Cast Down your Bucket

This is from a speech given by Booker T. Washington in 1895. The idea to "cast down your bucket" was that no matter what situation you find yourself in, you should try to make the best of it.

In the speech he references a boat out at sea that has run out of water. They spot a friendly ship and signal they are dying of thirst and need water. The ship replies to cast down your bucket. They reply multiple times and receive the same response. They finally out of desperation or frustration cast down their buckets... at this time they bring up fresh water. (they were at the mouth of the river sitting on top of fresh water, completely unaware)

This story is always in the back of my mind as I go through life. So often we work towards the something else. We focus on the where we can go or who can help us to get out of the place we are in.

But when I embrace this idea, I often find myself in a different place than I thought I was in. It's about perspective I guess, perspective of where I am standing and what I can gain from my footing or lack there of. I am constantly guilty of wanting to get out of where I am standing and move onto something else, sometime feeling like if I could just escape my current circumstances, I would be better off. Whether that be any list of examples. But sadly, this temptation is just that... a temptation to remain in the same place and without growth. To hunker down and explore my circumstances and ask myself what I can learn of them and what they tell me about myself tends to be more fruitful than a graceful amount of dodging around.

So I guess the challenge of this post is to "cast down your bucket" and see what is around you. Cast yourself into your current position and focus on what you are doing today instead of what you could be doing somewhere else. Embrace what you have to learn about where you are and drink deep because I do believe fresh water is usually closer than we think.

Why people get Angry?

Although this will seem like a blanket statement or idea, let me first state I do believe exceptions exist here. People can get angry for valid reasons etc etc. But what I am asking you to think about is, all the other times anger happens and how often it could be what I will mention below. I have recently been thinking about why people react with frustration and anger so much in response to whatever seems to be the situation. I have come to the conclusion in most of the cases where people respond in anger, they are probably just wrong about whatever and thus led to be angry or frustrated... embarrassed and prideful. I think anger is a cover up and really easy exit from the real hard path of using the words, I'm sorry or dare I mention being wrong. At some point we are so adamant about defending our honor and have chased the rabbit so far, it is a stubborn issue that we would rather continue to fight the empty fight rather and to concede and admit what we probably know as truth on the inside. Anyways, next time you find yourself responding with anger first, quickly think, am I just mad because I'm wrong.

It's good to be back in the saddle.

I am currently sitting at the kitchen table on the computer, obvisouly, making a few pit stops around the online world. (facebook, news, email, ebay, craigslist, yahoo fantasy sports) I thought today would be a great day to kick the blog back up and get things rolling again. Funny or serious for the first blog in a while...

First story, Halloween. Sarah and I were really excited about getting into our new house a few days before Halloween so we could have trick or treaters for the first time in our married life together. Sarah was off to the store to grab some candy for the night, we already had a bowl full of Reese cups and figured we would be okay but thought some extra would be better. A little background. Earlier in the day I was out in the yard and a kid a few houses down was playing and we started to talk about all the fun coming up that evening... candy etc. Trying and wanting to be the "cool" new people on the block, I told him to make sure to stop by our house and I would hook him up with good candy. Fast forward to about 630pm. A ring at the door and guess who, the kid I talked to earlier that day. I opened the door to find a kid wearing the same thing he had been wearing earlier, soccer shorts and a soccer tee shirt, standing there with a grocery bag. Against my better judgement, I decided to forgo the need for a costume and let him get some candy. Then the key mistake was made, as the words left my mouth I knew I had made a bad choice of sentence structure. "Go ahead and grab you a big handful", I said. (like a dumbfounded deer caught in the headlights of a car about to plow over them) Before I knew it, I looked down to what was now a desert of a bowl, a place where Reeses used to run wild in their natural surroundings... now a desolate place of the surviving few, cold from the lose of warmth their recently stolen brethren had provided. In less words, he took all of my candy but four... I learned a lesson this Halloween. Never tell someone who considers candy to be a fair currency to "go ahead and grab you a big handful"... NEVER.

