When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, there were certain things that were very important to me. Peanut butter and jelly. A nap. Red Kool Aid. Playing football in somebody's backyard. Pac Man. The Brady Bunch. No, not The Brady Bunch. Marsha Brady. How Deep is Your Love by the BeeGees. Well, almost every song by the BeeGees. Having my hair braided by my Aunties. Peaches and Herb. Da-dit-doo-dinkle-da-dit-doo-doink - Leave It To Beaver. My Mama's Fried Chicken. Speaking of the BeeGees, I woke up this morning with all kinds of emotions taking me over. There are certain responsibilites I have as a husband and a daddy and I feel like I don't have enough time to fulfill them all. My thoughts ran through my life this morning like an NFL QB runs through his receiver progressions: I'm not reading enough books to my daughter. Am I answering enough of her questions? Next thing I know she'll be getting married before I'm ready. She's growing up too fast. Will I die before I get to give my wife everything she's ever dreamed of? I gotta make sure I'm not like the dad in Cats In The Cradle. That guy was probably the same kind of husband. I have to leave a legacy for my family. Who will carry my mission forward? Love is an emotion. So is passion. As is anger and frustration. I'm glad we have emotions. Otherwise we would be robots. But you may believe what you saw in I, Robot and think you might want to be a robot. Have at it. I like being human. Emotions have power, good and bad. If emotions drive you to make positive changes, that's good power. If emotions motivate you to be negative and to do destructive things, to yourself and to others, that's bad power. Who doesn't need to make positive changes in their life? If we think more about how fast life goes by, it won't be hard. I'll be 35 on my next birthday and I remember like it was yesterday thinking to myself what I would look like when I turned 17. Going on 10 years of marriage and it seems like only months have passed since I was borrowing my mother's car for our first date. We don't have much time to get it right. We don't have much time to get it. But I see it now. It's not about having everything. It's not about getting it all right. For me, it's all about doing all I can do and giving all I can give while I'm here to make sure that good power is passed on to all those who saw my life. |
