No Man Is An Island

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the only one who'll decide where you'll go. (Dr. Seuss)

Tomorrow is a new year. It signifies a fresh beginning, a clean slate and moment in time to choice to make different decisions than we have. Yes, we should be able to do all of those things any time during the year. Maybe that is why New Year’s resolutions are important. We could start on a different day on our own or it just may make more sense for us to take a collective breath, reevaluate and move forward together.

 

The smile:

Mickey has been on the police force for a long time. When he says he has seen it all, I tend to believe him. One particular night he is cruising through a heavy pedestrian traffic area downtown, when he notices the car in front of him has a tail light that isn’t working. Mickey hits the blue lights and the offender pulls to the side of the street.

Mickey gets out of his patrol car and walks to the open window of the driver’s side. After getting the man’s license and insurance information, Mickey notices the man has a can of gasoline, a box of matches and several torches in the passenger side of the vehicle. “What’s all of that about?” ask Mickey.

“Well” answers the driver “my New Year’s resolution last year was to learn to juggle. I had class today and those are my tools.”

Mickey looks suspiciously at the guy. The man quickly suggests, “Let me show you. I swear I’m a juggler”. He promptly gets out of the car, lights the torches and begins to juggle right there on the sidewalk as people walk past.

Mickey gives the guy room, crosses his arms and watches. Soon a crowd begins to form and the juggler really gets into his performance tossing torches in the air, spinning and catching them. As he finishes Mickey decides to give the guy a break and tells him “OK, we’re good. Just head on home and I won’t give you a ticket this time.”

As Mickey turns back to the patrol car he hears one of the people in the crowd remark “Jeez, these field sobriety tests are getting tougher all the time.”

 

The ponder:

I do think New Year’s resolutions are a good thing. They give us a chance to focus or refocus on what is important in our lives. Most of the time my resolutions are how I can improve myself.  This year for 2015 let’s think about how we can improve the life of another. It can be little or it can be big. Take time to consider if you were the one in need and someone reached out to help you. “No man is an island. Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” John Donne in “For Whom The Bell Tolls”  

The physical challenge:

Today I did 100 Olympic style sit-ups, 100 pushups, 100 squats, 100 shanai practice strikes and 50 front kicks each leg.

I am preparing to begin the Ultimate Black Belt Challenge. While I don’t expect everyone to do exactly what I am doing, I would like to encourage you to get in better shape. Most people can do it without special equipment or space. Get on the floor and knock out A push-up. Everyone starts somewhere.