Diapers To Donuts

Wow, What A Ride!

Here I am, verging on my 38th birthday, and what exactly have I done with my life?

Can I honestly say that I am living a truly noble and holy life, a life that is worthy of the God that created it?

Have I used all of my talents to make this world a better place?

As darkness falls across this world, with all of its hatred and injustices, can I say that I have railed against that darkness like a beacon in the night?

Have I filled each and every moment with the joy that comes from exercising my abilities for the betterment of mankind?

The answer to all of these questions is no.

I have done none of these things.

At this point in my life, I must say that I am just plain old tired.

Tired of trying to be something I’m not.

Tired of feeling like this world won’t let me be me.

Tired of believing other people instead of believing in myself.

With each passing day, I grow weary of this world and my inability to be the person God intended me to be.

And so, I make a pledge.

This pledge is to my creator, my wife, my children, my parents, my sisters, my friends and to myself:

I pledge to live every day with overwhelming passion.

To stop worrying about things that in the grand scheme of things just don’t matter.

To stop and take it all in, to be completely present in the moment as if it were my very last.

To be the spark that ignites the bonds of change in this world, an immovable force that will not rest until my work here is done.

To live my life according to HIS rules, and not anyone else’s.

To turn this life into a story worth writing, a movie worth watching and something that my grandchildren’s children will tell their grandchildren about … not because of how much money I made but because of who I helped and the example I left behind.

To stop listening to everyone else and to start listening to the voice in my head that says, “Speak up! Do Something! Be Better! BE YOU.”

To stop being afraid and to start being alive.

To be the miracle we are each supposed to be, to do things no one ever thought I could do and only He knew I could do.

To guide my actions not by what others tell me but what my soul says is the truth.

And finally, I pledge to live according to the following quote by Tom Peters. I will repeat it every day when I awake and before I go to bed. I will hold it in my heart and I will make it my reality for THIS is what God intended:

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body—but rather a skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow, what a ride!’ ” – Tom Peters

An Open Letter To Washington

Dear Elected Officials of the United States Government,

I want you to know that the American people and I are tired.

Tired of spending 60+ hours a week doing our jobs followed by countless hours spent raising our children, only to discover that you haven't been doing YOUR jobs.

Tired of trying to stretch every little penny so we can pay for our kids' food, clothing and education, only to discover that you have squandered every single penny we've ever given you.

Tired of trying to figure out exactly what happened here, of hanging on to every last word dripping from the lips of so-called news experts, only to find that they're only repeating the lies you told them.

Tired of wishing for leaders who can speak the plain truth, only to find an endless cast of fork tongued snake oil salesmen whose vacuous words sound nice but offer no answers for the mess we're in.

Tired. Just tired. Tired of running on a tread mill to nowhere while you run on a treadmill made of gold.

Do you really expect us to believe that you never saw this coming, that this was some kind of surprise?

And do you really think that after you pass this miraculous bailout package that all will be forgiven, that Americans will go back to their lives happy to live off the bread crumbs from your table?

I don't think so.

While we were busy feeding and raising the children of America, you were busy pillaging our prosperity to satisfy your endless greed.

While we toiled under the yoke of increasing costs, trying to figure out how the heck to afford driving to work on gas that costs twice as much while somehow still managing to feed our kids, you continued to dine on an endless menagerie of earmarks.

But the game is over. The clock has struck the mythical hour and all of the greed, the incompetence and the lies have been revealed for exactly what they are, not to mention your condescending belief that "only you know best."

So let history record that you have failed us all, that each of you have brought us to this horrible place with no way out, with no easy solution or quick fix, where people's retirement funds and house values have evaporated in a matter of days, where the recovery will be measured in decades and not years.

So it is, in the harsh light of day, all fools are revealed. And while it is true that we are certainly fools for believing you, it is you who are even bigger fools for believing you could deceive us.