Last week I told you I met someone and couldn’t wait to introduce them to the world. Well.. the time has come. I hope I don’t regret this…
Meet Tooty Mae Woolley, my 3rd cousin twice removed…
I met Tooty Mae a few months ago at the Larry’s Country Diner show in Branson, Mo. When I heard her last name, I knew we had to be related. There just aren’t too many people in the world with the name Woolley.
I was having coffee with my step-dad the other morning and we were talking about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I’m kidding, but that sounded good. We were actually talking about vacations to exotic locations where you have to eat foods you can’t pronounce and exactly how he planned on talking my mom into doing that.
As we continued to talk he said something that burdened my heart for both him and so many of us in this world. He said, “I’ve spent my whole life planning for the future and now the future is here and I wish I would’ve spent more time living in the present.”
Tom, or Tommy, as I like to call him, has always been a wise guy. Not like Three Stooges wise, but wise with his financial decisions. Because of that, he and my mom are about to embark on some fun adventures where they’ll be spending my entire inheritance trying to get my mom to try foods she can’t pronounce. But in the process of preparing, he forgot to spend some of his life living.
My aunt was managing a sidewalk sale and asked if I would go pick up some food for a few of my family members. They ordered some burgers from the local bar uptown.
My little cousin had spent most of the morning tagging along since she wanted to meet the new kitty, so after I put her to work helping me vacuum at the carwash, we headed uptown to pick up the order.
Minus a few people eating lunch and playing pool, the place was pretty empty. We sat on the stools and waited for our order to finish. I made conversation about the weather and the Cooking Channel with the bartender as the burgers sizzled on the grill in the background.
As I looked around at the empty bar, I couldn’t help but think about all that had happened the night before. Just hours earlier, the place was packed. Music blared in the background. Smoke filled the air. Pool cues were chalked up. Every bar stool and table was full.
I was sitting in prison not long ago proctoring an exam and I had some free time on my hands, because cell phones and internet are prohibited and you actually have to pay attention to your surroundings. I’d had a few lines of a poem running around in my head, but hadn’t had time to sit and put them on paper.
As I waited over the next three hours, these were the words that came out. Unfortunately, there’s too much reality to this poem. I wrote it from the perspective of the bartender. If you prefer to download the poem, you can do so below.
I pray it opens the eyes and hearts of others.
My friend got a new tree the other day – a Japanese Maple Tree to be exact. She showed me what a fully bloomed one looked like as we were driving one day and I now consider myself a trained biologist. Oh wait… that’s botanist? Anyway, the tree was beautiful and she now has a baby tree growing in her back yard.
I stopped by the other day and she was showing me that she had tied it to a post so it would grow straight up instead of bending over. She pointed out certain things she wanted to prune and I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about so she tried to explain again. As she talked, her eyes lit up with excitement and fervor. My heart was excited to see her so passionate about something. Just days before we were crying together over tragedy.
Failure is an obstacle, no doubt. It can lead us down two different roads: the road to something greater or the road to feeling sorry for ourselves. We have to make a decision ahead of time that we’re going to push through whatever stands between us and our dreams.
If you decide it’s too late for you to achieve success, you’re right.
If you decide there’s still hope for you to live your best life, you’re right.
According to Gay Hendricks, author of The Big Leap, “Each of us has an inner thermostat setting that determines how much love, success, and creativity we allow ourselves to enjoy.”