Love In Your Heart – Page 5 – Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker

It Happens Fast And Tragically

We all have memories of our various rites of passage, don’t we?

And Spring Break reminds many of heading to the beach to scratch that spring-fever itch.

And every year, it happens fast and tragically, like it did here, in Florida.

Teenagers, alcohol, and inexperience.

And a young man, so full of possibilities. The world was his oyster, no doubt having some “good times”.

A misstep.

Then a phone call.

A phone call.

A phone call at a family get together, to celebrate someone turning my age (50).

Can you even comprehend that phone call? I can not.

I’m praying for this family, the students, and any one else touched by senseless tragedy this week.

“It is said to begin with the Father”. — Maxine Kumin

Our models are our parents. And for boys, this is primarily the Father. And if the Father is absent, well, the Father is still the model.

And even when the Father is present, he might still be absent. This makes a compelling case for being a great Father. BFO, right?

And yet, I don’t really recall when my Dad actually sat me down to teach me important stuff.

Maybe Maxine is full of misguided notions. Maybe she’s right on target. This confuses me, scares me, and motivates me. What about you?

Our almost nine-year old son says he understands. But I wonder, “How could he”? He’s eight!

Seriously, I’ve been working so intensely on a few things this year, that I believe my quality time with him has suffered.

We spoke about this yesterday. I told him I believe after the Finland trip, things will get better.

I also reminded him of how sometimes in life, there are seasons where you really have to work hard – 2009 has been one of those seasons.

Tough economy. Increased travel at work. Big yard. Overcoming injuries for Finland. Cub Scouts. Catechism. First Holy Communion. Etc, etc.

Mid-Life is like this too. It’s a season of questioning everything that has gotten us to Mid-Life.

We take an inventory of our Mind, Body, Spirit and Money.

We realize, “We ain’t gonna live forever”.

We have the opportunity to adjust the sails, as they say, for the second half, which most likely, will not be as long as the first half.

The bonus though, is that we are so much wiser about what should and could be done.

We just have to decide if we’re going to.

Hope I decide wisely. Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

This may help you and your family if you’re dealing with depression.