Wednesday Words
To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business.
Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.
—Satchel Paige
Summer. Time for taking chances, for laughing out loud, for getting a little loose. Oh, yes—joy can help you create Maximum Customer Experience.
This is it, dear reader. Make today extraordinary. It’ll never be here again.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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30 July 2008, 7:13 am
(back from camping)
I remember this quote and I always liked it. I think a lot of people have more trouble with the first part than the other two, which is a real shame because we spend so much time working.
(When I say “a lot of people”, you could read that as “the royal a lot of people” as that included me for a long time. Soon to change. Update to come to your email soon.)
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burn the boats.
30 July 2008, 7:27 am
Brett,
Welcome back! I thought you were gone for longer than this.
Looking forward to the update. In the meantime, smile where you are, my friend. It’s well worth finding the joy there. I’ve had a lot of jobs (a LOT!) that could have been joyless in the wrong hands, but to throw out another fine old phrase—life’s what you make of it.
I have several Satchel quotes that may find their way here eventually. He said wise things in clever sound bites. Ahead of his time in more ways than one.
Regards,
Kelly
30 July 2008, 7:29 am
Oh, P.S.—We could run a survey, but I’m going to guess the second one causes most people (who aren’t as lucky as you) the real trouble.
30 July 2008, 7:46 am
Kelly,
That was the plan… however, camping in the rain with 4 kids is too much like “work” sometimes… !
Yes, you are right – there is stuff there that is worth smiling about (the people, mostly).
Here’s a funny side story for you. I swore before I met my wife that if “the next one” didn’t work out, I’d join a monastery. Too many bad ones before
More proof to just keep on trying.
-Brett
30 July 2008, 7:56 am
Brett,
Nah, that’s proof that I should become a monk. ‘Cuz your wife is taken now. Come to think of it, so’s her husband.
Until later,
Kelly
P.S. Proudly leading my own comments off track…
30 July 2008, 8:55 am
You guys have no room to talk…I’m the one who would have to become the monk. ( Can a woman be a monk?)
I can’t even count as high as I am in the relationship game. How do you think I got to be so good at it? Practice I tell you…I have a Phd in failed relationships.
But in keeping with the quote…if you give up and stop trying, that’s the day you start dying. The important thing is to be willing to learn from your mistakes ( hint…it isn’t always the other persons fault) and do better the next time. Eventually you get better at it. Dancing is good too.
Hey Brett, welcome back. I’ve done that camping in the rain with kids thing. Hahahahah. Let me share my thoughts with you. There is a BIG difference between a FAMILY TRIP and a VACATION. THAT was not a vacation!!
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post…A Lighthouse in the Storm
30 July 2008, 9:08 am
Ahh, Kelly. Now I’ll be introspective all day. (Heh, but not about the money. Happiness first.)
30 July 2008, 9:25 am
“….and become a major-league ball player.”
That would help, too!
Friar’s last blog post…My Dog Basil is So Special
30 July 2008, 9:28 am
@Wendi and Brett
Those “Family Trips”. They can be the best thing in the world, or the worst.
Once, we did a trip the maritimes. Three kids, two adults, and a small trailer. It rained….every day…for almost the full TWO WEEKS.
Kids screaming and fighting, Dad exploding, Mom in tears. We ended up going home earlier and we were all glad to do it.
That was 30 years ago, I still remember how bad it was.
But it “builds character”, eh?
30 July 2008, 9:48 am
Friar,
During a single mom time, I took my two kids and my daughters two friends camping at the Wisconsin Dells. 3 11 year old girls ( Giggly and squealy) and one hyperactive ADHD 8 year old son. One especially memorable moment was when my son was playing minature golf and hit the ball and it popped up and smacked my daughter’s friend dead on in the Adam’s Apple and knocked her over, hit her head on the ground behind her.The other two screamed, he started crying…Then the rest of the trip it stormed and the tent caved in on top of us with water flooding in from some leak. Fun I tell you…more fun than a parent should be able to have.