Suburban Brad

This morning it hit me... I am officially a suburban resident again, and I freaking love it. I have started getting up early to go running and by running I mean 1.4 miles which to most is not much, to me it is a marathon. This morning, I went running a little later and the suburban life was out and about, from school kids, to crossing guards, squirrels and me. I decided to take Maple with me this morning to experience all the fun and get her heart rate up too. We past Mr. Loots and his dog and quickly another dog/owner combo to which Maple wanted to visit them both but we pressed on. I really enjoy being able to see people as we run, it very full of life. Next was the crossing guard, wow, dedication. It was the same lady whom was there when I was in middle school etc. I do not know what would drive an individual to "guard" that long, but I am assuming it is something other than the money. The next attraction was the line of ants, I mean cars waiting to drop off there kids at the school, they really looked like ants. They were everywhere, from every direction. Passed another crossing guard and on towards the shopping centers down the road. Maple was doing okay at this point, every once in a while looking up at me to say, "I hate you". Shopping Center was dead, which from here we proceeded to the home stretch. Right towards the end, I heard a noise, sounded like crunching. As I looked up I saw a squirrel sitting on a branch eating some sort of nut, watching us go by. It was pretty amusing. I think these are a few example of why I like suburban life... the life you get to see around you, not to abrasive, not to suffocating, but just sharing the experience with you.

I usually grammar check, but I really want to go eat breakfast with Sarah, so if any mistakes, I am sorry.

Springer's Experiment Lives on but a little more sparse

Well folks, it has been a little more than a year now and the post count was 348 posts over the last year. It was a really great time and I was able to write about things that I normally would have just kept in my thoughts. I have decided that in my absence over the last few weeks to make a decision of where I am going to head with my blog. I have decided to post twice a week. So set your feeders and email notification because here they come. I have really enjoyed the last year of blogging but I do not see it possible to continue the daily pursuit. In closing, I look forward to getting to share my thoughts each week and speak to current topics, issues and thoughts that stick in my head. Please continue the feedback if you would like. I would like to give a special mention to Patrick Allen for the most comments this last year and also the most "get your butt in gear" posts award as well. I have enjoyed them very much. The Allen brother dominated the comment box. It has been a great experiment and I will always enjoy looking back over the blog timeline to see the fun we had the first year. So here is to year two and all the fun we shall have. Coming this week, "the turd in the restaurant" and "change is spending". Night Night

Back behind the wheel

First of all I would like to dedicate today's blog to the Allen Brothers, and to the letter S, which stands for suspense. I have a variety of things I would like to write about, but today I will dive into a little Political rant for a moment, since it has been a while. Lately the hot topic has been the health care battle and everyone is talking etc. I was watching the news the other day when Mrs. Pelosi made a comment calling some protesters unAmerican etc. This struck me as a little odd, this made me think back to a few years ago to many different protests against the Iraq war and others things against the "Bush" regime. These people were not called unAmerican at all, might have been called a distribance but not that far. I just think it is an interesting observation to see how the tables have turned. I expect when the powers at hand change, then the twist on things are usually in their favor. I just think sometimes political double standards is something that really gets me going, especially when it is compeletly self serving, yeap take that Nancy... how long till she's gets voted out?

I'm back (right one)

I will be starting the blog back up on Monday so get ready for some goodness.

I'm back

Allen Wedding Weekend: site will be down for routine maintenance.

It's been a while, but this will make up for it

Well, I know I have been somewhat spotty on posting, but tonight I will redeem myself. It has been a busy few weeks here at camp, and I have encountered a lot of different Texans to write about- but last night I met the craziest one so far. Here is the story. We had a night event last night that required to have some speakers outside playing Mission Impossible theme music, while the kids went through camp protecting their leader. After the event, the kids went back into the club room and the music was still playing as they went in. Soon after, Bradley and I were about to go turn off the music and up rolled a car. We looked at each other as to decide who was going to go approach and talk to the car, and before we could begin to discuss, and old guy got out. He started to walk a straight line towards the speakers, which were away from Bradley and me. Bradley (BMess for short) started to trot after him to talk to him, as I got out my phone ready to call Chase, the Camp Director. I was about ten feet behind Bradley and noticed he was talking to the guy, and the old guy was pissed about the music. There conversation went like this. This is the shortened version with some highlights.

