You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy.™
Life is crazy.
But if you are reading this then you all ready know that.
You all ready know it’s a roller coaster with no seat belts and no predetermined course. You don’t have to be “so tall” to ride, you just need to hang the hell on, because chance are it’s going to be a wild one.
Kids and bills and health concerns. Weeds in the garden, car won’t start, repo man knocking on the door.
From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed, there’s a pressure that we all feel. It’s a vice that squeezes us and reminds us that there’s more to do, something missing, something lingering, something hanging, something nagging, something that needs our attention.
The pressure begins simmering in your dreams while you sleep. Instead of unicorns and palm trees, you dream about bank over draft notices and mortgage payment due dates.
That falling dream is really your nervous system jumping off the ledge.
Then the sun peaks over the curvature of the Earth and your eyes sense it is time to rise.
Riiinnngggg.
The alarm goes off and the cold of the morning dares you to pull the covers down.
There’s a chill in the room. Your eyes are pasted shut by a crust that is thicker than envelope glue.
You put on the morning news and it’s the same wreck, the same weather cast, the same over night convenience store robbery.
Is that woman really wearing hot pink at 6:30 am?
It’s ground hog day and you wonder if Bill Murray is hiding in the closet.
You trudge to the bathroom and the floor is like frozen tundra. You wonder if you can get frost bite from linoleum. Where’s the seal meat and the harpoon your tired mind questions.
You flip on the kitchen light and squint.
It is so bright it’s like a KGB interrogation.
“We have ways of making you talk,” your inner voice says with a bad Russian Accent.
That’s when you notice the front blinds are open. Everyone can see you in your under wear.
Screw it, you say to yourself.
Back upstairs, you let the shower run. How long will it take the heat to circulate. You put your finger under the stream. It’s so cold and startling it’s like a CIA water boarding session. Where the hell is the hot water heater? Peoria? Does it need a passport to travel from the garage to the shower head?
The toothpaste is no more exciting. The box promises me a carnival of whitening in mouth, but sadly, it tastes like the same old thing. It reminds me that it’s Monday morning and my mouth tastes like yesterday.
How many times have I done this, I think to myself. How many times have I started life just like this.
I wonder if there’s another way, another possible outcome.
Ground Hog Day.
Finally in the shower. The water is warm. I feel a little life surge through my body. It is then that I realize that the cleansing process is boring too. The same soap, same shampoo, same conditioner.
It’s a story that seems so old, I wonder if it was written by Chaucer.
What to wear? I care, but I don’t care.
As I fasten that tie around my neck, I find myself pulling it so tight it’s like a hangman’s noose. Is it symbolic of something deeper?
In the background the morning news is filled with doom and gloom. The President’s approval rating is down. The consumer satisfaction index, sinking like BP stock during the oil leak. Space junk falling and mortgage rates swirling and …
Well it’s a lot to absorb in the first hour of consciousness.
This is the thing. Life is hard. Life is crazy. Life is a process that takes a lot of energy to over come.
The car is cold, and it strains to crank over.
I pull out of the sub division and it’s immediately the Mario Andretti Driving school of navigation.
There’s the stop and go traffic jam on the highway.
Finally to work. No pressure to produce here, right?
Need to make more widgets.
The pressure is encompassing, like diving to the bottom of a 20 foot lake and not clearing your ears.
Adding to this pressure; the bills keep coming and the kids keep asking for money, and the daughter’s head light needs a new bulb and the air conditioner is on the blink.
And you get the picture.
Life is Crazy.
Some people can’t get up from the mat after life knocks them down. They lay on the couch and they watch daytime TV and they gravitate toward pills that dull the senses.
Then there’s the rest of us. We shake off life’s veil of depression. We move forward, we look at the sun, we search our soul and realize that life is a gift.
Hey what is that pouring through the key hole? Ah it’s the future.
Take a bite of that peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Let it melt in your mouth. Enjoy it. Don’t sweat it that you are eating peanut butter and jelly and the boss is taking others to the Palm.
Who cares.
The traffic jam is a chance to listen to some classic rock or learn Chinese. Who cares, day dream or plan for the future.
Before going to bed, look in the mirror. Smile.
Then slumber a wonderful sleep. Go to bed and dream about the chance to wake up and do it all over again. Do it with passion and make a difference.
When you dream, when you fall, enjoy the ride.
It’s only Ground Hog Day if you let it be.
Life is crazy. And that’s a good thing.