Opportunity In The Rough

Over the weekend, I was having a conversation with Young Gun about a mutual friend becoming a manager. He started his journey taking a job for a little over $8 per hour. He had a wife, new baby, and new bills to take care of with that measly ol’ $8, but he saw beyond the pay. He saw the opportunity.

At the risk of sounding like an old person, that is what is wrong with some of the younger gens today. What it might look like at the onset is not always what it is under the surface.  Not many are willing to get grimy, lose money or sleep to get to the underbelly of the opportunity. Go get coffee and be ignored for chump change? No office? Terrible hours? You mean I can’t do what I want and still get where I want? I can’t just snap a photo or take a video and be famous without actually working? For some of us, sure. Those are the lucky s.o.b’s. The rest of us, however, not so much.

When opportunity knocks, even if it is a grimy one, it takes a wise man (or woman) to jump on it. Taking a job is about more than just the pay. What are the benefits? Can you grow? How can you use them to make yourself better?

The hardest opportunities to grab are ones that don’t really look like opportunities at all. They look more like cluster fudges (teehee). They are diamonds in the rough. They are mired in grime and muck, they stink even—oh, but when we take them in and clean them off they open up to something more.

The part of life I love the absolute best are the hidden treasures. Sure, it sucks to have to clean toilets to become CEO, but in the end, the benefits of the journey outweigh the end goal. Naturally, our friend did not want to take an $8 an hour job, but he saw beyond the weeds. He saw with a little of this and a little of that, ‘it was still some good’. And here is the bestist part of all—with every opportunity, every single one, comes knowledge. The knowledge preps us for what is coming next. I get excited just thinking about it!

So, the next time something saunters on by that doesn’t look like much or isn’t ideal, don’t shoo it away. Take a chance. What can it hurt? If you don’t like what you see when you open the door, politely say “no wannit”, close it, turn the lock and carry on.

~SM

Energy Shift

After a long week chocked full o’ vomit and diarrhea (now dubbed Stomachbugmagedon henceforth), a much-needed breath of fresh air was warranted. YG and I snatched up the baby, slipped into a pew, heard some desperately craved Word and took a Sunday ride. Along the ride, we had a bare naked conversation about where we were individually and collectively. I did not like our energy. Neither of us had been the same for a long while. Our lives seemed to be unraveling at the corners and eventually, the whole thing would come apart. But if we could prevent that, then why not? We are everything. Everything is us. What we put out is what we get back. If he hadn’t lost that, I certainly had…it was time I got it back.

Energy is everything. I had forgotten that. I had let myself forget I am apart of this thing called life. Not the ‘life’ we are always talking about—the journeys and the a-ha’s—but life the living, breathing thing. I let the sludge get mixed in with the good and it turned sour. I forgot what I was putting into the world would return to me in the way I presented it.

The moment we walked out of the church, our energy shifted. The second we ended our naked conversation, the air shifted. Things were possible. Yes, somethings might be a little on the tougher side, but it all seemed possible. We saw an open house sign and decided to just go take a look. Buying a home right now is a long way away, but what harm would it do to just pretend for a little while? From the onset, it was perfect for us and when we walked out our lives had shifted. We could no longer afford to fumble around in the dark, walk on eggshells or defer dreams. We had to become one with that which was around us, become one with each other and most importantly, allow God to breathe life onto dusty bones.

We walked out talking excitedly as if we would go home and call our banker right away. We smiled at the thought of The Boy finally getting his own bathroom too little too late. We made plans for the unfinished rooms in the basement. When the day turned to night and everyone was snuggled under their individual covers, I slipped into the shower. I closed my eyes and for the next ten minutes, I pictured myself taking a shower in the home we had walked through…our home.  I turned the water off and smiled. Hope had returned and pretty soon our energy would be right where it should be. Thank God for the shift.

~SM

Life & Time

I stepped into a friend’s beautiful home, full of warmth and the air thick with love, lugging The Baby, bags and The Kids. I sat across from an old friend, his face a little older, middle a smidge softer, and gray streaking his beard. We talked about his job and kids. It was sort of surreal to see us in this space. My babies (save the last one) were no longer babies, neither were his. At one time, both sets could be held on a lap or in the crook of an arm, but no longer. They were too busy running by or engrossed by whatever technology held their interest. Somehow, the time had flown.

Somehow life had been lived in the space of these almost twenty years. A lot of life had been lived. Adventures had been had, ideals had been formed and then questioned. Morals had been strengthened or lost…God, Himself, had made a lasting impression. Time was a moving, living, breathing thing, and we had moved, lived and breathed right along with it.

When I drove away, long-legged kids folded in their positions, heads bowed to the iPhone god, I thought about how I had gotten here. How had I ended up with two young adults, a new tiny one and all the attached adventure and wisdom? How had I made it past the devil’s tricks and my own stupidity? How had I found God and lost Him? How had I face planted and gotten back up? How had it all come to pass, and I was still able to tell all about it?

The how will forever be a mystery. The why, too. The awe, though, continues to take my breath away. I have lived. Man, oh man, have I lived. No, I have not been outside the country or brought down Goliath, but in my own little way, I have lived. It has been a ride, let me tell ya. Yes, there are days I would rather just sleep through it until I am ready to deal, but overall, it has been a fun ride chock full o’ nuts and laughter and joy and love. Boy…the stories I could tell (wink), but I won’t. I will keep them as my own little treasure, and when the days get long and my heart is heavy I will dig them up and take a peek. I will grab a snack, settle under the covers, Lifeflix…and chill 😉

~SM