FollowCraig: “Dents”

Posted on March 5, 2013 by followcraig

……and you’re still reading

My career has been wrapped around automobiles and trucks for over 35 years. It’s what I do and I truly have a passion for the industry I’m part of. Mostly though I just love cars and people. Just the other day I was speaking to a client who had left their 20 year old car in my companies body shop for repair. Yes, her car had been dented:(

Dents and people are funny things. Many of us love our cars, they are often our identity and even define us. So when dents happen its much like our children or pets getting hurt. We first get upset and then just sad about the damage. Perhaps we are now just embarrassed about what caused the damage or just ashamed to be seen in our dented car. Even in this time of disappointment however there often lies a bright spot. Yes most dents can be repaired, often as if they never happened. So what does all this have to do with people and why am I writing about dents?

It’s like this, when a car gets dented and after the dissapointment and perhaps embarrassment is tempered we begin the process of repair. We take our car to an estimator then the body shop orders new parts, repairs and paints the damage as if it never happened. Suddenly the car is fixed and all is forgiven..

Wouldn’t it be easy to just take the damage that happens to us in our daily life to someone who assesses the damage (God), orders new parts (attitude), puts the pieces back together (pray) and then paint (action). Suddenly the damage is forgiven. Oh yes that sounds easy doesn’t it? In fact it actually is if we are willing to surrender our pride and embarrassment to a higher power, yet so often we fight this simple task.

It always brings joy to me when watching someone come collect their car after a repair and see the little smile on their face as the seat-belts buckle, the mirrors are checked the damage forgotten and the shift is to drive…Forward.

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following……….

Craig

FollowCraig: “Paradox”

Posted on February 26, 2013 by followcraig

……..and you’re still reading

“Don’t go near the water if you haven’t learned to swim” ; “No one ever goes there, it’s so crowded”

Just how often do we say or hear these statements? Our world is filled full of paradoxes. If you don’t believe it, just go to the dictionary and look up the meaning. Many of you know I’m a practicing Lutheran and I have quite an interest in theology. As an example, many Christians want to believe Jesus was a peace maker. However when reading the book of Luke it’s easy to see he really was a rebel and spent his life shaking things up!

I find life so very interesting when looking at it from a paradox point of view. Someone told me once he wouldn’t drive in the city as he would get lost. Another friend told me he knew his way around the same city like the back of his hand. He told me he had gotten lost many times but that’s how he found his way. So must we get lost so we can find our way? Isn’t that a paradox?

When we look at our world today and our world of the past, it’s not so difficult to grasp our future. So next time you hear something like “Don’t scratch, it might itch” perhaps you will stop and think of the wonderful word PARADOX.

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following…..

Craig

FollowCraig: “KEYS”

Posted on February 23, 2013 by followcraig

……..and you’re still reading

Now I must say that I have had a really good life so far. I was born in Northern California and raised in Southern, my mother only married twice and I have three brothers along with three sisters from my fathers second marriage. I’ve had more than my share of wives, two wonderful children and now six grandchildren. Yes the life I’ve led has been full, so full of twists and turns, ups and downs and pain and pleasure. I have lost count of all the automobiles I’ve owned and how many jobs I’ve held. During my first and second marriages I moved so many times that a PO Box was my only real stable address and I always had a “KEY” to my mail.

All my adult life it seems I was moving from place to place and from home to home. A few years ago a dear friend said someday Craig you will have a key to your own front door and when you do you will know peace. I really didn’t quite get what he meant as I have always had a key to my front door?

Recently when speaking to my son I told him “Son, it’s so good to finally have a key to my own front door” and like me he really didn’t get it.

Life is so often that way, we don’t always get it.

You see I was so busy living my life, working, playing, drinking, loving, hating, having and trying everything I could think of to make me happy and appear to be on top of the world that I never just stopped. I never just stopped to know what it was like to water a plant and watch it grow, to just get up in the morning and relax before rushing out the door. Never did I think about the little joys in life that make a life so joyful. A few years ago as my life began to cure from the crazy days of drinking and personal self inflicted destruction it slowly began to dawn on me that life was so beautiful. You know those days when we get up and the the weather is not your favorite or when you get to work and the boss or your surroundings just seem to suck? The days when things just seem to not be anything close to the way you had planned? Yes, even those days I would find beauty and peace. After nearly a decade without holding that ice chilled glass of scotch as I did for so many days, weeks and years, my life had changed and one day at a time peace would come. Today I understand what my friend was saying when he told me about having my own “KEY” to my own front door.

It’s that special key, the one that opens your heart to the joy of living, loving, caring, working, praying and experiencing every minute of everyday, everyday of your life with gratitude laced with optimism and joy.

I do have the “KEY” to my front door and will always hold it in my hands and heart always ready to give it away.

