Embrace the Embarrassing

I have more embarrassing moments than I care to have, but I think we can all say that.  Some people have blonde moments or brain farts, but I go for the epic embarrassment.  I know you want to know a few examples, so here is just a taste from my blooper reel of life:

- As a teenager, my brakes weren't working on my car (if you can call it that) so I thought, "Hey, I bet putting it in park will stop it."  And it did....forever.  A very compassionate mailman (actually a mail lady) stopped and asked where I lived so she could give the bad news to my folks.  This was before everyone had an iPhone attached to their hand.

- As a young adult, I drove into a cop car.  With a cop in it.  Yeah, I know.  Who does that?!

- I traveled in a drama ministry after high school and was in charge of finances.  We would go to gas stations to call and make contact with the churches we were serving and change clothes, brush teeth, etc.  I made the call from the payphone and we left and went to the church.  It was a great service and we had a great dinner. An overall fantastic night.  The next day we needed to leave and I realized I left the wallet on top of the payphone!  You know, the wallet with over 5000 dollars in it!  It was never found and I never lived that down.

- I walked into my parents' house (this was when I was in my 20's) to get a tennis racket, but what I got could only be described as an X rated scene in which years of therapy could never help me unsee what I have seen.  Now my parents joke and ask if I want to come over and borrow a tennis racket.  My response is always a no, followed by gagging and nausea.

Why do I share these?  I have to embrace the embarrassing.  I sometimes have overwhelmingly high expectations of others and myself.  This is just one way to bring me back to earth and off of the planet Pluto.  I mean the moon Pluto.  No, the planet.  You know what I mean.

Perfection is where we mess up.  That can't be our goal for ourselves or others.  The fact is I struggle in life because I don't know how to be the best husband and father.  Yet, I find myself expecting too much from my family and friends.  Now when I begin expecting perfection, I embrace my embarrassment.  It allows me to be human and loving.  I can't wait to share these stories with my kids as they fall short of their own expectations.

Go ahead and embarrass yourselves, embrace it, and enjoy it!  Doesn't that sound perfect?

To That Rude Person...

Yes, you know the one.  The person who changes lanes while driving, but never looks first.  The one who speeds past you just to cut you off and slow down.  The individual that doesn't even pay attention and walks into or doesn't hold the door open, even though you are right behind them!  It drives me crazy.

But should it?

While travelling the country with a improv Christian drama team, we would go to MANY gas stations.  On one occasion, I was walking to the door of a gas station for my regular dose of Dr. Pepper and Pepperoni Pizza Combos.  This lady, clearly not paying attention to anything around her, walks right into me and doesn't even acknowledge what happened.  So I, in my merciless gifting, shouted at her in the nicest way possible, "No, no....EXCUSE ME!".

You could imagine what happened next, right?  A flip of a certain finger, a cold look, or just continued indifference?  No, she turned around and as gently as possible, she apologized.  She said, "I am so sorry, I was reading my bible earlier and this verse is really consuming my thoughts.  I really am so sorry.".

Um, huh?  I mean, yeah ok.  Wait, no I am sorry....right?

The real problem wasn't the fact she wasn't paying attention, or that she was meditating on the bible so much that it consumed her focus.  The problem was mine.  I realized two things in that moment, well maybe three things.

1.  I had never been that consumed by something that God has spoken or that I have read.
2.  I had no reason to be offended, but I took offense.  Can you imagine never being offended?
3.  Maybe I should get a Cherry Frosted Pop Tart instead of the Combos because it was the morning.

People will at some point be rude, but you don't have to take it.  No I don't mean punch them in the jugular, but MAYBE take a second and think:  Is it worth losing my joy and outlook on my day?  Could I possibly make a difference instead of proving a point?

I still blow it all the time.  But every now and then, I ace this and it makes me realize that all I have to say to that rude person is....a quiet prayer for God to overwhelmingly bless them.

In The End...What Really Matters?

What do you want to accomplish in the end?  Want to live and end well.  Interestingly, here are the two biggest regrets people confess on their death bed, according to Bronnie Ware's survey:

1. I wish I'd have the courage to live a life true to myself, and not the life others expected of me.
This was the common regret of all.  When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled.  Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed.  They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship.  Women also spoke of this regret.  But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners.  All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

I really enjoyed and was challenged by this message at Shoreline Church.  It also allowed me to realize how rich I am and even how "socialist" God can be.  I am not saying we serve a Socialist God, but God wants us to take from our resources to take care of those less fortunate than us (without expecting anything in return). I find the message very applicable to my life, and I hope you do too.

This is how "rich" I really am:

Talk about grateful and wealthy!  It doesn't get better than this. 

Mo' Money, No Problems?

I don't consider myself "rich" because that is a very gray area.  When do people become rich or wealthy?  A friend of mine saw this video of a study on the effects of being "rich", and I found it to be really interesting.

Mo Money, NO Problems?  I would say Yes and No.  It really depends on what you value.  Is the idea of being financially secure your number one goal?  How do you treat others that are obviously less wealthy than yourself?

The fact is that we are very rich as a society, we just have a high spending lifestyle which makes us feel less wealthy than those making more money.  No matter who you are I hope this sheds some light on how we treat others.  Be the person you want others to be.