30 July 2008, 9:59 am
Yeah, it was a “family trip” in the truest sense of the word. Lots of fun though. I think these things do build character.
My oldest was helping me set up the tent, and part of it broke (not his fault, cheap tent). He looked at me, and I said, “well, no problemo buddy, it’s a cheap tent, let’s just fix it”. I think that made his day.
Our life is always so busy, and it is good to do this kind of thing to remember what is really important.
(Hint: it’s not all of the “stuff” we have. Reminds me of Randy Pausch, who recently passed away, talking about his first new car and how he poured a Coke on the back seat…)
@Wendi – wow. You should be made an honorary monk just for that golf incident.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burn the boats.
30 July 2008, 10:14 am
@Brett and Wendi
It’s the really good things, or really BAD things that we remember most in life. The average stuff just kinda gets forgotten.
If you’re into statistics, it’s the equivalent of plus three sigma or minus three sigma.
Wendi, I bet you if that trip to Wisconsin was just average and nothing happened, you’d have forgotten about it by now. But you’re still talking about it to us how many years (?) later.
Not saying that is was fun to live through while it was happening.
But it WAS memorable family trip, you gotta admit.
(We’ve all had our share of those, eh?)
Friar’s last blog post…My Dog Basil is So Special
30 July 2008, 11:06 am
Best thing ever invented: back seat DVD players.
My wife and I anguished about getting one. “Don’t you remember playing car games, singing songs, reading comic books…?” But then we’d remember the pulled hair, the incessant screaming, and — ultimately and inevitably — Dad pulling the car over to stop at the side of the road… Makes it hard to sit through the rest of the trip when your bum is red.
We got the DVD player. Besides, spanking is outlawed now.
~Graham
30 July 2008, 11:26 am
The mere threat of pulling over to the side of the road is enough in our family. No DVD required…
-Brett
30 July 2008, 11:29 am
@Brett
My buddy once said he’d like to pack the car and take the kids on a trip he has no intention of actually going on.
Threaten to turn the car around and go home, as soon as the kids act up.
And when they inevitably do…go home.
It would cause a lot of tears..but just think of the LIFE LESSON the kids would get!
Friar’s last blog post…My Dog Basil is So Special
30 July 2008, 11:56 am
I TOtally work like I don’t need the money. I get in shit for it, too!!
(Seriously, though, it’s a beautiful quote. I am well familiar with it.)
PS. Kid-free and lovin’ it.
(though my vacations are packed with in-laws now instead).
steph’s last blog post…Visiting the Archives
30 July 2008, 12:46 pm
@Friar – LOL sounds like a Bluth family lesson from Arrested Development. Except that there would be a loud thump as George is yelling at the kids in the back seat, a bloody arm on the windshield, and a gravelly voice through the side window when it’s over: “And that’s why you don’t kick your Dad’s seat when he’s driving…”
Poor kids.
~Graham
30 July 2008, 3:02 pm
I have always loved ths quote….now I have just enjoyed all the images from family trips gone wrong…are we there yet, are we there yet… mom, he’s touching me, he’s not staying on his side of the seat……Dad, he’s making that face…can we stop? I need to go to the bathroommmmmmm.
But I have to think about that wonderful idea that popped up in my parents heads, the one that said let’s share an aventure with the kids.
30 July 2008, 3:02 pm
Adventure.. okay must stop fo coffee , NOW.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…What Color IS an Island Shore?
30 July 2008, 3:03 pm
see? FOR. Sheesh.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…What Color IS an Island Shore?
30 July 2008, 3:05 pm
Oh my gosh, is there any point in inserting myself back into this conversation?
James,
Yes, dear. When I decided on this one last night I stared at it for quite a while. Introspective, indeed, and darned hard to live up to.
Wendi,
You can not be a monk. The outfit would do nothing for you. Besides your husband would object, strenuously, I hope.
I went to the Dells when I was about 8. I remember nothing about it except the drive from Illinois—painful. Ugh.
