The World As I See It

So it’s Saturday, and the clock keeps moving forward but I keep sitting still.  There’s so much to be done around the house, and I know it, and I know when the day is through I’ll regret having not accomplished as much as I would have liked.  Regret is the wrong word here.  I believe a more appropriate expression would be “highly irritated.”  Now, the question I have to ask myself is this:  “If you KNOW that you have a ton of things to do, and you KNOW by not doing them you’re going to bring stress, anger, tension, (and a bunch of other things probably), into your life, why not just get up and get things done?”  Good question.  Bad answers.  The Internet is calling me.  Oh wait, I’ve got to check email.  This TV show, let me see what happens.  I’m sleepy, I’ll just take a 15 minute nap.  The dogs need to be played with.  Did I mention I haven’t checked my Facebook or Myspace accounts in the last 30 minutes?  Yep, those are the answers I usually come up with.

Life is a lot like, well, the above life.  The only difference is this.  Some of these things that I just gotta get done really can wait.  No one will die, nothing will stop working, no one other than me and my wife will know that they didn’t get checked off the list.  However, there are some things that I cannot afford to wait to do.  Have I done something to show my wife how valued she is and how much I love her?  Have I reached out to others in my life that may need to know someone cares?  Have I cracked open a Bible lately to see what God’s word is speaking to me?  Most importantly, have I talked to God and allowed him to talk to me?  Ouch.  I don’t like the way that last one feels.   

This life is so fast-paced and everyone is so busy.  This techno-crazy world we live in almost drives you to do more, be more, go more without ever slowing down.  The truth of it is though, we need to slow down so much more than we do.  The sadder truth is, I don’t think many of us know how to.  Slow down doesn’t just mean we get the recommended 8 hours of sleep.  Slow down doesn’t mean a vacation for a week every year.  Slow down doesn’t mean sit back on the porch and watch the sunset fade into grey. 

I believe slow down means retreat.  Retreat from what you might ask.  Everything, anything, that might cause us to become so hurried and out of sorts that we forget what we’re here on this earth for.  The very reason we’re created, first and foremost, is to communicate with, have relationship with, the very Creator of the universe.  We usually communicate with everything in the universe except for the Maker of it, and He’s the One who matters.  The other stuff is irrelevant if we can’t get the first thing right.

I challenge you to stop and take time to find out what’s on God’s mind.  Do whatever it takes to retreat and slow down and see what He wants to share with you.  He’ll do it, you just gotta give him the opportunity. 

I wonder if God will talk to me while I fold laundry?  I guess we’ll find out.  (By the way, if He won’t, maybe the laundry just needs to wait).

Y’all be well.

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.”  Lou Holtz

Ever find yourself complaining about something?  Is it something you can change?  If so, stop complaining and change it.  If you can’t change it, stop complaining, because you can’t change it.  The best way for us to do this is “With a little less talk and a lot more action.”  Toby Keith

Your words will either pick someone up or drive them down.  They will either encourage or discourage someone.  Words either cut like a knife or heal like a balm.  What if the person you drive down, discourage and cut like a knife is…YOU!  We have no true way to measure how much of what we say hurts or hinders us…but I can guarantee it’s way more than we have ever believed.

Let your example be that you put words into actions and your actions speak for themselves.

Y’all be well.

“Character is not made in a crisis-it is only exhibited.”  Robert Freeman

“When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it:  1.  Admit it.  2.  Learn from it.  3.  Don’t repeat it.”  Paul “Bear” Bryant

Pretty good words of advice from a pretty good coach.

“Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I will show you a failure.”  Thomas Edison

Ouch.  That one could hurt a bit.

Many years ago I would sent out a qoute of the day through email.  I thought it would be cool to revisit this old ritual and start it up again.  I won’t guarantee to do one everyday, but I’ll do my best.  Here’s today’s:

“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”  George Horace Lorimer

Lorimer, in a nutshell, was the editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post from 1899-1937.  While serving in this capacity he changed the focus of the magazine to American business, from the smallest-scale farmer to the wealthiest businessman.  Many of his articles were devoted to men who were self-made; in other words, men who got up with determination so that they could go to bed with satisfaction. 

If you’re going to fulfull your purpose in anything you do, you must have a plan and you must carry out that plan.  To quote another popular quote, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”  After you make your plans it must be determination that carries out that plan.  Be determined in everything you do so that you end up satisfied with your hard word.

Y’all be well.

If any of you were planning on going downtown Friday night to see Will Hoge, you probably figured out that the weather had other plans.  Oh well, what can you do?  He’ll probably be back in town in the fall, so maybe you can catch him there.

If you weren’t going to go, then I guess the weather didn’t affect you did it now? 

Alright, y’all be well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmazg7Quc3Y

If you have ever read more than one of my posts you have heard me talk about Mr. Will Hoge, one of the finest singers/songwriters/musicians this side of the Mississippi.  It was many years ago that I first heard Will.  He was opening for the 80s band The Outfield at Dancin in the District in Nashville, TN.  I immediately became a fan.  He’s such a spirited live show, and his passion for what he does is obvious.

For all of you Wilmington natives, you are in for such a treat.  At the grand ole price of free you can see Will perform tomorrow night on the banks of the Cape Fear for the Downtown Sundown concert series.  There’s an opening act at 6, and Will will go on sometime after they finish up.  I promise you, if you go you’ll fall in love with him and the band.  By the way, Dan Baird, guitarist for the Georgia Satellites, is touring with him right now.  If you don’t like him, I’ll personally give you back the price of admission times two!

