Stepping through

::mood:: rested
::music:: the quiet ring of the pre-festivity hum that permeates the air of every great day before it gets started in full force

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


(yes, i know that is the cliche thing to do/say on the last Thursday of november. but, it is a significant holiday. in many ways. and deserves such respect of obligatory recognition.

(first of all, this deep rooted tradition does give me pause to think about what i truly do have to be grateful for. helps me to step away, more like, step through the haze of introspection, morbidity, and necessary logical thinking that has permeated my existence recently. yes, may i have found myself deeper in this hole of obligation, but all is not lost. this time of trial and suffering, too, will pass. and i will be a better man because if it, if i choose to respond correctly, which i believe i am.

(at work every morning, i personally handle an average of 700 packages, verifying destination addresses and loading them on the infamous brown UPS trucks according to code number, etc. the biggest struggle for me as i've been climbing the learning curve there is how to handle the sheer quantity of packages that comes down the conveyor belt at me! on mornings where the package count spikes to 1000 (as it will with more frequency as christmas approaches), i may have boxes of every shape, size, and weight backed up all across my slide, backed up on the conveyor belt, stacked up waiting to be loaded...an extremely daunting prospect at 6 am when you've already been running back and forth carrying heavy things for 3 hours!

(my training supervisor told me one great thing that gets me through those tough moments, which is why i went into this long explanation, so that you'd be able to understand this statement. he said, "just you remember: no matter how bad this looks, no matter how far it backs up, no matter how impossible it seems, at some point in the morning, the packages will stop coming! as long as you keep doing what you're supposed to be doing (i.e. loading them on the truck) they can back up the conveyor belt. and eventually they'll stop coming, and you'll actually have a chance to finish the job."

(maybe that doesn't make sense to you. but to me it does, and in more ways than just on the job. and i guess thanksgiving has a way of pulling that out of me. no matter how bad things seem right now. no matter what kind of crap life seems to be slinging at me. eventually, it's got to stop. and if i keep doing what i'm supposed to be doing (i.e. seeking Jesus and following his step by step direction to 'load the truck') then eventually, it will all turn around. maybe not till heaven. but even here on earth, there will be some vision of fulfillment. all i've got to do is keep pressing on, ever mindful of my ultimate goal: getting those packages on the truck (so to speak).

(as a great man once explained to me: (ok, it was my dad, but he's a great man, too!)

"[in reference to great people of high effectiveness] I think they've been through a lot of suffering and have responded correctly."

(so, yeah, in this thanksgiving season, i want to respond correctly. and i want to be a better man because of it. and that's where my hope lies. that's what i am grateful for. how about you?

(in other ways, i am grateful for family. they surprised us by coming to town for T-day unexpectedly. when we thought they wouldn't be able to. but they did! it's the first time we've been together since the wedding!!! pictures forthcoming...)