You’re still reading, I’m still writing, so please keep following……

Craig

FollowCraig: “Insurance”

Posted on February 5, 2013 by followcraig

……….and you’re still reading

When I think about insurance my first thoughts usually go to paying the premiums on my car, home or health insurance. So as I contemplate paying these premiums I’m caused to think about all the types of insurance and the premiums we have in our lives.

As an example what premium do we pay to have a safe and secure life? What premium do we pay to have a happy spouse or family? When sending our children to school and incur-raging their success or how about our careers? When we work hard everyday taking care of our minds our health and keeping a positive attitude isn’t that a form of insurance and intern isn’t this the premium we pay to have all God wants us to have? How about our spiritual and integrity standards? And what about our compassion and empathy for others? Would offering a hand up to someone in need be insurance?

A dear friend told me once that we may not always want to be present however that is when our presence is most often needed. As I look over my own life and all the self-centered behaviors and actions of my past, it occurs to me that those behaviors were literally my avoidance of paying the premium to insure the peaceful life I had always wanted.

Our lives are filled with premiums to pay and when we do, our life is certainly insured. So today I think; it’s a great joy to be here and able to continue to pay all these insurance premiums!

You’re still reading, I’m still writing so please keep following…….

Craig

FollowCraig: Street Cleaning

Posted on January 25, 2013 by followcraig

…..and you’re still reading,

When I was a kid it fascinated me so much when each week huge trucks would come to wash and sweep the streets in front of our home. First one would come and clean the other side then later perhaps an hour or so the same powerful truck would come back and clean our side of the street. Oh they were fun to watch and I so wanted to climb up and drive one. Now I was sort of a clean kid and most things in my life needed to be in order for me. My bedroom was always clean, my cloths put away and my bed made. So sometimes if the second truck didn’t come to clean our side of the street it would really bother me. Things outside just did not look even and balanced and I would think either both sides should be a mess or both clean but not half and half. Although others never seemed troubled by this. They would walk the sidewalks or drive on the streets even if only one side was clean. I would on the other hand stay on the clean side or at least try to and life would just go on weather the street was clean or not.

After many years and so many events in my life it occurred to me sometime ago that life is much like those streets and those sweeping machines. How is that you may ask? It’s simple really. When I have had disagreements or troubles in relationships both personal and business, the world around me would continue to go on just like those messy or half cleaned streets. However my own personal world would be in some degree of pain and discomfort. I would be feeling bad and try so hard to fix whatever was wrong and get back to that clean peaceful side of things. After years of trying to fix things and never really having success my frustrations and disappointments would bring my life to a total halt and I would be stalled at every turn of everyday. Then I remembered that when my half that street was clean in front of our house, everything was good. I had a clean space to walk and travel.

Like those streets so is my life today. I cannot change or fix the world or the people in it or those who surround me. The world around me still goes on no matter the troubles and mess. However I can strive to keep my part of life and my part of relationships clean. Stopping often and looking at what my place is in arguments, troubles or disappointments; then taking out my own personal street cleaning machines (compassion, love, understanding, courage, faith, prayer, integrity, humility and more) and applying these tools to either clean or keep my side of the issues clean. I have learned and know I cannot always clean that other side of the street but if my side is clean and I have a peaceful place to be then perhaps this peaceful path will be visible and available to the other side.

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following…..

Craig

FollowCraig: “10”

Posted on January 15, 2013 by followcraig

……..and you’re still reading

’10’, yes 10 years…

Many of you have read about the day the Demons came, you know the Demons that appeared in my head so many years ago. Many people have had their own night of Demons, you may know that event or life experience that changes everything and points you to a path you never expected to travel. My own was that of ending a lifetime of drinking and becoming sober. Oh, I remember that time so vividly as if it was yesterday.

So many people have just stopped and like me turned their life a full 180 decrees. Some of us call that time our sobriety date or a date of rebirth. But what is sobriety? Does it just mean we have stopped an addiction to some personal destructive behavior? When I stopped drinking, little could I imagine the life ahead. It has taken several years and so many experiences to finally just begin to understand what sobriety really is.

I used to believe that sobriety was just about not drinking or for others not using drugs or booze and such to feel better and escape life. Perhaps part of that is true but I have found so much more.

By definition sobriety means:

1. Gravity in bearing, manner, or treatment.
2. Moderation in or abstinence from consumption of alcoholic liquor or use of drugs.

Here is what really happens when living a truly sober life. “It’s Peaceful”

Overtime everything changes and integrity takes over. No longer are you living a sober life but rather a life of integrity. As I have learned over the last 10 years is that when we no longer use alcohol or some other chemical to escape but rather live through each daily experience sober, we become at ease. We learn to face obstacles, problems and our emotions with a clear outlook. Overtime that outlook becomes reality. In my own life it’s honesty not only to others but myself as well. It’s knowing that the bills I’ve stacked up in life both those of finance and conscious are paid, promises are kept, stories are untold. Life changes so much when living in sobriety. My perspective of life overall is different now. Today I care more about others, the concerns of the society around me matter, my spiritual life and my beliefs matter. The opinions and feelings of others matter and I listen. I’ve learned to be more patient and forgiving. Crazy as it sounds, work is even more fun than ever. Yes, 10 years of sobriety has and is changing me.