Friar,
“… who never made any money or got the respect he deserved.” Nah nah right back.
Your friend with the non-trip is a genius. LOL!
Brett, Friar,
No. Camping. Ever.
I’d be the one with the behavior issues. My daughter would love it.
Graham,
I don’t have a DVD player in the car though we do a lot of very, very long drives every year and have since my daughter was tiny. I really attribute a lot of her vocabulary, poise, knowledge of every bit of rock trivia I can throw at her, and reading skills to those trips (stormy, she reads, otherwise, we listen to music and talk about everything under the sun).
However, when she gets together with her cousins (what those drives are mainly for), they’re at each other’s throats in the car in spite of getting along very well in open air. My parents got a van with a DVD player a while back, and I admit to being rather relieved to let them rot their brains for short jaunts.
(Friar, will I have to give back my Crunchy-Granola Mom badges for letting them watch Harry Potter instead of singing Kumbaya in the car?)
Y’all go on without me. I hate to interrupt.
Regards,
Kelly
30 July 2008, 3:12 pm
Janice,
“Stop fo coffee.”
It’s the NOLA accent showing up in print. LOL!
Adventures. That’s it. Grownups should have them, too, and I think… somewhere back there… that was kinda my point. Got to have them, and there is no point in waiting until the dinner bell. We make joy for clients and coworkers in sharing our own.
Until later,
Kelly
30 July 2008, 4:12 pm
When travelling, the only way to control kids are:
1) DVD’s to distract them.
2) Medication.
3) Restraints.
Parents, YOU decide….
30 July 2008, 4:26 pm
Spoken like a true single guy.
1. Intelligent conversation
2. Hotel California
3. Watercolor pencils
And the secret weapon, good to age seven:
4. Raffi
30 July 2008, 4:42 pm
When they’re with mom & dad, they get intelligent conversation.
When they’re with just dad, they get intelligent conversation and stoner rock, like this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CAXGu81Rk1g&feature=related
or this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=njsKBNmakw0&feature=related
No top 40.
(I should have grown up in California or something.)
-Brett
30 July 2008, 4:47 pm
Work like I don’t need the money — good thing, because so far I’ve only made 43 cents blogging *smile*
Love like I’ve never been hurt — this one was a tough lesson to learn, but boy the benefits of loving like this are incredible
Dance like nobody is watching — half the time nobody is watching, since I’m rockin’ out alone *giggle*
Urban Panther’s last blog post…A little sidetrip
30 July 2008, 5:21 pm
Steph,
Oops, I missed you up there, sorry! I was thinking about folks who win the lottery and keep their jobs—they must love their days immensely. Then I thought, yeah, what’s stopping us all from loving our days? What are we waiting for? And I remembered I had this quote stashed someplace.
Brett,
That’s some… interesting… music. My kid gets Schubert, Sinatra, Santana, and almost everything else—when you hold up those lovely vids, though, I guess I’m comparatively mild.
Urban Panther,
Rocking out alone is my silly secret pleasure. At home or in the car, I am irrepressible.
Oops, now it’s not a secret anymore.
Later,
Kelly
30 July 2008, 5:28 pm
Kelly,
(I’ve never tried to drive to Sinatra.)
-Brett
30 July 2008, 5:54 pm
Brett,
We do these six hour drives at least ten times a year (once on each end of the trip, y’know) and I used to stack twenty CDs in the van to switch them out every time the mood struck one of us. Finally I got smart and made a couple of playlists that span several hours each, and touch on everything: on the “peppy” playlist we get Sinatra, Oasis, Rush, Shania Twain (the two of us hollering to “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” is pretty cute), etc. etc, on the “no girly love songs” playlist we get Van Halen, Hootie, Queen, Bonnie Raitt…
Keeps us both amused.
To drive alone (if I don’t have my mixes) I only need two CDs, which date me terribly: Diver Down and 5150. Happy, happy.
