Monday, March 8, 2010

Why do we treat our everyday like a 24 hour Monday?

If you were to suddenly stop…where would your feet be left standing?



It’s Monday, springs in the air…the idea of continuing to push down the unlimited number of obstacles faced hourly raises higher than the cloud maker. One quick glance outside and without thought a giant sigh is released in the way of hoping that it’s cold enough to freeze time…to make it stop…if but for only a moment.



If it was to suddenly stop…where would your feet be left standing?



Are you near or far from a dream? Does it matter anymore?



Growing up, Mom constantly told us the number of steps she was behind yet I never saw her run. Maybe this is why I run all the time—never a game of catch up but rather caught up. Catching up means I fell behind. Caught up requires trust in the way of turning visions into reality…staying ahead of the game knowing if set aside then we’re playing pick up…from where you left off…if you’re lucky.



Seven months ago…when everything stopped, I quickly realized how unimportant 99.9% of the journey was. I wouldn’t read a book, I’d study it. If everything in life is a classroom, where’s the enjoyment? Music is no different—it’s my job to be in the know but you rarely if ever caught me listening to music outside radio’s four walls.



See how this game works!



I watch American Idol because it’s my job. I go to three to four movies a week because it’s my job. This is where you participate…where do you over exceed on your daily chores and choices that steal from the inches you wish and or want to grow? How do you correct the car that’s now out of control?



Click, click…32,000 computers suddenly bolted from this web page.



Nobody wants to deal with a flat tire, a shot timing chain or a low battery. Johnny Depp’s new flick Alice in Wonderland shows how we can’t stop the rock from falling off the rugged mountainside. The stuffy folks in the financial department felt Depp would steal $70 million from our pockets this past weekend…the final tally was $117 million.

And you wonder why the world of big brother corporate business refuses to believe there’s a recession taking place. They know you’ve got the cash and figure the best way to it is to cut back, cut back, cut back…because the more pain you endure the looser you are with your money. Nobody likes to feel bad and tiny mindless junk makes you feel richer than Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.



They won’t be happy until this nation stops…that’s when we’re going to be forced to look down at the dusty trail and figure out where are feet are currently standing.



A very dear friend stopped in for a visit—he’s not had a good life these past five years. Lost it all…I mean everything and more. I watched as he moved from neighbor to neighbor…he measured each of our paths with an invisible ruler, comparing every memory to this current state of reality only to realize the only difference any of us shared was the oldest child on the block had grown three inches. To him…nothing else changed.



He didn’t notice the 400,000 foot tree was missing from the front yard—the very limbs he and I heatedly argued for months over. My spiritual connection to trees meant nothing to him while his vow to protect the houses it could fall on carried no weight in my book. He didn’t take note of Bob missing from the pack…he passed a few months back, nor did he jot down a couple of notes about how silent everything seemed caused by fighters in the hood who’ve battled breast and lung cancer and heart attacks.



He was completely blasted away by three inches. Which made me think: If you were to suddenly stop…where would your feet be left standing? If you were completely honest with yourself…how far have you truly traveled?



We hold pictures of a much skinnier self. We laugh about the moments easily called the good or better times. We slightly talk about the future knowing if we give it our everything your final page will still be written by the hand of a decision maker you’ll never meet. Bottom line is everything in the world of business—in the real world being in the back of the line is what created self check outs at the grocery store and Wal-Mart.



If you were to suddenly stop…where would your feet be left standing?



For a billion years we’ve been warned about this country reaching a turning point—there’ll be two classes of people: Rich and poor. As much as we want to believe its taking place…we’re being overshadowed by sharper thorns on the paths of success: Want and don’t want.



We want it all but don’t want to do anything to get it. Then one day we suddenly stop…only to notice our feet are aching but the path is nonexistent.



Who won the Super Bowl? Who won American Idol last year? Who is the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director? Where did you spend your money this past weekend? Name five things you did fun this past weekend! In two seconds tell me your second grade teacher’s name. If breathing is so important why do we rely on short breaths to get us through our day?



If you were to suddenly stop…where would your feet be left standing?



A coworker laughed out loud at the top of his lungs when asked that and said to me, “It doesn’t matter where you’ll be…you’re dead!”


Is that the new American dream?



arroecollins@clearchannel.com

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