I’ve been lucky and even blessed. I have been given a chance to live a full and very promising life. My children and their families are healthy, strong and of good character. I am married to whom I can only describe as “the Greatest partner God could give a man” and I love and cherish her so much.

Being sober and living this sober life for 10 years now has at times been challenging and scary. However as I look back and look forward, it’s today that matters most. It’s the person I’ve become or actually becoming the person I am supposed to be that brings me peace. Today I know, I just know what serenity, sobriety and integrity are and what it feels like to live it. I encourage anyone who wants to live a peaceful life to go ahead and reach out for it, it’s there for you.

Thank you for letting me share a little of my life journey with you.

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following……….

Craig

FollowCraig: Something to Ponder

Posted on January 2, 2013 by followcraig

And your still reading…….

Although some believe George Carlin wrote this, it was actually written by Bob Moorehead a relatively unknown author.

A Message by Bob Moorehead, “Something to Ponder”

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, ‘I love you’ to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

George Carlin

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you. Happy New Year to you!

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following……

Craig

Posted on December 17, 2012 by followcraig

This is so Great!

FollowCraig: “Shiny Shoes”

Posted on December 5, 2012 by followcraig

……and you’re still reading

Just how real are you? I was watching an interview on 60 minutes recently profiling Mr. Steve Jobs of Apple fame. The biographer of Steve Jobs life shared a story from “Jobs” youth. His stepfather taught him how to build many things and one was a fence. His stepfather told him, always build the fence so it is just as attractive on the back of the fence as the front. Perhaps no one will ever know or see it but you will always know what you’ve built.

It may seem to some that this is perfection in the making or some OCD thing. But doesn’t it really describe integrity and character? It’s what we do that no-one may ever see or how we behave when no-one is looking that truly defines ones character.

My Grandfather always had wonderful small statements of fact to simplify the experiences of life. One I will always remember..Craig he would say, “Always be wary of a man who only shines the front of his shoes” I have always remembered that statement and to this day I always shine the back of my shoes because you never know who’s looking?

I too have many statements of my own making and one I will share is this: “I would rather wear a real Timex watch rather than a fake Rolex”. Being real, being of good character and integrity sounds simple enough but it’s not always easy. It takes a bit more work to build that fence so it’s attractive on both sides, a little bit more polish to shine those shoes completely and refrain to resist the temptation to wear a glimmering fake Rolex.

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following……

Craig

FollowCraig: “after all these years”

Posted on October 21, 2012 by followcraig

……..and your still reading

I was just sitting here at home thinking about life and how things just turn out. As many of you who read my posts know, I stopped drinking almost 10 years ago and my life has changed so much over that time. Just a few days ago I had the opportunity to watch a wonderful life changing movie called “Flight” starring the great actor Denzel Washington. While watching the movie it occurred to me that someone had made my movie. Yes, this was a movie about me. Well not in the sense of the harrowing events but rather the emotional truths. As the final scene is about to be disclosed, we see a man who by all accounts can do anything he wants, he has the opportunity to be hailed a hero and perhaps live a beautiful future. All he has to do is tell one more lie, just one and no one will know. No one will ever need to know his secret, that little secret that is killing him and the lives around him. Yes, I’ve lived this movie, I have known the pain that rests inside as you wrestle with conscious, values, standards, lies, truths, morality and so much more all intersecting deep in your soul just tearing you apart. Being in that place where you just cannot go on living the same way every day lying to yourself and everyone around you. When all you can do is have a drink to ease this never ending pain and guilt, knowing that you really don’t want that drink but have no other solution. This is the movie I lived, this is the place I was, the same place as Denzel Washington’s character in this movie. Imagine what it’s like to finally be faced with your truth and knowing all those around you have set the stage so you can continue to live in a false world; the make believe world of self told lies? Existence, that’s all it becomes. You just exist, you never get to experience life in real terms. Finally it’s over, your done and you cannot go on because now you have reached the point of non-existence. This is what we who have lived through this call “Our Bottom”.

As I look back and remember where I was almost a decade ago and where I am today, it’s as if I was reborn. Today my life is rich with love and peace. I am married and happy. My career is even back on track and moving at lightning speed. My life is good and I am so grateful to have lived through my bottom. As the movie ends, we find Mr. Washington’s character sitting in prison talking to a room of inmates sharing how now he is finally free. I truly know that freedom and I am truly a blessed man.

Thank you for reading this as I was so compelled to write and share a small part of what it’s like to surrender and live through it.

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following……..

Craig

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: