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| (From another life when I had hair) |
"I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying"
Andy Dufresne
I first considered myself somewhat of an adult, or pretending to be one, when I got married.
From the outside of adulthood looking in, I realized that in order to obtain, develop, and
establish my man card, I needed to be maestro of the BBQ and enjoy watching football. As far
as football goes, I failed. But as for the BBQ; I have treated my journey like that of Shaolin
Monk. What I have learned to this point, besides the right amount of smoke and heat, is that its
all about how you season the meat, that will make the final product worth pawning your kids
over.
Life is exactly the same. We all start out with the same slab of human flesh, but it is our choice
on how delicious we are going to make it (I swear I am not going down the Donner Party path
with this post). There have been times in my life when I have been over marinated and times
when I was completely bland. Gather round the fire kiddos, because I am going to spin a tale
about rediscovering myself.
I am not going to go into the specifics on what lead up to this moment on this post (that will be a
post unto itself) but just know life had delivered me a quality pimp slap. About 4.5 years ago I
woke up, went through my morning routine, looked in the mirror and had the realization that this
was the rest of my life. That realization produced a "Christmas Story" Ralphie, soap in the
mouth worthy response. At that exact moment, I realized I was just passing through life and
somewhere on my quest to become a so called adult, I had turned my back on the things that I
loved. This, in turn, affected everything from being a good father and husband, to my job.
The next day I promised myself that I would not just pass through this existence. It was time to
do a "Howard Carter" dig into my life and rediscover the marinade that seasoned my life to
perfection. Within 6 months, I had started playing in a band again, skiing with my kids, playing
hockey, and taking in all that my area had to offer. The amazing thing about this process is that
by rediscovering the things I had loved in the past, I was able do the majority of them with my
family (band practice happens at 9 pm in sound proof room when everyone is asleep).
I know I cannot be alone in what I have experienced and for this reason I have committed to
writing this blog and creating our very own "mid life" safe room. There is a lot more to this story;
so much so that I may just write a book about it some day. So here is my challenge for the
week... Get out, do something you love, expose your kiddos to a who you really are and the
things that made you who you are today. I promise you that as you rediscover yourself, life will
become as tasty as well smoked and marinated brisket (if you are vegetarian, smoked and
seasoned veggies are all right in my book as well). Part of creating the "Justifying the F Word"
community is to help and motivate others. Take a moment when you are out, put up a pic on
Facebook and or Instagram and #justifyingthefword. Let the revolution begin!
Like what you have read? #justifyingthefword or follow me on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/justifyingthefword/timeline
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