Penicillin

One of my favorite things to say when someone is getting on my nerves is that he or she is "giving me Mono"...yes...as in Mononucleosis.  The saying generally gets a chuckle from even the most straight-laced people.  I said this to someone about the Dallas Mavericks last night as I watched them miss shot after shot before finally winning the game and sending the Oklahoma City Thunder to an early vacation.  The person watching with me jokingly said that I was going to need Penicillin!  I then recalled that Penicillin was found by accident.  Something so world-changing was a complete and total ACCIDENT!

That's when I started wondering...

Do we spend too much time and energy trying to plan out our lives?  Should we be doing more things by accident?  In an effort to make a ground-breaking discovery in our everyday lives, could we stand to allow a lack of planning?

I believe there is something to this.  I have said before that I am a firm believer in balance or "moderation" in life.  I think this should probably include a healthy balance between planning and chance.  If we plan every thing in life, we could very well miss out on something amazing.  I think over-planning can be linked to a general distrust in our own ability to handle the unexpected.  Perhaps we should trust ourselves, our knowledge, our strength, and our resilience to get us through the unexpected times in life.  Who knows what miracle could be discovered by accident?

Yes...I got ALL this from Penicillin.  For those of you who know me and have followed my blog over the years, you should not be surprised.  :-)

The Bottom Line:
Take chances.  Don't plan absolutely everything and remember... a little "moldy bread" can offer up a lot of healing.  So, the next time life gives you mold, make Penicillin and just roll with it.

Part-time Patriots

As the sun sets on yet another Memorial Day, I find myself wondering just how patriotic we really are.  It strikes me as a little odd how uptight some people can get about this particular holiday.  Everyone wants to wave the flag.  Everyone wants to claim their military family heritage.  People make it a point to be proud, verging on obnoxious and boastful, when it comes to their military ties.  Then there the other 364 days of the year...

I was chastised by a "friend" this morning about referring to Memorial Day as perhaps, the unofficial "white-trash" holiday.  (I feel at liberty to use the term white-trash without hesitation, as I am part Scottish-American.  These are also the same type of people I spent a great deal of my life with.)  The statement was meant to be an observation and had nothing at all to do with the military.  It was very tongue-in-cheek, but apparently some of us lose all sense of humor once a year.  I don't know, maybe the comment struck a little too close to home.  This friend started going on about the fact that a family member was in the military and their father and their father's father...etc...  In the two years I've know this person, I've never once discussed or been made aware of any family service to our country.  This lead me to realize how part-time some people's patriotism is.  It's a strange concept to me that so many only get "fired up" about their country on holidays.  These are the same folks who sit by the rest of the year and have nothing of value to add to political evolution, learning, or debate.  They grab their Starbucks, head to work, and plan their next major beer bash or Super Bowl party; all the while never trying to affect change that would honor the men and women of the armed forces.

The Bottom Line:
It's convenient and perhaps even a bit stylish to wear the flag on your back for major patriotic holidays, but what's the point if you do nothing the rest of the year?  Though one person got all bent out of shape over my holiday observation, they failed to remember that the brave men and women fight not just for their freedom to be part-time patriots, but for my freedom to say what I wish.  That's something to be proud of.  Let's not forget that every day should be a Memorial Day.  We should live our lives in a way that honors our brave men and women all the time, not just on Memorial Day.