Life is for the Living...

You probably can guess I've always liked Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin reminds me a lot of myself when I was a kid. He has one speed... FAST! And he always seems to be embracing life...

I was watching something tonight and heard a person say, "Life's a bitch... and then you die."

"Really? REALLY??? You're serious???"

Well friends, I do NOT share that attitude.

Things happen that are a bitch... but it doesn't mean you have to give up on your life because of it.

Do you know what it's like to live your life on the sidelines? Well, for the first time in quite a while, I'm doing that. I've been thinking and trying to figure out what God may be trying to teach me through all of this... but believe me, I don't plan on sitting in the cheap seats very much longer!

Normally this time of year, there are a lot of things going on in my life. Travel. Exercise. Working in my yard. Going out with friends to various places around the Metroplex. However, due to a real "bitch of a problem," I'm relegated to observation mode.

I was having a pretty good year before the kneecap was smashed to Kablewie. I had a goal to run a Half Marathon... not just one, but several actually. In addition to the OKC Marathon, I wanted to run the White Rock in December. I was also trying to find one in the fall...

But while those are nice "events," they're helpful in keeping active. You can't just say, "Hey... I'm going to go run a Half Marathon next weekend." You've got to train... challenge yourself... achieve small goals along the way. You start off running 1 mile. When you're good enough, you go up to 2 miles. So on and so forth... it's a fascinating journey when you can watch yourself progress along the way!

Today a VP stopped by my desk and welcomed me back... he's been on vacation. I can pretty much predict the questions people will be asking me... I get the same ones all the time. He asked one that I probably get a few times a week: "Do you think you'll ever run again?"

Do you want to know why people ask me that so much? Well, it's simple. They know of how this happened. Of course, they're associating the "accident" with me actually "running in the marathon." Or, they're asking because they know running meant a lot to me...

Let me say it this way: If I never run again, THAT will be a BITCH!

Once I'm cleared, I plan to live my life again. If you know anything about me, I challenge myself constantly. I push myself. I make goals. I live life!

One goal is to run again. Yes, that may be shocking to some of you. Or you may be rolling your eyes or thinking, "I better tell him to take it easy." Well, I'm tired of hearing people telling me to take it easy. Remember... I'm Calvin! I'm also pretty dang headstrong...

So while that may be a goal, I still have to achieve that. It's my own mini-marathon. I have to stop limping before I can start walking normally. I also have to have another surgery before I can run again... so as you can see, it's a LONG ways off. But I will do it... I will run again. Someday. That's a goal to keep me going these days...

But being on the bench, I've come up with several observations. I have some opinions... if you are someone that has been on the bench yet you have no reason to be there, I have something to say to you. Or, if you just want to hear me wax poetic, then get ready... listen up!

To me, everyone should travel... experience different places, different cultures, different foods, and different people. Get out of your comfort zones and experience the vastness of this planet! Do you really want to be lying on your death bed and think, "Wow... I'm so glad I never went anywhere!" I wish I could travel right now... if you can and you're not, then what is holding you back? I've got a good excuse... what is yours?

To me, everyone should quit complaining... are you tired of your job? Your weight? Your hair? Your clothes? Your house? Your car? Your situation in life? Well, DO something about it! Make changes, make adjustments, or make compromises... but whatever you do, just do something about it and shut the frak up! You don't have to be satisfied with your lot in life. Don't give up... get in the game and push forward!

To me, everyone should slow down... Do you have any idea how slow I go these days? I mosey along with my crutches. I see things that I never did before. A rolly polly crossing the sidewalk. Flowers in flowerbeds. Bees... when was the last time you noticed a bee? People rushing by me talking on their cell phones. I have people that cut in front of me while I'm waiting for the automatic "handicap" door to open. Why? What is so important that you can't slow down and see what "life" is happening around you?

To me, everyone should be kind to someone... you never know what they're going through! People look at me differently then before. I have doors that are opened for me, things that are brought to me, and people generally check in to see if there is anything I need. What if everyone acted this way when we DON'T have afflictions and pains? Have you cussed someone, flipped them off, yelled at a stranger in your car, etc? Well, maybe they have something going on in their world that is causing them to be distracted enough to disturb yours... just think about that.

So I hope you ponder some of these things. I've learned a lot while sitting on life's bleachers. But pretty soon, I'm going to be getting ready to stand up... to stretch... to warm up... and then I'm getting back in the game!

Life is for the living... so either get busy living or get busy dying! From someone who is aching to "live" again, don't dissappoint me!