This conflict has caused me to throttle down the way I work and just kinda get by. I try not to think about it and that deadens the feelings giving me a sense of numbness. As a result, I’m not very happy a good percentage of the time.

I’ve decided to stop that.

I’m reminded of a movie line from City Slickers: “I’m not gonna quit my job. I’m going to do it better.”. That’s what I’m going to do.

Another good line from that movie is that one thing is the secret to happiness but that it is different for everyone. For me, it’s my family.

They say courage is facing a situation you fear or don’t know the outcome and going through it anyways. I have had the courage to fly a million miles because of my family. They are my one thing and I want to be happy while I’m with them.

I’m bringing the throttle down full. I hope you consider joining me.

All the best

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Full throttle living

I’m 37,000 feet above the world as I write this and staring out at a beautiful Friday morning. Things seem clearer. Beautiful (no turbulence at the moment).

I’m appreciating my life and the gifts I’ve received. But, as my thoughts turn to my children and how much I love them, I’m struck with the thought of how I can convey to them all the lessons I’ve learned. It seems selfish of me to simply keep them to myself.

I’m not talking about the mundane stuff like “look both ways before crossing the street” or “brush your teeth.” We all do that. But how about the deeper stuff? Go deeper.

Even if I tried to sit my kids down for a marathon soul dump on them, they wouldn’t last long. That seems more like torture than anything else. Besides, I’d probably stand up and forget all the important stuff I would want to convey.

No. I guess the best way is to communicate constantly with them. To do so means spending time with them. This isn’t something you can force. It’s something that happens going through life experiences with them. Not quality time but real “just be there” time.

I pray God grants me enough time with them to convey all I’ve learned along the way. I hope he does the same for you.

All the best

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How to convey all I’ve learned?

Come on, people!! Cut the computer cord!

– Post From My iPhone

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Twitter addiction

I’m honored they asked me to put together such an esteemed list, but I gotta tell ya, it was hard. Over the years, I’ve come to respect so many fathers out there that care enough about their children that they decide to start a blog about their experience. Some are awesome and some are your every day, blocking and tackling father stuff. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that a man is taking up the banner of fatherhood and showing the world that he loves his kids.

I tip my virtual hat to not only the ten I listed but all those other daddy bloggers that have the guts to share their experience with the world. Well done, men.

All the best

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Well, I made a list…

We just finished the first season of kid pitch baseball for my son. It was a huge step up from coach pitch. We hung in there an gave it a shot.

My son struggled a bit with the increased speed of the ball. It’s tough for a nine year old to stand in there while another nine year old blasts the ball down past him. Finally, my son, tired of striking out, told me yesterday that he was just going to stand in the box. If the ball hit him, that’s fine. He would get on base. Curiously, that’s exactly what happened.

First pitch…whack! “Take your base!”

Today, he was playing second. First inning. Rocket line drive to second with a horrible bounce. “Whack!” He got hit again.

The picture above is what he left next to second base… what a season!

All the best

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Kid pitch…

Barack wrote a letter to his daughters and shared it with Parade Magazine.  Here are a couple of snippets that I’d love to share with you.

This one is about being a dad:

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I’d make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn’t seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

This one is about the United States of America:

[My grandmother] helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

President Obama, you have my respect.

All the best

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Barack Obama’s letter to his daughters

You can’t turn on the news without being bombarded by gloom and doom stories about our economy, housing and the banking disaster.  Who can blame you for being completely and utterly depressed and frustrated about the whole thing?  If you’re like me, you’re mad as hell that some bad apples out there ruined your savings, jobs, security, etc.!  I’ve written about my feelings on how we got to this point.

I feel compelled, however, to share with you my thoughts on the subject because we all need to focus on getting out of this mess.  Mis-information in the media only confuses the matter and slows recovery. So, I’d like to focus on the “bank bailout” everyone’s talking about.  I need you to understand what’s going on and how to recognize the truth from the river of news stories out there.

The first thing you need to accept is that banks are a vital part of our economic system.  We need to have them to make things work.  There is no question or doubt on this unless you want to go back to growing vegetables and working on the barter system.  Therefore, to fix the economy, we need to fix the banks first.

