Monday, July 07, 2003

Monday Mission PromoGuy's Monday Mission 3.27 1. A theme you may notice in the MM more often than others is "the road not taken." It fascinates me to no end the way one single decision can change the course of one's life. To think, if I hadn't gone there that day I'd never met her, or if I had only waited for the phone call, or I am so glad I didn't get on that plane that day. Can you think of one single decision you made that changed the course of your life. A decision where if you had done something else, everything would be different now? I should never have married my first wife. I knew going into it that it was a big mistake but I went through with it anyway. Not only did I waste a large part of the prime of my life but I also had to go through all kinds of crap, emotional, spiritual and financial, that I could've avoided. 2. Or maybe you think "the fates" have it all planned out for us. Do you think every life has a pre-determined course, that we will wind up at point X regardless of the decisions we make? No, I believe that we all have free will. Whether we use it for good or for bad it's our choice. God didn't create us to be little robots following a pre-programmed course, even though I believe it's His desire to see us all achieve salvation. 3. This train of thought leads, of course, to relationships. I personally do not believe in "soul mates," but many do. I can't deny that some people are just right for each other. However, there are plenty of other relationships that crash and burn because it is not a good fit. Do you think that it is that left up to us and random chance to decide who we are with? Are we are guided to the person we were meant to be with or could you be with the wrong person while "the one" is still somewhere out there? I believe that we are "guided" in all the choices that we make. It's up to us to either accept or reject that guidance. In the past I was definitely with the wrong person, but now I'm with "the one" I should've been with all along. 4. At the 4th of July parade, I saw this fella with a HUGE beer belly. That right there is enough to make me swear off beer! I am not a beer drinker. I've never liked the flavor. As a college kid I drank my share, but I had to learn to tolerate the flavor, and only could if the beer was icy cold. It was never refreshing, it was always a means to an end. It used to be fun, or what I thought was fun then. Things have changed a lot, and as I've aged my tolerance has lowered and it doesn't take much to make me drunk, so I just avoid it. Do you like to drink and get drunk? When was the last time you were drunk or hung over? What was the occasion? How did it feel at the time? How did it feel the next day? I used to get drunk when I was in college, usually at our frat's parties. It was a way of getting through a social situation and my ineptitude with women. Now I don't get drunk. I don't like the feeling of being out of control and I definitely don't like the feeling the next day. 5. On the same topic, have you ever done anything you regret while "under the influence?" What happened? