When Life Changes (By Debby Thrailkill)

With a few harsh words, his life changed forever. He hadn’t meant the cursory string of consonants and vowels that slipped quietly past his lips, and unfortunately into the ears of nearby coworkers. It was forgotten instantly, an almost thoughtless moment, as quick as the sting of a bee… the result far more painful.

My friend’s ill-timed utterance cost him a highly valued job at a premier California destination Resort. It was his dream job, one that he competed for and worked hard at for many years. He loved it to his core. And just like that it was gone. For weeks he was devastated, angry at himself, shocked, empty, motionless.

Before this happened, life hadn’t exactly been a bed of roses. He worked tirelessly six days a week at two jobs; The second job provided extra money so that he could afford to keep the coveted lower paying position at the Resort that he loved. And then his father suddenly passed away just as he was on a transcontinental flight to be with his Dad over the holidays. The time meant for a family reunion and celebration… was instead spent in crisis management and grieving.

We never know what tomorrow will bring. My friend certainly never expected this turn of events. I know it’s important to try to help others when they are in need, but after listening to his story, offering support was the best I could do. But then I was pleased to hear that he was taking steps to forge a new path. Although it was an unwanted fresh start, he was bravely holding his head up and beginning to move on. I am proud of him for facing this challenge head on.

We all face great challenges when life suddenly changes. All God given days, every second of them, are the greatest blessing. And knowing you have a friend to listen and encourage you can be important to healing. So remember, when your day is going great, finding time to be a friend will fill your heart, as well as theirs.

If you need me, I am here. If you don’t, I will still be here.

~ Anonymous

Standing Tall

In honor of Father’s Day…

No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.

                                           ~ Abraham Lincoln

My Best Work

I was born one month prematurely and have been in a hurry ever since. I guess you could say I’ve always had a lot of energy and maybe that’s why my wife calls me the energizer bunny. I just can’t sit still when I’m at home and always need to be doing something. That’s great for productivity but it isn’t always great for relationships or life in general. However, I have noticed that certain things about me have slowed down in a good way as I’ve gotten older.

Yesterday brought that thought into clarity. I was driving my truck and accidentally hit one of the buttons on the steering wheel. It changed my “view” on my dashboard and brought up “engine conditions”, which is something I have never looked at before. The first thing I noticed was that my total driving hours to date were 908 hours and my total idling hours were 298. Apparently I’m spending nearly one-third of my time just idling. That’s a way higher percentage than I would have guessed and at first it made me think of all the time I’m wasting, and that really annoyed me.

But the more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that I do my best thinking when I am idling. In fact, when I’m stuck in a traffic jam, I often take a moment to put my hands together at the top of my steering wheel and talk to God. I like to ask Him how he’s doing. I converse with Him, let him know I appreciate his help, and ask Him to watch over my friends and family. And I always end the conversation by listing all the blessings I am thankful for. And when I do that, and realize how truly blessed I am, the traffic issues never seem so bad.

So what am I saying? I guess I am saying that I realize I have a limited amount of time on this earth and it’s good to be productive. But sometimes, when it’s quiet and the world slows down just for a little bit, that’s when I do my best work!

We spend half our life trying to find something to do - 

with the time we have rushed through life - 

trying to save.

~ Will Rogers

Decisions, Decisions

I have seven grandchildren and three of them are now teenagers. Being around them reminds me of when I was a teenager, and I have to say… that was a really difficult time in my life. A time when I had to make a lot of difficult decisions.

When I was 16, my parents moved from San Diego to San Francisco. I chose to stay behind… and they let me. I stayed in High School and for the most part I still got good grades. But I had to work every single day after school and most weekends just to have enough money to survive. Working and living on my own exposed me to a lot of adult situations that I was too young to handle. I saw things I didn’t want to see, like my drunk boss at a gas station rip people off. And I experienced things I should never have experienced at 16, like having the Iron Horsemen motorcycle gang come into the gas station where I worked alone, late at night, and gas up without paying.

Being young, naïve, and inexperienced was a handicap. But so was living on my own without parents. Sure I would call them once in a while, but I never wanted them to know I was scared and struggling, so I would just say I was fine. But I wasn’t fine and some of the decisions I made were terrible. I still cringe when I think about my stupid mistakes, but I also realize that if I would have had an older person to talk to, someone I trusted to give me advice, I could have avoided a lot of painful mistakes. I wish I would have had a “Mr. Miyagi” like in “The Karate Kid” to give me advice, but I didn’t.

Mr. Miyagi dolled out some pretty sage advice. For example, “First learn stand, then learn fly.” That was his advice to take things one step at a time. I didn’t have a mentor back then, but I can be a mentor now. And if you have a few young people in your life, don’t be afraid to reach out and offer them some sage advice. They may not take it… but then again… they might!

Some of the wiser advice I have received over the years…

•  Forget the mistakes of others and forgive yourself the mistakes you make.
•  Keep your temper and shoulder the blame when appropriate.
•  Think first, act accordingly, and maintain high standards.
•  Put the needs of others before your own.
•  And lastly, listen to advice!

“Never put passion in front of principle. Even if you win, you lose."

~ Mr. Miyagi