Out of the Basement

Courage  to start... mission accomplished. Strength to endure... it's three steps forward and two steps back but, long term, the math is on my way! Resolve to finish... unequivocally unquestionable! (It's a Roman's 12 kinda day!)

I have always been intrigued by polarities. More specifically, in figurative terms, opposites. I have read, studied and talked about them for a long time.  The purpose of my personal quest has been less to understand the opposites themselves than the space that exists between them. People think and say things like, "There's only right or wrong" or "It's black or white" or even "It's my way or the highway!" Such sentiments,  in most cases are farthest from the truth. In God's economy, there are absolute absolutes! In our human experience... and perspective,  nearly everything can be seen as fine shades of grey.  In other words, there are usually three not two answers. For instance... My opinion... your opinion... reality of the situation Right...  wrong... truth Your way... my way... compromise Honestly, even that is oversimplified! As long as we are human, polarities will exist. "Your yes" and "my no" will rarel...

When I heard that Merle Haggard had passed, I was saddened.  I listened to and played old Hag songs that week just to try and remember. When I heard that Prince had died, I was shocked... and saddened.  I listened to and played a few songs just to try and remember. Why? Both were gifted singers, writers, and musicians. Both in some way impacted my childhood. I did not know either of them personally. Why did I feel the need to pause? To grieve? I think it is not so much about them as it is about me. They were on their journeys; going their way. Our paths intersected when I heard them and made the commitment to emotionally invest!! I chose them... and now they are gone. And, now I mourn their passing. Our lives are filled with such moments. For everything that we put our hearts to, we will at some point experience loss. It is the way and nature of our human experience. That can be to death, divorce, distance, disillusionment, disinterest... and so many other things... How...

"There's a light,  shining bright, somewhere up ahead of me, There's a path, a well worn path, to a place I know I'm meant to be, Someone went before, looks like they cleared the way, A direction almost certain, a road paved yesterday,  it was you,                     Legacy   David Callahan (c) 2011 (First verse to a song titled Legacy that I wrote in 2011  to celebrate my company's 75th anniversary and to honor two of my mentors.)  Rarely do we find our success to be individual. Almost always someone has offered a hand or a shoulder that moved you a little farther along the path. If someone has inspired you or your journey today, tell them thank you! 

Getting ready to head back home! I have enjoyed being in Chicago, though most of it was from inside a convention center. It is one of my favorite places "for sure" and we will have to come back again soon! But, now that it is time, I am ready to go home. I miss home, I miss my dogs, I miss friends and family. I miss Angie! So I go home with a renewed appreciation for the familiar. It always happens, no matter where we travel. Angie and I have been so blessed to see so much of the world and we intend to see more, but the greatest place on earth is 1302... its home! I need to get back to working on my office remodel, catching up on work stuff, getting all my books and shelves out of the dining room! The list is long, but I am excited because its comfortable and its home. "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

I saw a couple of old friends last night. In my business you meet people and then over the years you get to see them from time to time at different events  and you catch up as life moves along.  One of them I worked with twenty years ago and every time we see each other we just pick right up talking and laughing about the same things. He is just  one of those people who the instant I see him we start laughing and recalling old stories and making new ones. The other friend is someone I hired years back who never quite got comfortable in his role and eventually moved on to other opportunities. I usually see him around once a year and its always pleasant and cordial. We used to be closer but I just always thought he just grew away. Finally, last night as I was walking into the dinner I was attending (extremely late),  someone said John is here and wanted to see you. I thought to myself it would be good to see him. Upon greeting him, he said to me, "I always thought y...

I woke up this morning to an interesting view of both the skyline of Chicago that stretches on seemingly forever, but also at the same time, all of its tentacled streets as they twist and turn through all the little neighborhoods and communities that make up Chicagoland! It's intriguing to me to see both the big and the small... the wide and the narrow all at once. It reminds me to see life as such. There is a grand plan that is playing out for us on a larger scale, but we have to  traverse and meandering those sections  daily that occupy that more immediate space in our lives. We cannot afford to live our lives only  looking and wondering for whats ahead. At the same time, we cannot get too busy focusing on the immediate and the now only to forsake the eventual and then. Attention is required for both. Good morning Facebook