WHAT DO YOU ENJOY

Yes, I know that it has been over a month since my last post. I have come to realize over that past few months of posting that I enjoy writing, but I do not make myself write when I haven’t fully developed my thoughts. I have taken some time over the past month in a half to look at many things and (hopefully) pull together some good things over time. This post might seem like a lot of random items, but in my mind they are all connected.

DISNEY CRUISE

For two weeks in the month of March, I was able to go home and spend a sometime with my family and some of Disney’s greatest characters. As celebration of mine and my wife’s 10^th Wedding Anniversary (See previous post titled “10 Years of Being Blessed With My Bride”) we and our daughter took a Disney Cruise. Disney puts on spectacular service and shows. The staff on the boat were the most professional and courteous people that I have ever dealt with (when dealing with corporations). We enjoyed going to the beach on St. Marteen (St. Martin), shopping in St. Thomas, and relaxing on Castaway Cay. The restaurants and food were unbelievable. The shows were top notch in a theater that when watching the show, felt so big, that you didn’t even realize you were on a boat. Some of the fun, was simply seeing the some of the same people over again, and being able to meet them and talk to them.

With all of the wonderful sights, shows, and experiences that Disney provided, the one thing that I keep remembering from the trip had nothing to do with Disney at all. It has to with a blind man (legally) that was on the boat. From my perspective, this man was not there for himself, but to make his children happy. I watch him tie the pirate bandanas on his children’s heads (by sure feel and up close view). I saw him with his daughter in the lobby when Cinderella came out and she was excited and said “there is Cinderella” and his response was “where”, she then guided him as to look in the direction and they had a short conversation about what she was wearing. The one thing that I could tell that he was doing was doing something that he enjoyed, and that was being with his children and family.

SHORT-TIMERS SYNDROME

As I write this post, I have less than 100 days left on my deployment. This is about the time when people start counting down, tolerance levels go to a little bit of nothing, and sometime people start losing focus. It is what we call in the military a Short-Timer, which I then diagnose them with Short-Timers Syndrome. We see this all the time, not just in the military world; and yes I can say that I have experienced these in multiple situations and stages of life. This time sets in a different timeframes, not just 100 days; sometimes it is 2 weeks, or a month, but it is there. We see this when people are getting close to going on vacation from work, when the school year is ending and you (teachers and students) are ready to be done, when people are getting close to leaving one job for another, and (yes) we see this when people are getting close to retirement.

When Short-Timer Syndrome sets in the hardest thing to do is to remain focused to finish our task at hand on a strong note. We must not forget that we chose to do what we do. If in some cases, the task that you are leaving behind is having somebody else replace you in your role, it can even be harder – as you are ready to go on, but you also need to do the right thing and set up your replacement for success by providing them with a good hand-off. I personally have seen individuals ruin their finishes, because they have gotten relaxed.

Most can relate to the game of football – a team gets a head and then relaxes thinking they can breeze through the finish and start playing a preventative game (and become relaxed), and then wind up losing their lead and for more than it should be, they lose the game.  Losing a game is not that detrimental to people lives (or should not be), but unfortunately some things in life are not just a simple game. Sometimes it is a career and/or a relationship that is affected (and as a result can greatly affect others that were influenced by the situation); and unfortunately, when I think about combat; winning and losing can come down to life and death. (Please do not misunderstand me, as I do not mean that anytime somebody dies un-expectantly from a tragedy that they lost focus, because that is not always the case.) Something I always try to convey to the students that I taught and coached is that there is not “Reset Button” on life (as there is on video games) – you cannot undo what you have already done.

YOU CHOOSE, SO CHOOSE WISELY

Most all things in life, we choose what we do. We choose what we do from what type of job (because you did have to apply for it) we have so that we can pay the bills, what education we want, where we live, where we go to church, and what we do in our free-time. Whatever it is that you choose to do, I say choose wisely – choose something you enjoy. If you do not enjoy doing something, then it might be time to sit down and look at what you enjoy doing and try to do that, like the man on the Disney Cruise with his kids.  

Over the past year, I have spent time around people that enjoy doing a lot of different things. Some of these people simply enjoy watching movies, playing video games, fishing and hunting (which they have missed this year), watching sports on television, playing poker, and many other activities.

When I think about the things that I enjoy doing, I think about what I miss doing, like spending time with family and friends; and doing pretty much anything that involves sports whether it is coaching, playing, or watching. I miss playing golf and softball with family and friends. Now, I think about returning home and coaching my daughter in whatever sport she plays (hopefully) – although I have been informed that it is probably a good thing that I was not home for Carley’s first season of soccer.   

When it comes to a ‘job’, we must realize that we applied for the job that we have. We chose to be involved with the company, occupation, or industry in which you get paid to do. Through-out the length of time that you are involved in your job, there are times that we feel that we have to do something, but most of the time we need to realize that it is simply a part of the job that we chose to do. I see it this way – if it is something that I would do for free, is it really a job if I get to do it, and get paid to do it? I don’t think so.   

The most important thing to remember is that we all chose whatever it is that we do, and therefore we might as well chose something that we enjoy doing. If it is something like a job or something that last for some time, we need to remain focused (and not get Short-Timers Syndrome), so that we finish strong and win.