The Greatest

What is it about sport that makes men and women cheer for the individual who stands in the arena that they have never met and never will meet. Do you think that they envision themselves in that position, dreaming of how they would have competed given the chance?

Or is the fleeting thought of comparison, i.e. in the past when faced with such a scenario this is what I did. A beer with the boys, and "remember when?..." Personally, I readily admit I still get tight in the chest watching particular events, mainly those sports in which I did compete in my youth. I find it funny that I see, with some clarity now, things which I would have done differently. But I do not believe it would be accurate to call such visions regrets. Suffice it to say, youth is wasted on the young.

If you were an athlete, do you remember when your and/or your teammates success rested solely on your shoulders? Team sports always beg the question, are all of these people giving their all? Are they leaving every ounce of energy they brought to the game on the field or court? Reliance on another, never set quite well with me because of such lingering doubts. You can merely hope that everyone will rise to the occasion and ... well you understand.

Such doubt is removed when you are the only participant. Dedication, self-respect, and self-reliance are themes you hear in many sporting venues; however, they become so much more prevalent when it is one man or one woman proving those characteristics about his or herself. These effects of these characteristics generate a reputation, and such traits become more pronounced when someone is out there - alone. When the blame can lay only at your feet, you step becomes a little more determined.

Theodore Roosevelt's speech, Citizen in a Republic, has provided generations with inspirational fodder. While this speech provides so much more than just the following quote, the quote is topical and I am not sure that anyone before or after has said it better. (I encourage everyone to read it and think about where you stand in our great Republic.) This excerpt has always left me awestruck and filled with admiration that someone so eloquently stated what I feel and have felt for the longest time:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

When you read that passage, what - or who - do you see?

To the Hunt! To the Hunt! To the Hunt!

If you could meet any celebrity alive or dead from any part of the world, any walk of life, who would it be? I have thought long and hard about this one. There are several answers that I could give, and they seem to be based on their particular medium of celebrity. As far as the movies and/or television are concerned, I cannot seem to choose between Curly Howard:



and John Wayne:




Wayne has long been a favorite of mine. He may not have been the greatest actor, but he represented to me what an American was. He seemed to always be bathed in that light where freedom lived. He always seemed to breathe that air that breeds self-respect. To be sure he had his demons, but we all do. I for one will not cast a stone. There are no actors in this day and age that provoke these feelings in me. Perhaps he was meant to be the only one, which makes him all the more precious. If this is true, it would suit me right down to the ground.

As for Curly, he reminds me of a time when responsibility was only a word to me. At some point in time, the notion becomes more than just a word. For every person, that time is different. It has been said before that this time occurs when you stop saying, "it got lost" and start saying, "I lost it." The burden of responsibility weighs heavy, and in my humble opinion I think it pays to remember the times when you could still say it got lost without actually removing the yoke. Curly helps me think of such times.

I still think that "are you married or happy?" is one of the most classic lines ever spoken in film.

So, my fine feathered friends, what screen gem or gems shine the brightest in your eyes?

Next post, sports celebrities.

Ideas

So, I am sitting here in the office, and it is 6:38 AM. Been here for an hour or so. Good times! I think I have become like my father in this respect.
Dear readers, I come to you today with a question. A very important question. One that will pique your interest and challenge your faculties. A question that provokes such deep consideration that some will not even bother to approach it as they have to go to work and cannot spend hours on unpaid matters such as these. This question, it is a good one, has been asked before by many others before me. By men and women whose lot in life is a good one. Wrapping your mind around this interrogatory may cause injury, thus I disclaim any and all injuries and/or disabilities arising from or occurring in the course of giving the matter its due consideration.
What is your favorite movie quote?

