A Stage 4 Awakening

We all will suffer. That is the human experience. Happy days should be enjoyed as if they are the greatest days of all time. Imagine. The teacher says that your child is a great delight to have in class. That feels so good right? What if you just let that moment pass because that is what you expect of your child. Then you miss the moment and just like that it's gone and the child is now walking the graduation stage and heading off to the real world where no one will ever say that your kid is such a delight to have in class again. And if they do it won't hit the same. One example of many times that we pass up the opportunity to truly lap up the joy and excitement of a moment. It hurts sometimes to think about the moments that have come and gone. The people who have left the earth as I know it. I miss my dad and his voice and his criticism and his laugh and his vibe. I even miss the protection that he gave me in my times of need. I'm a grown man now with my own family and now...

As I watch the Olympics there is one thing that I see that all of the participants have in common. Not only do they have a second gear but many times, in the final stretch, we see the world's premiere athletes dig deeper to a third gear that pushes them out in front in hopes of hoisting a GOLD MEDAL. We see the finished product or the product in the prime of its sports career. I say product but I mean it as a symbol pertaining to any finished accomplishment, a film, a book, a car, an app, a new invention or an athlete, that has been seen by the world that has changed the game. The iPhone, Michael Jordan, sliced bread all took many years, tens of thousands of hours of hard work and thought and trial and error and failure to become what they are today. I'm not sure about sliced bread but I can assure you that the other two didn't just happen. I say that to say that I have witnessed this in my journey. Not only in the battle with cancer and three transplants, but with my film ...