Later,
Kelly
30 July 2008, 5:58 pm
Friar,
naw,
none of the above,
We chat( about everything, it’s no telling what we may talk about kind of reminds me of blogging), we sing, we crank the music, we play games, and if it gets really ugly for some reason I still have the evil eye to fall back on…
When they were really little, we left at the crack of dawn or late at night so there were only a few hours and then they fell asleep. Now they are the good age and we have fun.
30 July 2008, 5:59 pm
Kelly, you have a point about the monk costume, that isn’t going to go over very well with John.Nope…never mind
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post…A Lighthouse in the Storm
30 July 2008, 6:04 pm
What, six hours? I thought we were talking about long car trips.
Thunder Bay to T.O. – 1,000 miles and 16 hours give or take. Took us 44 hours one year driving through a snow storm. My personal fastest was 12 and a half hours, but that was in a Prelude and before we had kids with us…
@Kelly – Van Halen I and OU812 (the only Sammy album I liked).
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…What Makes Your Blog “Successful”?
30 July 2008, 6:18 pm
Wendi understands. No restraints for the little buggers. Just bore ‘em to death with good conversation. Works every time.
Graham,
I love them all. Like choosing my favorite kid, which for me, is easier than choosing my favorite Van Halen album. Only one kid.
I’ve spent a couple of stretches, as a kid and as an adult, living in the (U.S.) Midwest, but family has always been on the East Coast, so yes, I’ve pulled some mighty long drives, that ten hours of CD mixes wouldn’t cover.
Probably the memory of all day/all night drives when I was little is why I’ve always had a hankering to chuck in the heels and be a trucker (but Friar informs me truckers do have to perform a little hard labor besides the driving, so that’s out, hehe).
Ooh, the snowstorms! One got us stuck in Buffalo… A story for another time. I wonder how I can angle it to be about Customer Experience?
Later,
Kelly
30 July 2008, 6:20 pm
Kelly,
Hey, if the music was good then, the music is good now.
(Old VH is still cool, and I admit to liking the first couple of Crue albums…)
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burn the boats.
30 July 2008, 6:27 pm
(since I’m on a video kick today – this vid features the same guitarist as the first link on my other link post, in his current band – big difference in style – cool music, I think…)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=135LCGFuEQM
Yeah.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burn the boats.
30 July 2008, 7:36 pm
How about a week driving from Banff to Ottawa?
With no air conditionning, in 90F heat. And three kids in the back (aged 13, 15 and and 19…I was the oldest).
And just the car radio (no tape-deck).
Trip. From. Hell.
Moral of the story, it just doesn’t get easier, even when the kids are older.
(And if medication were offered to me, I’d have gladly taken it!)
Friar’s last blog post…My Dog Basil is So Special
30 July 2008, 8:53 pm
Hey Kelly,
Hope your summer is going grand! You know, I’ve always been a good dancer because of this. And I’m always on the verge of getting loose. Or too loose. Or something like that. Something like Dirty Dancing.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post…Writing the Wild Within: Part 5 – Why Fly when You can Soar?
31 July 2008, 7:24 am
Brett,
That last song is (for me) a big improvement over his other one. You’re right, it’s a 180° turn!
Friar,
No AC? Ours was broken a few summers ago, and I agree, that did make things much worse on the long trips. I feel bad for you, twenty years too late.
Ellen,
Hot and muggy, but otherwise dandy.
Because of Satchel Paige, or because of knowing how to dance like nobody’s watching?
Later,
Kelly
31 July 2008, 7:37 am
Kelly,
Funny, isn’t it – same guy, 15 years later. I suppose it might be a maturity thing…
Artists can be a bit like that, I guess.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burn the boats.
31 July 2008, 4:01 pm
Kelly,
No, just the dancing part did it for me. But it’s a good quote.
If you dance like someone’s watching you really can’t dance. Creates the uptight factor.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post…Writing the Wild Within: Part 5 – Why Fly when You can Soar?
31 July 2008, 7:17 pm
Ellen,
LOL. No uptight factor!!