This first step is what the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money is intended to do.  It is money that is injected into the banks to prop them up and prevent them from going out of business.  The TARP money was NEVER intended to flow through the banks to spur more lending.  That would be phase 2 that TARP was not intended to deal with.  So, please, don’t believe the news stories where a Senator is pontificating how he doesn’t understand why the TARP money is being horded by the banks.  It isn’t to pay bonuses or to maintain fat cat lifestyles.  Banks were supposed to hoard the money.  That is how they are meant to stay in business.

You see, each bank needs to maintain certain ratios (established by law) of equity (assets) to liabilities.  If a bank goes below those ratios, they cannot be a bank and they are closed down.  As the banks used this “bad assets” as part of their equity, when the value of these assets went down (i.e., the housing bubble exploded), they were not able to maintain their ratios.  The value of liabilities stayed the same but the value of assets plummeted!  The government had to inject assets (i.e., cash) in order to get the ratios right again.

So far, $350 billion has been injected into the banks.  The other half will be done soon by the Obama administration.  This is a good thing, folks.  We need the banks to stay afloat.

Once the banks are stabilized, Obama will have to face the more difficult question of how to fix those “bad assets.”  That is the subject of another post.

I hope that clears things up a little for you.  It’s not good news, but it’s important for you to know the truth.

All the best

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Dad’s Guide to the Bank Bailout- what you need to know

I’m back from vacation and running some upgrades to the blog software.  Hope you’re well.

All the best

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Happy New Year

All the best

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Merry Christmas

“Remember, young one. It’s OK to question and try to understand more. It’s in our nature to be curious. It’s how we advance as a species. But, realize that understanding can only take you so far. Faith will take you the rest of the way.”
Jesuit school teacher, my high school, many moons ago

Have you ever taken the time to learn more about the universe and how it came to be? It’s a subject that fascinates me.  It always has.  It’s a subject that your kids may one day ask you about.  Like me, you too may be fascinated.

Theoretical physics is the study of our world in an attempt to understand and explain it. It’s incredibly complex and is pursued by this world’s most brilliant minds.  It is from theoretical physics that we get the leading scientific explanations of the origin of our universe.  It is the study that gave birth to a theory called the Multiverse Theory.

The latest issue of Discovery Magazine has a wonderful article that explains this theory in layman’s terms (so that is how I think I understand it).  The theory bases itself as an explanation to why our universe seems tailor-made for us (life as we know it).  You see, theoretical physicists have noted that the universe has too many coincidences that allow for like to grow. Way too many for a simple “coincidence” explanation thereby leading to the question, “How can this universe be perfectly tailored to us?”

The thing that I find funny is how the supporters of the Multiverse Theory find it so impossible to consider that the answer may lie in faith (i.e., an intelligent creator).  They refuse to acknowledge that understanding and science has taken them as far as it can take them and it is faith that will take them the rest of the way.

The only other explanation these theorists come up with is theorizing that there are an infinite number of universes along with ours. And, with all those iterations, we are lucky enough to live in one that has the exact requisites for maintaining life as we know it.  In other words, with so many possibilities, coincidence is still the explanation for all things being right in this universe for life as we know it.

The article has a great explanation of the issue:

Physicists don’t like coincidences. They like even less the notion that life is somehow central to the universe, and yet recent discoveries are forcing them to confront that very idea. Life, it seems, is not an incidental component of the universe, burped up out of a random chemical brew on a lonely planet to endure for a few fleeting ticks of the cosmic clock. In some strange sense, it appears that we are not adapted to the universe; the universe is adapted to us.

I find that when science meets spirituality or religion, science always seems to focus on finding an alternative explanation.  Oh well, lets wait and see what the Large Hadron Collider tests reveal…

In the end, I find a balanced person should do their best to understand science and explore their spirituality.  It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game where one side wins over the other. Both can co-exist in harmony.

What do you think?

All the best

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Where science meets spirituality- what will you tell your kids?