One of my favorite lines from a song comes from the Merle Haggard song 'Are The Good Times Really Over'. He says...
I wish Coke was still cola,
And a joint was a bad place to be.
It makes me think of just how much our world has changed over the years. Like the old 'back in my day...' sayings that our grandparents would say.
Maybe this is how I will sound some day...
Back in my day... a blackberry was a fruit.
Back in my day... MTV showed music videos
Back in my day... a marriage was between a man and a woman.
Back in my day... if your business failed, you regrouped, not ask for a bailout.
Back in my day... we supported our troops.
Back in my day... myspace was the area in front of me that you weren't supposed to be in.
Back in my day... you worked hard for things you wanted, you didn't expect them.
Back in my day... kids still got spanked, and if you told someone, you got spanked harder.
Back in my day... there was a song called 'Coal Miners Daughter' by Loretta Lynn, but that was before Obama shut down the coal mines. (don't know what coal is? Google it)
Back in my day... Google was something funny you did with your eyes.
Are we rollin' downhill like a snowball headed for hell?
With no kind of chance for the flag or the liberty bell?
I wish a Ford or a Chevy would still last ten years like they should.
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good?
Wishing 'a man could still work, and still would' is... on this cowboys mind
(Merle Haggard:Are The Good Times Really Over)
Monday, July 27, 2009
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, lord, in the sky
Life really is a circle. Simple as it sounds, we are born, we live, we die, and another is born and the cycle starts again. When my wife was pregnant, my great-grandmother was the happiest of all. We were going to have five generations alive and were already planning pictures. A few weeks before my daughter was to be born, my great-grandmother was hospitalized with pneumonia. My daughter was born with pneumonia and was rushed straight to NICU. For three weeks, my wife and I drove from South Houston to Texas Children's Hospital then to Tomball Hospital and back home everyday. It was a vicious circle.
I will never forget the day that we got to Texas Children's and saw that our daughter was no longer on oxygen. While leaving the hospital, I got the call that my great-grandmother had a stroke and passed away. Although they never got to meet, I will always believe that my great-grandmother gave up her strength to my daughter so that she would live. And so began another circle.
If you ask me my happiest day, I will tell you April 11, 1999. If you ask me my saddest, I will tell you the same day.
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, lord, in the sky
By and by, lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, lord, in the sky
Life really is a circle. Simple as it sounds, we are born, we live, we die, and another is born and the cycle starts again. When my wife was pregnant, my great-grandmother was the happiest of all. We were going to have five generations alive and were already planning pictures. A few weeks before my daughter was to be born, my great-grandmother was hospitalized with pneumonia. My daughter was born with pneumonia and was rushed straight to NICU. For three weeks, my wife and I drove from South Houston to Texas Children's Hospital then to Tomball Hospital and back home everyday. It was a vicious circle.
I will never forget the day that we got to Texas Children's and saw that our daughter was no longer on oxygen. While leaving the hospital, I got the call that my great-grandmother had a stroke and passed away. Although they never got to meet, I will always believe that my great-grandmother gave up her strength to my daughter so that she would live. And so began another circle.
If you ask me my happiest day, I will tell you April 11, 1999. If you ask me my saddest, I will tell you the same day.
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, lord, in the sky
The circle of life is... on this cowboys mind
(Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
I miss you Nanny....
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Cowboy In Me
I heard this Tim McGraw song today and it got me thinking...
I don't know why I act the way I do
Like I aint got a single thing to lose
Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy
I guess that's just the cowboy in me
I really feel like sometimes I am my own worst enemy. I have a very difficult time with forgiveness. Not toward others, but towards myself. I know that God forgives me, but why cant I just let it go? Why do I fight myself on this?
Unforgiveness is like leaving your window open in your car in this 100 degree Houston weather. All that hot air comes in and works against your air conditioner. Many times I get discouraged with things that the "enemy" throws into my life. I am slowly learning that I need to check to make sure I didn't leave a window open. Love forgives, and faith works by love. Therefore, faith cant work in me if I don't forgive myself. Just think of the blessings that I am missing out on.