Will plays the Port City a couple of times a year, but it’s usually at The Soapbox, it’s usually not free, and it won’t be as cool as tomorrow night.  Go out and support local rock and roll and support Will Hoge.  Stick around after the show and talk to him.  Tell him Todd sent you!  They don’t come any cooler than Will.

See y’all tomorrow night on the courthouse steps.   Be well!

This here post will be an attempt at two things:  1) Some comedy and 2) A rebuttal at my friend Dave, who threw me under the bus in his last blog.  (As a disclaimer, I must admit he never gave my name out, only a link to my myspace page.)

Let’s take a brief trip back in time, about 6 1/2 days ago to be exact.  Location:  Topsail Greens.  Time:  Approximately 11:08.  Date:  Friday, July 13th.  That’s right, the date should’ve been enough to warn us, but it did not.  Objective:  To play 18 holes of golf with my buddies Dave and Mark.  End Result:  Keep reading!

First off, if you’ve never been to Topsail Greens before, let me tell you this piece of info about it.  The first tee and the driving range (all 50 yards wide of it) are side by side.  The only separating boundary is the cart path and a few trees.  Good-sized trees mind you, but trees nonetheless. 

So as the story continues, the threesome tees off.  (At this point you could refer to them as Larry, Moe and Curly.)  Two of us slice the ball right into the range, one of us hits the ball straight.  That would’ve not been me, it was Dave.

After hitting my ball into the range, I decided to (while in the cart) go and look for it.  Dave was riding shotgun and protested the whole time.  “Dude, this isn’t safe,” he insisted.  I pretended I couldn’t hear him over the whir of the electric cart.  I proceeded to go about 10 yards to the right of the cart path and look for my ball, but to no avail.  I had just about given up hope when Dave says “Hey man, I’m grabbing my club and heading over to the fairway to hit my ball that went where it was supposed to.”  He continues by getting out of the cart (first mistake) and grabbing a club while never looking in the direction of the 4 people hitting balls from the range (second mistake).  I turned and saw Dave pull his club of choice out of his bag and start to walk towards the first fairway when I heard a clunk.  It wasn’t a hollow clunk, more of a solid clunk, kind of like a golf ball hitting someone in the head.  You guessed it.  Dave got whacked in the noggin.

I heard some words that I can’t repeat on family-friendly pages and got out of the cart to see blood pouring from what I thought was Dave’s mouth or nose.  Turns out it was only the back of his head that was bleeding profusely.  In all of our infinite wisdom, Mark (who for the record was sitting in the MIDDLE of the driving range, I kid you not, and was not touched by a ball) and I decided we had to get Dave to a respected medical establishment (and no, the bar at the clubhouse wasn’t our idea!). 

In the midst of our rushing to get Dave help, this 15 or 16 year-old kid comes running down the path in fear.  Dave assures him that he’ll kick his tail when we return, if he returns.  Just kidding, Dave was very cool about it and told him that these things happen and not to worry about it.  We finally get Dave to my car and I drive to Topsail Medical, where he is treated for nothing more than a goose egg and some broken skin.  The nurse said the cut didn’t even make it to the skull.  Bummer!  In all seriousness, it did take 5 stitches, a good amount of blood lost and what seemed like a lot of time.

Upon driving back Dave decided he would follow doctor’s orders and cut his round short.  Mark and I decided we had no intention of being quitters.  We care about Dave and all, but hey, this was a round of golf we’re talking about here, and we had already paid!

Now, if you’re still reading this, there are two morals to this story.  First, don’t ever get out of the cart when it’s possible you could get hit by a golf ball.  Second, if you do get out of the cart make sure you keep an eye, or two, in the direction of oncoming balls.  While Dave claims it’s my fault he got hit, if he would have only observed my two rules he would’ve been safe.  Y’all be well and keep your eyes peeled for range balls.

I haven’t blogged in a while, and it’s getting to me.  I love putting stuff down, and I have some ideas, but just not enough time lately to get it all out.  I thought though that I would take a few moments and write about some stuff in the head of me.

1.  I hope Boston finishes off L.A. tonight.  Go Celtics!

2.  Will Hoge is playing Wilmington Friday night.  If you wanna go listen to some great rock and roll, go downtown Friday on the courthouse steps.

3.  I love the way the Mets fired Willie Randolph.  When you hate a team as much as I do the Mets, you love to see them do absurd stuff.  Way to go Mets!

4.  I was disgusted to watch Rocco get beat by Tiger yesterday.  While I have to give Tiger credit (he’s not the best golfer in the world for nothing) I was pulling hard for Rocco.  I respect Tiger, just don’t care for him.

5.  I cannot wait to watch my Heels play Fresno State tonight in the College Baseball World Series.  Go Heels!

6.  And speaking of Heels, with Lawson, Ellington and Green returning next season, not to mention the return of Bobby Frasor and three McDonald’s All-Americans, the Heels are poised to make another Final Four appearance.

7.  While reading the news on the Net, I read some stuff about the California gay couples nuptials ceremonies thingies.  I have gay friends, and I have nothing against gay people.  However, I am entitled to my opinion and do not agree with gay marriages.  If you are offended by that, please forgive me, but my personal convictions are more important than someone’s beliefs about me.

8.  Steph and I are thinking about taking another vacation to the Outer Banks.  We’ve been to Ocracoke Island before, and not sure where to go this time (if we decide to go anywhere).  Anybody got any ideas?

9.  Much love to Melody Smartt for adding my page to her blogroll.  I’ve received many hits as a result of this, and I surely do appreciate it.  By the way, I consider 6 to be many hits!

Alright, that’s all for now.  Y’all be well.