BMess: Sir can I help you?
Old Guy: Yeah I am going to turn of this G*$ *&$@ music, I am tired of this S***.
BMess: I would love to talk to you about this sir
Old Guy: This is ******* public property, you can't have this S*** going like this
BMess: Sir, this is actually private property
Old Guy: Where the hell is the gate
BMess: you drove threw it

At this time, we noticed the old guy had a little bat along with his Mag Light and Camel Light that had as Bradley put it, "burnt his beard and made it look like a Christmas Tree". So, Old Guy had a bat and had made it to the speaker, which was near Bradley's head. Old Guy took a swing and connected to the speaker. At this point I had already called Chase and was walking up to join Bradley with the Old Guy, and Chase was behind me. Old Guy turned and speed walked to his car. As he walked off, we were still trying to talk to the guy, and he yelled something about working in the prison where talking didn't work. Well, we got his car type and description... and guess what we called the police. At this point it was about 12:30 in the morning. The po po ended up finding the guy later that night. (how I am not sure, but kudos to the Riverside Police for their skills) The Deputy said, that the guy was about 70 years old and grumpy and would never bother us again, he told Old Guy that if he ever came on property again, he would end up in jail. (which if quicker on our toes, he would have ended up in last night)

So hope that story is spicy enough to make up for the lack of blogging these days.

Consistency

I was thinking a bunch yesterday about consistency. We all want it and hope to have it in life everyday. I think we all desire consistent people in our lives, those we are close to, those we work with, spouses, neighbors. I am also pretty sure that as a whole, most people are not to familiar with what it truly looks like, hence we are always worrying about other people etc etc. Yesterday, I thought about those people who are consistent in my life and who truly provide me with what I consider consistency. The things which came to mind were, trust, honesty, being able to call whenever, grace. I am very thankful that I can look at people in my life and truly see consistency, I think it is what we strive for.

Pirate

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Arrrggg

Hello Agian from Texas, as internet has not been my best friend, I realize I have missed a few days here and there. Today I would like to share a picture of Bradley and myself. Here at Wyldlife Camping, we have what we call Pirate/Princess night. This is where we split up the camp and send the guys away with all the guys to go do, "guy things" like caber tossing, arm wrestling, tug o war and eat bbq with our hands... oh yeah and dress up like pirates. The ladies go do princess things, that, I am not to sure about what they do. Bradley and I decided to join in on the fun and dress up like pirates as well. Above you will find a picture of what that looked like. I must say, it was a ton of fun and we look like bad "a" pirates.

Happily, hello!

Well folks, I am on the Internet and up and running. I would first like to thank hugh from hughes net for giving me this opportunity to be up and running and God for keep the clouds out of the sky so that hugh can get a signal. So... there have been so many stories since Bradley and I left Georgia in the likeness of the Beverly Hillbillies, to the hundreds of miles of bridges we spent time on in the "wetlands of the south". I know this blog will be a hodge podge of stories so I will get started. First I would like to say that the Texas road systems must have been designed by a monkey, where else does a stop sign lead up to an interstate. We had a run in with a cashier at a home depot who asked us if North Carolina was spelled with a c or a k... It has been a great time so far, Bradey and I have been the jack of all trades doing many different tasks and getting it done. If you do not know, I am in Texas for a month working at a camp that Young Life rents. The staff here has been amazing and wonderful and really pushed me to love people more. I am happy to be back in the blogosphere and look forward to sharing many more stories while we are here. Love you all.

P.S. Here is a quote from a lady outside of cracker barrel in Mississippi when she saw our truck.

Wow that sure is a lot of stuff on that truck... they must be moving, no one just drives around town with that much stuff in their truck, yea they must be moving.

Mia again.

Allen Wedding Weekend: site will be down for routine maintenance.

Eta

Sorry folks Texas has been working me hard. New blogs are on the way, Texas is full of
Stuff to make fun of.

Mississippi

Two greatest quotes of the day so far. ( in refernce to mississippi )

1. We have been driving in this state for an hour... It's 2009, I mean there isn't s@$& in this state. (sorry mom)

2. I'd hate to play hide and go seek in those woods, no one would ever find you.

Texas bound 2

We are on our way to Carolina Creek, here is Bradley taking his first shift behind the wheel. I had to ask him a series of questions to make sure he was mentally awake to drive. We are currently in the tail end of Alabama... I think. Anyone know what is special about Alabama, so far we are not sure.

Texas bound

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Texas time.

30 hours till I am on my way to Texas. I wonder if a Texan will punch me when I inform them that all is not bigger and better there, it just seems that way because it takes longer to get places and the heat makes you delerious. (sp) Also it sounds like you (Patrick) are getting a little sweet on Texas. Getting soft on me.

Sweet Sarah and Maple Picture

Sarah was saying goodnight to Maple and Maple was in a cuddly mood. Sometimes dogs bring out a side of me that makes me look forward to having kids. I know comparing a dog to kids is "crazy" but I love my dog and if it's any indication about how much I will love my kids one day, they will be loved beyond belief.