Tag: promises

Quail and the Brittlebush

It’s April in Arizona.  The Sonoran Desert is in full bloom, her Spring borne, verdant hue cloaking the brutal reality she holds inside.  The ginger petals of the desert globemallow invite one in with promises of an elusive respite, only to reveal its arid certainty.  The brittlebush with her bright yellow blaze deceives a seasonal observer, knowing she will disburden her vibrancy once the brutal Summer makes itself known.  The temporary explosion of verdure is undeniably elusive, yet a finer beauty is intractable to chance upon.

All around, the world proves more uncertain, each day.  In a season of beauty, rebirth and consorting, we find ourselves isolated by the cold reality of a global blight.  A species rooted in social interaction finds itself in confinement, a cruel division from an otherwise communal world.  I wonder what nature knows of our trials.  Does the wise owl notice the mighty human, the apex predator, burrowed in their stucco-covered nests, sequestered for the safety of themselves and their brethren?

Nearby in the flourishing wilds, birds once seen companionless now are seen coming and going two by two.  The curved bill thrasher, once in isolation himself, with his territorial cry of “whit-wheep”, is now heard singing his melodic warble, accompanied by his new mate.  The Towhee now forages the desert floor in advance of his new bride, clawing at the ground to expose its next morsel of nourishment, while she cautiously monitors for a signal of safety, so she can join the hunt for the next unsuspecting earthbound insect.

The quail, who roamed just weeks ago together as a covey, have now paired off, one boy and one girl.  The odd man out now aimlessly wanders the creosote lined dry wash, desperately crowing in hopes of attracting a newly single hen.  If his quest brings him in the proximity of a newly paired couple, the young lady will assertively remind him that she is indeed accounted for, while her companion confidently watches the theatrics.  

Do the quail, towhees and thrashers notice us?  More accurately, do they notice the absence of our presence?  Will they notice the absence of the man-made din once present in the Springs of bygone days?  What will they notice after another journey around the Sun?

There are so many uncertainties that lie ahead.  So many questions that are not just unanswerable about the thoughts of the desert flora and fauna, but answers that are unknown to the wisest of human beings.  What I do know is that beauty and wonder are still all around us, waiting to be observed.  In the midst of the worry, there are promises of resilience to be seen all around.  Just as there is certainty provided to us by the brittlebush and the quail, so too can we be confident that we will again gather together as friends, thriving with a renewed sense of connectedness and social responsibility. When the news around us casts its pall, look for the beauty underneath.  Look for the smaller and better things for the assurance that this too shall pass.

 

473,040,000 Seconds

473,040,000 seconds. I didn’t know fully what to expect that Summer day when you smiled at me. How could either of us appreciate the journey we were about to embark upon? Our plan was to simply have some fun in life, something we both needed as surely as we needed air to breathe. No, I didn’t know what to expect or what I was getting myself into. It scared me as much as it thrilled me.

Since that moment, I have watched us grow into full-fledged adults. We have laughed and we have done the hard things, neither of us naive enough to believe there aren’t more hard things to endure. The seconds that will follow still scare me as much as they thrill me.

378,432,000 of those seconds have been shared with you, in the grandest experiment to be imagined…parenthood. Part science project and part creation of art, the laughs have outnumbered the tears to this point. Somehow, we have managed to not screw the whole thing up, all the while growing closer to each other.

Neither of us were looking for these sublime seconds that we’ve shared since that Monday in June. Somewhere along the way, quietly and earnestly we decided to keep pulling in the same direction. And pull we have. A strange paradox has been created, where I can remember every one of those 473,040,000 seconds since you smiled at me, though it is difficult for me to imagine a second before, without you.

However we measure our time together, I’m thankful I get to measure it with you.

Because I Said I Would – Aligning Our Words With Our Actions

As humans, we say great things.  We use great words that outline what we believe in and what we’ll do.  For instance, I believe the Designated Hitter has no place in baseball!  Certainly great words.  I say I believe in justice, equity and love.  Great things.  I’ve made promises to people.  Many I’ve kept, some I regrettably haven’t.  I tell my wife and daughter that I love them; an action more than it is feelings.  And yet, I’m not perfect on that front either.

Case in point: To love (as an action) my family, I must live.  To love my daughter, I must lead.  And yet, I sometimes come up short.  Recently, I’ve decided that I need to re-introduce exercise back into my daily routines.  I’m now 46.  I can’t eat like I used to anymore.  I can’t take youth for granted, because it no longer belongs to me.  I’ve put on considerable weight since my mid-thirties.  I have high blood pressure that is treated with pharmaceuticals.  I’m reminded often of my own mortality, something I didn’t think much about when I was younger.  Bottom line, I know that if I want to be around for my family, I have to take better care of myself.  I’ve told Shani and “S” this through the years, and I’ve taken some strides in that direction, but I haven’t followed through on some of those promises.

In my recent post What Makes A Man A Man?, I explored some basic criteria to address that question.  One of the principles discussed had to do with aligning our words with our actions.  To break it down to a single word…integrity.  Do we adhere to what we say we are?  This is one concept where I am reminded regularly that I have room for growth.

This is not a unique challenge.  I know many men, and women for that matter, that struggle with this challenge.  In fact, I know of no person whose words are always aligned with their actions.  Should we resign ourselves to the reality that perfection doesn’t exist?  Are there resources that can help us reach a truer alignment of our words with our actions?

A few years ago, Shani introduced me to a social movement that addresses this very topic.  She read about it while flying back home from a business trip and it resonated with her enough to immediately share it with me.  She soon incorporated it into the culture of the team she managed and encouraged me to learn more about it as well.  The movement is called because I said I would. The premise is that we are only as good as the promises we keep.  Brilliant, basic and undeniably true.  For Shani and I, it has been an indispensable resource in our personal growth.  We both encourage you to check it out.

So I continue to work on fulfilling the promises I’ve made.  Continue working on aligning my words with my actions.  Today our family is out enjoying a new active hobby we’re trying to incorporate into our own culture: kayaking.  I am going to continue pushing to build new healthy habits that align with my promises I’ve made to my family.  How successful I am is yet to be determined.  I’m certain there will be times that I struggle to fulfill these commitments.  But I know that I will never stop working on being the man I say I am.

Have you found yourself in situations where your words haven’t aligned with your actions?  How have you handled this?  Please feel free to share your own ideas and stories.  Make sure that that you hit follow to ensure you never miss a blog post.  Like us on Facebook as well!