Raise your hand if you feel it!

Life is full of moments that if you know how to play your cards right, could eventually add up to a great deal of happiness. Just as in many card games where you need to risk getting rid of some cards in order to hopefully get a winning hand, you too have the ability in your life to choose the moments which should be relevant to hold on to or those that need to be dismissed altogether. I am inclined to hold tight to the ones that make me laugh, smile, and even a few that might make me cry because of their uniqueness. I am also of the idea to allow the not so pleasant ones to teach me whatever lesson I should learn from them, but then allow them to trickle away like water between my fingers. It makes absolutely no sense for me to hang on to misery, pain, and sorrow. I think that this attitude has actually served me well and allowed me to be a much happier person. It is almost like taking a rough piece of meat that after being pounded enough with the kitchen mallet, soaked and marinated in the proper juices, and finally cooked at the right temperature and for the proper amount of time, it then has finally turned into a pretty nice culinary delight. It just can't have the right outcome without going through the proper process.

The proper perspective with respect to the things that happen around me, allows me to grow. When I wallow in the not so good moments for too long, I become stagnant and depression is sure to follow. I like to look back in time and consider how much simpler things were in my life when I was younger. All of my basic needs were taken care of by my parents. When I was hungry, it was just a matter of time before food was not just bought for me, but also cooked and served with love. When I was cold, the exact size clothing would magically appear in my closet to keep me warm the next day on my way to school. When I was tired, a comfy bed with all the bedding's and pillows was always there for me to lay on and recover my strength. Everything that I needed was provided to me without a single financial expectation on my end. As a child I was treated as if I was a prince in my parent's kingdom. Don't get me wrong, I was expected to do chores and meet certain responsibilities, but compared to adulthood, my childhood was a breeze. It is no wonder then that as young teenagers my children are so much less stressed out with life's demands than I am most of the time. Their ability to catch a good wave and ride it all the way to the beach is so much better than mine because of how light their baggage is compared to my own. I enjoy watching those moments in their lives in which life throws them a curve ball and yet they still manage to at least get on first base due to their agility to run like the wind instead of being anchored in place like most adults become with time. To illustrate I'll share with you a recent set of events that unfolded in my youngest son's life.

A few weeks ago my youngest son was at his mom's home in the middle of his daily game and computer playing routine when the door bell rang. When he went to see who it was he found himself being invited by a year older friend that is currently in high school to attend a youth religious service at a hall that is at walking distance from my ex-wife's place. This cute young lady has in the past arrived with other invitations for him to accompany her to walk to a close by candy factory, the nearby park, and sometimes to just hang out. The first thought in my mind is to say to him "you dog you!" However, I realize that he has the most wonderful personality, easy going, and a real sweet demeanor, so even though I am sure he probably likes the girl, I rather not invade his personal space and mess with him. It is very rewarding to see him having what appears from my end to be very healthy and normal experiences.

That particular night was interesting for him to say the least. We have raised our two son's Catholic, so there are certain religious experiences which neither of the two have ever encountered. He later told me that after a lot of singing, praying, and a somewhat interesting sermon, there was a moment in which the speaker asked the audience that if there was anyone in the group that wanted to give themselves to God, to raise their hands. Everything up to that moment had been a crowd kind of experience in which everyone in the room did pretty much the same thing, so not having ever attended this kind of religious service he had no reason to think that the moment at hand was any different. In fact, if you were not Catholic and attended a Catholic mass, soon you would probably also find yourself standing when everyone else stands, kneeling when the rest kneels, and sitting as soon as you saw the crowd sitting too. Without warning he suddenly found himself with his hand raised in the air, but to his surprise being the only person in the room in the suddenly very uncomfortable position.

OK, this is when I just had to burst out laughing out of control from the visual image that suddenly parked itself in my mind of my sweet son being dragged into the front of the congregation in order for the preacher and a few more to lay hands on him and convert his obviously confused soul! Oh my God, what an incredible story will this kid have to tell his own children when he grows up! Sure enough, they came up to him and removed him from the back of the room and brought him all the way to the front of what he said was at least a hundred other young, but already converted souls. His mind was spinning at the unsuspected consequence that he was having to deal with from his genuinely ignorant earlier action. However, he is a trooper and of course took it all in hoping that there would eventually be no fallout from this scary moment. Afterwards he said that they approached him requesting that he provide some contact information so that they could add him to their books, to which he replied that he was not comfortable providing it at the moment. I am sure that the requester must of been confused with his reply, but I could only applaud his instinctive sense for damage control.

He says that later he confessed to his friend that he truly had no idea what was going on, and that it all happened so quickly and without warning that he was just glad that nobody else in the room actually knew him personally. They both laughed at what had happened and took it all in strides. In fact, he has since gone two more times with her, which in my heart tells me so many things about his gentle personality. It is in fact these and so many other experiences that turn a boy into a man. Mistakes that are made in total ignorance are one of the lessons that we need in order to learn how to be more attentive and obviously less impulsive in our actions.

Dad