"I'm not hugging you, Mr. Monk. I'm hugging the little boy."

I over-slept this morning so today's post is post morning chores.  I'm not sure which is making me feel older, having to zoom in to 120% on my browser to be able to write this, or meeting a TEACHER that was born after I graduated from high school.  No matter, today isn't about complaining, it's about finding inspiration.

You need to have more than one passion in life - whether you're a writer or a golfer.  When King David lost his first son by Bath-Sheba, he picked up the pieces of his life and pressed on.  His servants wondered why he was so calm.  David replied, "I cannot raise the dead.  He is gone.  I will go to him, but he will never come back to me."  David recognized a very inconvenient truth that we like to ignore - we will all pass along and, once we do, we can't come back.

"That's the saddest movie I've ever seen." - Natalie

So live a full life.  Things happen to pull you down, to break your heart and crush your spirit.  Be gorged on life so that when something loses its savor you have a plate full of something else.  Spend time with children.  They are fascinating.  Not just your children, all of the children around you.  Don't treat them poorly, with contemptuous arrogance.  Do not condescend to them.  They are wiser than you think, the wounds you create greater than you can imagine.  Each child is a unique person with a personality forming.  You have an opportunity to be a meaningful person in their lives, even just in passing.  That's not something that's going to happen by writing a best-seller or hitting 20 under par.

Think about it.  Who actually wanted to read the books in school?  Who believes (or cares) about your amazing golf score?

Children will believe in you if you believe in them.  They don't know all of the "why's" that will keep you from succeeding, no matter that goal.  When you believe in them, it encourages them to actually pursue greatness rather than settle for humdrum and ordinary.

Both my wife and I were recipients of spontaneous hugs from children that were not ours this weekend.  I know how it made me feel, and I saw what it meant to my wife because her entire countenance changed.  Emily Dickinson may have preferred the life of a hermit, but do you really want to be famous for being alone?

I know they are scary in groups, but individually?  Children are amazing.  Just don't be creepy.  Nobody likes that creepy guy.  Don't know the one I mean?  Then stay away from my kids...