Seasons in the Sun

I was on the runway, I was gonna make it.

I was gonna get too say goodbye,

Then Dennis called......He was gone.

Each day I begin by doing a weighted walk through the cemetery.

My way of cheating death each day.

I would like to make a toast to lying,

 cheating, stealing, & drinking.

If you are gonna lie, lie for a friend.

If your going to steal, steal a heart.

If your going to cheat, cheat death itself,

And if your going to drink, drink with me my friend.

Death is lifes' way of telling you your fired.

Three days after you die your hair and fingernails keep growing

 but the phone calls and texts taper off.

Death doesn't come to the living soul nor does age to the loving heart.

I don't know who said that but it's pretty damn romantic.

I'm binge watching 'Orange is the New Black' season two,
the lead character gets a furlough to see her dying grandma
only to find that the grandma is already dead. 

I'm thinking all of us are equally damaged
we cling on to faulty beliefs, or are guided by friends
who are equally damaged.

I'm a wordsmith, 
I've been to College, and I'm attending the school of life.

Through that I have come to the realization that
Myths and Fairy tales are designed to teach a lesson.

Unfortunately the modern versions have been 'scrubbed clean' for 
our modern consumption. A society that supports the notion of
trophies for all participants in childrens' sports,
  needs to believe in happy endings.

The 'real' stories are usually quite disturbing.
Take the brothers Grimm for example.

Sleeping beauty

A King hunting in the woods stumbles upon sleeping beauty and rapes her
then brings her home to one of his estates.
 she later bears two children who the Kings wife eats.

Little Red Riding Hood

Arrives at grandmas' house and eats her, takes her clothes off
then slips into bed naked where she loses her virginity to the wolf.
A French idiom for a girl having lost her virginity was
'elle avoit yu'      She has seen the wolf.

Cinderella

Cinderellas' sisters cut off parts of their feet to fit in the glass slippers.
Later their eyes are pecked out by Doves.

Rapunzel

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.
In the Grimm version of this story she does, a little too often.

Not with the prince though, with random beggars and thieves.
She winds up pregnant,begging in the streets.
  The witch cuts off her hair and transports her away.

We obviously live in a world of monsters and ghosts and things
 that want to steal your heart, it's not unreasonable to still have hope.
That's why Disney protects us by 'scrubbing' our stories for us.
So we can hold onto our belief  in  Angels, & Dreams 

The  'the goddess' was a myth.
Tinkerbell is now a truck stop hooker and
 Rapunzels' hair extensions are on the night stand of
a seedy roadside motel.......... not a castle.

Expectation is the root of all heartache.

-William Shakespeare-

The foundation we search for in Love, Life and Fitness is 
facilitated by our devotion to self, in the Dojo and the Gym.

We don't want to surrender  ourselves to the problem
rather than the solution.

Womens' intuition is a good signpost for decision making,
but it usually bumps up against mans' logic.

We have to put ego aside and listen.

The I-pod, gym, and Dojo can become an escape rather than a tool
if we are not careful to give significance to all aspects of our lives,

Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams

than the imagination when awake ?

-Leonardo Da Vinci-

A Matter of Intent

Here's to bad judgment, questionable morals and a brutal hangover

that'll result from yet another night spent trying to create memories 

we'll be to drunk to recall.

I've spent years attending every martial arts confrence and seminar

 I had enough gas money to get to.

Slept in cars to save on hotels...whatever it took.

It was my avenue to overcoming low self esteem.

now when I look back on the past,

I smile and say to myself,

"I never thought I could do it, but I did.

I overcame all the people who tried to bring me down"

There will always be a reason why you meet people,

either you need them to change your life,

or your the one that will change theirs.

The journey is not easy, it is wrought with pain and disapointment.

 if you are a slave to your emotions.

Emotions are the slaves to your thoughts,

and you are the slave to your emotions.

Bruce lee would talk about emotional content.

Joe Lewis, about having an attitude technique.

I tell my people to 'Act as if'......

and 

'Move with authority'

On the sales floor I am a master manipulator.

a ruthless wordsmith with a bottomless 'toolbox' 

and the tenacity of a rabid dog.

The intent though is not merely to create revenue for my company,

but to bring a lifetime of great memories to my customers and their families.

In the end all any of us has is our memories.

In Life, Love, Martial Arts and Business whats important is intent not illusion.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

Create REAL memories, cherish the time with friends and family,

train till you puke ....then train more

A plant doesn't grow from ambition

 or to satisfy good intentions

 They thrive because someone expended effort on them.