Solipsism

I saw this word, solipsism, on a shirt the other day, and I did not have the foggiest idea what it meant. Now I do, and when you look it up you will to; alternatively, you may be able to derive its meaning from what will follow, but I won't hold my breath.
A passage from an ancient journal states, "...the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die." I sit here thinking where does this writer want me to go. Is he urging me to seek a truth for me? Or, is he seeking the the answer to a truth about mankind? Is there anything, other than family and country, for which I would die? If I have within me that truth already, how do I know for sure it is that one truth that, above all others, encompasses who I really am? There are so many questions that lead up to finding the real answer, I don't know if a person can ever really find the solution. Each question leads to another answer, and, maybe, a brutal realization about yourself.
This quotation clearly is part of an existential philosophy put into part of a sentence. Or, is it the barest definition of existentialism, i.e. the essence of the question is asked by every man, woman, and child on this earth. Who am I? What am I here for? The search for this truth, whatever the truth may be, all has to start with the basics about our carbon-based lives. Is this search what being a man or woman on this earth is really all about? Living one' s life always looking, always searching for an answer that fits the question. I do not think that anyone ever really knows. We are all here for a reason, but in this context the question becomes is there a reason I am here.
I am not speaking of the biological reason, I am speaking of the basis for those decisions a person makes that leads to a certain role in society as we individually know it. On those grounds, to find the truth about myself is a much more difficult question.
Is there a truth you personally know that makes your throat tight and your heart pound in your chest? Loving your kids, parents, family or friends cannot be the truth that anyone is really seeking. Those things are part of the foundation or platform from which a person casts about for that element of truth that they would live or die for. Love of God and fellow man. Love of country. Or is the truth some ideal for which a person stands? As I said in another post, who we become is our gift to God. Maybe that is the truth of which Kierkegaard spoke: if you live your life to its fullest potential that truth will find you.
More troubling is another tangent: does this truth change with age and environment? Does the truth change with a man's nature? I have always thought that a man prays in an attempt to change his own nature, not to influence God. Through prayer, can you effect the change you need in order to bring about the influences you want to find? If you can, what on earth do you ask for? Wisdom to make the right decisions? Strength to bear the burdens with which you have been loaded? Courage to face that which you fear? I think that the search for truth may also be a combination of all those assets a man or woman wishes he or she had, should they be lacking. The attributions of the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow after they met the Great Oz wrapped up with a nice little bow.
Whatever the truth you are seeking turns out to be, I think that you will know when y0u find it. I don't know if bells will ring in your head, but you may feel truly happy with the trip to find that which you have been seeking. Some may never want to know what their truth is, content to stumble through life looking for the next resting area. This I know: for each person, it has to be different. Your children will have their own truth, and you may never know what it is not even in your dreams. You can lead, but will they follow? You can inspire a certain belief, but there is no way to force a child to hold something you believe to be true as his or her own. The truth, I am convinced, is different for all of us. Kierkegaard never says what his truth is, and maybe that is just it. He may be saying search out for yourself that which inspires you, that which leads you to live life to the fullest potential, that for which you would live and die.
Mine is out there somewhere. Waiting for me to throw a rope around its neck, drag it down, and tie it off so I can take my fill and be happy.
Though gem: definition of solipsism: My mind is the only thing that I know exists...

Miracles

An old proverb says that the miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. Does it ring true? We were not given wings nor gills, we were given two legs to stand on and with which to walk this earth. Given my proclivities, it goes without saying that some of my fondest memories are the places where I have walked.
Not surprisingly, the places are not the big city, of which I have been to a few. Rather, it is those out-of-the-way places in the mountains that I can see perfectly in my mind's eye. The middle fork of the Kings River, south slope of the Lone Cone, the Little Fork of the Kern, Jenny Lakes Wilderness, Spanish Lakes and the Garlic Meadows, to name a few. Undoubtedly, a man could see so much more soaring on high, but that we would miss not using the legs God gave us has to greatly outweigh the view from above.
One resolution I have made this year is to get up to the High Lonesome more. To see, in some cases again, those places that very few in their lifetimes are fortunate enough to see. There is a place on the Kings River called Paradise Valley I walked through once and have wanted for years to return. (Check it out at: http://kevingong.com/Hiking/ParadiseValley.html) That is one goal I am setting for this summer.
I want those over whom I still have some influence to know the wild places, those places that man has not tried to "improve." I know that life does not go backward or tarry with yesterday, but in some way the lifestyle of yesterday is what is missing in life as we all know it. Perhaps the slow passage of time on the mount may show just what the good life is or is meant to be. But, this pursuit must be balanced with the knowledge that there is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday.
Thought gem: angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.

Improving my Standing

I am right at this moment sitting in the cabin in Arroyo Grande staring out at the ocean. The sun is out, and the weather is clear. The neighborhood is quiet. Through an open window a light breeze of warm ocean air rattles the window blinds every once in a while. With the exception of the wind chimes, there is no sound...
A holiday standing alone is not worth much. Short of the particular observation and/or the roots or reasons behind the day, it always feels at one time or other like just another day. For what are not so obvious reasons, the first day of the year has always been one that is spoken of with some reverence. I like to think that unlike Christmas or Easter, this holiday can be fashioned into whatever you want it to be celebration wise. Is it with foresight or hindsight that a person appreciates this day? Intransitively speaking, do you think about the shots you are going to make or the bullets you dodged on this holiday? I guess it would depend on what type of person you are, half-empty or half-full speaking.
Some of us draft resolutions intended to curb some conduct to come or improve their standing. Lose weight. Eat right. Go to church more. An optimist will choose resolution over reflection every day of the week and twice on Sunday. A pessimist, on the other hand, always seems to ponder those days that could not have possibly gone any more wrong. Do you, dear reader, find opportunity in every difficulty? Or are you cursed with never being disappointed.
My resolutions were drafted recently, but not put into play until today. Unfortunately, in my case, procrastination is the bane of optimism. Let us just say that I have grand designs. Furthermore, knowing that hypocrisy is the payment vice makes to virtue, I hope that everyone who reads this makes some change for the better in their life. I would love to see everyone improve their standing.
Thought gem: There is no such thing as bad publicity, except your own obituary. (Behan)