out of the starting gate and someone is already telling me to prepared to fail.

And that brings me to what I wanted to talk about. Failure.

Everyone of us has a list of stories about failing that could reach out the door and down the street. All the things we’d hoped to do that never happened. Dreams of what our life would be like, but instead we’re nowhere near that dream. Some of the reasons for our failures were in our control and others were far beyond us.

Now, before anyone feels so depressed they want to walk into the ocean and never come back let me shine some light on this. Stick with me.

Failure comes with some fascinating accessories. One of them are blinders.  As the meaning of failure sets in these blinders narrow our view of ourselves until we lose sight of all of the great and amazing things and people in our lives. All of our past successes vanish like they never happened.

Another goodie out of the Failure Grab Bag is the white flag. We tell ourselves, ‘what’s the point’. No, it’s not a question seeking an answer. It’s a rhetorical question because we know the answer is that it’s pointless to try. We’ll never win. We’ll never make it.

And with both hands firmly grasping that flag we put all our energy into waving it like we’re fighting off a swarm of bees and rarely let go.

And the grand daddy of the lot is fear. This is the big one. This is the dream killer, the inventor of the ‘comfort zone’, the paralyses of life.

Nobody is immune to fear. I’ve stared fear right in the face, screamed like a little girl and ran for the hills. We fear failure because it’s painful, or even worse, failure strips away our comfortable view of the world and flaunts in our faces that we are powerless to control what happens in life.

But we do have control and understanding that is very powerful. We have control over what we do. We decide our actions. If we fail at something nobody holds a gun to our head and orders us to give up. We decide to either give up or get up and try again.

Life is about growing. I don’t mean aging. Growing. To become more than we are. I didn’t say it was easy. I’ve slammed so hard into a brick wall of failure I have called it quits before the dust had settled. ‘That’s it. Finished. Over. No more.’

 

It was a long time before I tried anything again. But I made myself do it. If we stopped doing something because we failed at it, pretty soon we’d be living in a box. What kind of life is that?

Okay, so we didn’t pass the test, we gained two pounds, our heart got broken, we burnt dinner, got turned down for a date, etc., etc. And… what now?

Any time we make a decision to do something it automatically comes built in with a risk of failure. So, my advice is to think about what those failures could be, then think about what you’d do if you fail. After all, you have a plan for when you succeed. Have a plan for when you fail. Isn’t that why ships have life rafts, and cars have a spare tire?

Don’t be afraid to fail. Instead be terrified of never trying.

Sure, I believe in Santa Claus

You should too, and I’ll tell you why in a moment.

I had a great Christmas, and I got some nice gifts, too. There’s people who want to enjoy Christmas, but can’t. There’s things going on in their lives at the moment which make it hard to get into the spirit. I understand that. I’ve had some pretty tough Christmas’ … Christmasis… Christmase’?

If I reach all the way to the farthest back of my memory shelf the first Christmas I can remember was decorating the tree with my father. He had these small tin candle holders from his childhood in Europe. They had clips on the bottom that you’d clip to the tree. Then put a small candle, almost like a birthday candle, in it. Yes, and you’d light it. I understand the mental image is enough to send most everyone running for a fire extinguisher, but those were different times. And by the way, the tree looked magical with the room lights off and the tiny, gold, flicker of candles on it.

I remember another year when i got a Major Matt Mason, the space station and lunar walker. It was the most awesome thing ever. I still feel a thrill at the idea of playing with that thing. It could climb over almost anything, including our Doberman.

I’ve got a stock pile of past Christmas memories and every year there are new memories to add to that collection.

I’ve had Christmas’ that I’ve been entirely alone. Not by choice. I’ve been poor, sick, lonely. I’ve been sad, worried, and in one case, devastated. Yeah, I’ve had some very bad times. I remember them.

I know I’m not alone. Others have had their share of hard times at Christmas. I suppose things like that have taken the luster off the day for them. Others like to make out that they’re too adult, mature, wise, or what have you, so instead of taking part they like to tell you about when they stopped believing in Santa Claus, or how it’s just plain silly, or recite the history of St. Nick, or the origins of the Christmas tree. They seem to feel that by telling any one, who’ll listen to them, ‘the facts’ that they are saving you from participating in a fallacy.

It’s not a fallacy. Their ‘facts’ are only blinders that keep them from seeing the real magic that happens during Christmas. I do believe in Santa Claus because every year I’m lavished with the gifts of memories of Christmas’ past. Cherished friends and family. Kindness from strangers. Parties, songs, moments of ridiculous fun, laughing to tears, and on it goes. It happens every year. Even the bad memories have their place because I can look back on those, knowing I’ve made it through, see where I am now and feel the gratitude, and appreciation of how my family, friends, and even a stranger were there for me. Picked me up and dusted me off.

This Christmas is over, now, but I’ll find the memory of it again next year. Wrapped with a shiny bow and I’ll relive the moments with my wonderful daughters, a priceless wife, irreplaceable friends. There’ll be good food, cigars, the Rifleman theme song, and Red Rider BB guns.

That’s why I do believe in Santa Claus and you should too.