The urge to run, the restlessness
The heart of stone I sometimes get
The things Ive done for foolish pride
The me that's never satisfied
The face that's in the mirror when I don't like what I see
I guess that's just the cowboy in me
We all have our inner demons that we deal with, and it is time to put aside our pride and hard headedness and receive the fulfillment that God wants to give us.
God doesn't hold a grudge against me. Wondering why I do is... on this cowboys mind.
(Tim McGraw:The Cowboy In Me)
I don't know why I act the way I do
Like I aint got a single thing to lose
Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy
I guess that's just the cowboy in me
I really feel like sometimes I am my own worst enemy. I have a very difficult time with forgiveness. Not toward others, but towards myself. I know that God forgives me, but why cant I just let it go? Why do I fight myself on this?
Unforgiveness is like leaving your window open in your car in this 100 degree Houston weather. All that hot air comes in and works against your air conditioner. Many times I get discouraged with things that the "enemy" throws into my life. I am slowly learning that I need to check to make sure I didn't leave a window open. Love forgives, and faith works by love. Therefore, faith cant work in me if I don't forgive myself. Just think of the blessings that I am missing out on.
The urge to run, the restlessness
The heart of stone I sometimes get
The things Ive done for foolish pride
The me that's never satisfied
The face that's in the mirror when I don't like what I see
I guess that's just the cowboy in me
We all have our inner demons that we deal with, and it is time to put aside our pride and hard headedness and receive the fulfillment that God wants to give us.
God doesn't hold a grudge against me. Wondering why I do is... on this cowboys mind.
(Tim McGraw:The Cowboy In Me)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Like A Coat From The Cold
I am a huge fan of Texas songwriters, Guy Clark being among my favorites...
But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold
I feel like I am one of the luckiest men alive. I have a wonderful wife who accepts me for who I am, and loves me anyway. She is a great mother to our daughter and she is my best friend. We are alike yet different is so many ways. She gives me strength, hope, support, and makes me want to be a better person. She is truly like a coat from the cold.
I have flown like a bird
From every cage that confined me
And broken every one of
The ties that bind me
In the past seven months, five couples that I know very well have either divorced or separated. More of my friends and family have gotten divorced in the past few years than married. I don't know their personal stories, but I know that I could not make it without my coat from the cold.
I have backed away gently
From those who tried to burn me.
And blocked up my ears
That no one should learn me.
But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold
Being thankful for my coat from the cold is... on this cowboys mind.
(Like A Coat From The Cold: Guy Clark)
But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold
I feel like I am one of the luckiest men alive. I have a wonderful wife who accepts me for who I am, and loves me anyway. She is a great mother to our daughter and she is my best friend. We are alike yet different is so many ways. She gives me strength, hope, support, and makes me want to be a better person. She is truly like a coat from the cold.
I have flown like a bird
From every cage that confined me
And broken every one of
The ties that bind me
In the past seven months, five couples that I know very well have either divorced or separated. More of my friends and family have gotten divorced in the past few years than married. I don't know their personal stories, but I know that I could not make it without my coat from the cold.
I have backed away gently
From those who tried to burn me.
And blocked up my ears
That no one should learn me.
But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold
Being thankful for my coat from the cold is... on this cowboys mind.
(Like A Coat From The Cold: Guy Clark)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Luckenbach Texas
Maybe it's time we got back to the basics of love.
Lets go to Luckenbach, Texas,
With Waylon and Willie and the boys.
This successful life were living,
Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys.
Between Hank Williams' pain songs,
An' Newberry's train songs,
An' "Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain",
Out in Luckenbach, Texas,
Aint nobody feeling no pain.
We just got back from a summer road trip to the Texas hill country. My daughter wanted to see the Alamo, my wife wanted to visit Fredricksburg, and I wanted to see Luckenbach. This was a much needed road trip for me. My anxiety issue has been at an all time high lately and I just cant seem to calm it.
Luckenbach is quite a little place. Population three, but they have their own motto:
Everybody Is Somebody In Luckenbach.
There is not really much there. The post office is also the general store and the bar. While walking around, I started to have a whole new appreciation of the song. Simple town, simple people, and a simple life, where everybody is somebody. Far too often, I get caught up in the busy city life, chasing the almighty dollar to buy more stuff, when none of that really matters anyway.
So baby lets sell your diamond ring,
Buy some boots and faded jeans and go away.
