Risks

RISK

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out to others is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken,
because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing.

The person who risks nothing,
does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.

They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.

Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave,
they forfeited their freedom.

Only the person who risks can be free

Stressed

Success

SUCCESS:

At age 4 success is . . not peeing in your pants.

At age 12 success is . having friends.

At age 16 success is . . . having a drivers license.

At age 35 success is . having money.

At age 50 success is . . . having money.

At age 70 success is . . . having a drivers license.

At age 75 success is . having friends.

At age 80 success is . not peeing in your pants.

Truths

GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

My late resolutions

1. Gain weight. At least 30 pounds.

2. Stop exercising. Waste of time.

3. Read less. Makes me think.

4. Watch more TV. I've been missing some good stuff.

5. Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow.

6. Stop bringing lunch from home: Eat out more.

7. Get in a whole NEW rut!

8. Spend my summer vacation in Cyberspace.

9. Make pizza a major food group.

10. Create loose ends.

11. Get more toys.

12. Get further in debt.

13. Start believing politicians.

14. Break at least one traffic law.

15. Fly more.

16. Take a bath every other day.

17. Associate with even worse business clients.

18. Spread out priorities beyond ability to keep track of them.

19. Wait around for opportunity.

20. Focus on the faults of others.

21. Mope about faults.

22. Never make New Year's resolutions again.

My son Brodie

 This was taken shortly before his mom started to get really sick and the cancer became more aggressive. A parents worse nightmare is to know one of your children are hurting and there's nothing you can do about it. I remember sitting in my room one night doing some invoicing for work and I heard what I thought was crying. I got up at be started down the hallway when I realized it was coming from Brodie's room. I went into his room and he was clearly upset. I asked him what was wrong. He looked up at me, tears running down his face and said "Daddy, don't let Mommy die". My heart felt like it was ripped from my chest and stuffed down my throat. Here lay this little boy who thought I was Superman and could do anything. He was scared his mom was going to die, no, he knew his mom was going to die and he wanted me to fix her. What do you say to that? I picked him up, held him tight and told him, son Mommy is still here, she hasn't gone anywhere. We don't know if she is going to die. We should be happy now and not sad because we still have her here with us. I know you want me to fix her but this is something for God. He's way better than me at fixing things. I tell you what, let's just ask him now if he will watch over Mommy and do what he can for her. We did. We prayed and asked God to take away any suffering or pain. We asked that his will be done and asked him to help us be strong and show us what we needed to do to make sure Mommy didn't worry about us. Help us to let Mommy know we were happy that she was still here, to not let her see us sad because we didn't want her to be sad too.  He tried, we tried. It was hard for a little boy his age to not be afraid of losing his mom, to hold back the tears. She knew. She knew all the kids were hurting. She was a strong woman. She lived years longer than they expected her to. It basically came down to the day when I had to sit on the bed, grab her by the hand and tell her it was ok to let go. She had been unresponsive for several days and I told the kids it was time to tell their mom good bye. They knew, of course it hurt but they had matured to the point of not thinking about themselves but thinking about their mom and what was best for her. After spending their last time with her, I asked them all to go outside and let me talk to her alone. I sat back down in the bed, held her hand and told her it was time for her to think about herself. She had given everyone more than anyone could have expected. She had suffered long enough. The kids were strong. Even through fighting cancer, she raised 4 babies to be strong just like she was. I felt her hand get tight around mine and I could see her relax. She finally could stop fighting. It was ok, we were proud of her. It was time to go and take care of Samantha, a daughter we had lost years before. She died that night

hey...people pay good money for hair like this!