Promise Me

Children Watch Everything We Do
Children Watch Everything We Do

Have you ever done something you weren’t supposed to do?  And in order to do it, you had to do it in a sneaky way?  And often, there was a close friend who had already done the thing, and they helped you?

Smoking, drinking, stealing, bad pranks, and so on.

Seriously, these are things adults do not make a conscious effort to teach children.  Can you imagine a Mother saying, “Come here son, it’s time you learned how to smoke cigarettes.”

Heard a Chantix commercial last night. Chantix helps smokers quit. Let me set the scene:

Mom comes on saying, “I smoked a pack a day for 25 years. I could not quit smoking, no matter how hard I tried.”

Until one day……

“I told my son to promise me he would never start smoking.”

He said, “Promise me you’ll quit.”

And the Cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon.  Little boy blue and the man in the moon……he turned out just like me…..my boy was just like me….

Cat’s In The Cradle

Cats In The Cradle
Cats In The Cradle

It was hard wasn’t it?

How can you pick one single solitary song, when there are ten’s of thousands, if not hundred’s of thousands of songs to pick from?

So, after re-reading the list from yesterday’s blog post, it just hit me this morning.

Cat’s In The Cradle“, by Harry Chapin is my all-time favorite song.

Our son will turn out just like me. This song reminds me everyday to be careful what I say and do.

What about you?

What Song?

I Can Only Imagine
I Can Only Imagine

Here are the top five finalists, in no particular order:

  1. I Feel Good – James Brown
  2. Fruitcakes – Jimmy Buffett
  3. Netherlands – Dan Fogelberg
  4. Lifesong – Casting Crowns
  5. I Can Only Imagine – Mercy Me

This was way harder than I thought.  Anyone else struggle?

Oh, I almost forgot, you really don’t have time for this nonsense. I get it. Everyone is crazy busy.

January was supposed to be simple – Simplicity.  What the heck happened to simplicity?

I can only imagine.

Idea Virus MLC-1N1

Notice the date in this picture? It’s today, January 16, 2009. So?

Google Alert
Google Alert

OK, good morning world.  How do you start your day?  Same way every time, or each day different?

Is it a chore?  Are you anxious or worried about all that will be expected of you?

Is it exciting?  An adventure in which you get to help others by what you do?

Each morning begins the same for me.  On my knees, three prayers. Kiss my wife and son as they sleep. Turn on all the computers. Head downstairs to make some coffee.

While coffee is brewing, head back upstairs to check emails on two computers.

Google alerts come in every day around a few key words.

Close Up
Close Up
Facebook Page
Facebook Page

The point is this, in case you haven’t figured this out yet: An idea virus (credit to Seth Godin) is something good that spreads because of the Internet.

It spreads much faster, and much farther, than without the Internet.

You get this right?  It’s common sense but not common…..

PS. Never asked them to post this on the company’s Facebook page. They did it anyway. Seems it was a good idea that spread.

Sorry

Simplicity is Complicated
Simplicity is Complicated

Simplicity is an elusive goal sometimes.

Ok, simplicity is elusive most of the time.

But so are a lot of things that are important.  Should that stop us from our pursuit?

There is only one, resounding answer to this question.

And maybe by tomorrow I’ll have my movie soundtrack song(s) to share with the world.  This was a fun, and frustrating, exercise.

And anything but simple.

Should have seen it coming.