This coat and tie is choking me,
In your high society, you cry all day.
We've been so busy keeping up with the Jones,
Four-car garage
and were still building on.
Maybe it's time we got back to the basics of love.
Getting back to the basics is... on this cowboys mind.
(Luckenback, Texas:Willie Nelson Waylon Jennings)
Lets go to Luckenbach, Texas,
With Waylon and Willie and the boys.
This successful life were living,
Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys.
Between Hank Williams' pain songs,
An' Newberry's train songs,
An' "Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain",
Out in Luckenbach, Texas,
Aint nobody feeling no pain.
We just got back from a summer road trip to the Texas hill country. My daughter wanted to see the Alamo, my wife wanted to visit Fredricksburg, and I wanted to see Luckenbach. This was a much needed road trip for me. My anxiety issue has been at an all time high lately and I just cant seem to calm it.
Luckenbach is quite a little place. Population three, but they have their own motto:
Everybody Is Somebody In Luckenbach.
There is not really much there. The post office is also the general store and the bar. While walking around, I started to have a whole new appreciation of the song. Simple town, simple people, and a simple life, where everybody is somebody. Far too often, I get caught up in the busy city life, chasing the almighty dollar to buy more stuff, when none of that really matters anyway.
So baby lets sell your diamond ring,
Buy some boots and faded jeans and go away.
This coat and tie is choking me,
In your high society, you cry all day.
We've been so busy keeping up with the Jones,
Four-car garage
and were still building on.
Maybe it's time we got back to the basics of love.
Getting back to the basics is... on this cowboys mind.
(Luckenback, Texas:Willie Nelson Waylon Jennings)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
I have said it before, Jimmy Buffett songs have some of the greatest lyrics...
Its these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane
I am not usually one to just pick up a book and read it. In fact, I can count the number of full books I have read on one hand. However, the other day I picked up a book my wife brought home from work called "Who Moved My Cheese?". It was the first time ever that I have not been able to put a book down, and read it all that night. I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially those who may have difficulty with change. I am not talking about Barack Obama's change, but how everything is constantly changing around us and we cannot become stagnant.
Oh, yesterdays over my shoulder
So I cant look back for too long
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me
And I know that I just cant go wrong
Many of us grow too comfortable in our job, home life, or relationships and start taking them for granted. Yesterday is gone, today is what we have, and we have to be ready for anything tomorrow brings. Maybe it is a new job or a layoff, or meeting a new friend or getting a divorce. All we know for sure is that change is inevitable and if you are ready for it, it could work to your advantage. Just because a mouse's cheese is in one spot today, does not mean it will be there tomorrow. Someone just might move your cheese. If they do, will you return to the same spot each day thinking it will reappear, or will you search for new cheese?
If it suddenly ended tomorrow
I could somehow adjust to the fall
Good times and riches and son of a bitches
Ive seen more than I can recall
Searching for new cheese is... on this cowboys mind.
(Jimmy Buffett: Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes)
Its these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane
I am not usually one to just pick up a book and read it. In fact, I can count the number of full books I have read on one hand. However, the other day I picked up a book my wife brought home from work called "Who Moved My Cheese?". It was the first time ever that I have not been able to put a book down, and read it all that night. I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially those who may have difficulty with change. I am not talking about Barack Obama's change, but how everything is constantly changing around us and we cannot become stagnant.
Oh, yesterdays over my shoulder
So I cant look back for too long
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me
And I know that I just cant go wrong
Many of us grow too comfortable in our job, home life, or relationships and start taking them for granted. Yesterday is gone, today is what we have, and we have to be ready for anything tomorrow brings. Maybe it is a new job or a layoff, or meeting a new friend or getting a divorce. All we know for sure is that change is inevitable and if you are ready for it, it could work to your advantage. Just because a mouse's cheese is in one spot today, does not mean it will be there tomorrow. Someone just might move your cheese. If they do, will you return to the same spot each day thinking it will reappear, or will you search for new cheese?
If it suddenly ended tomorrow
I could somehow adjust to the fall
Good times and riches and son of a bitches
Ive seen more than I can recall
Searching for new cheese is... on this cowboys mind.
(Jimmy Buffett: Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes)
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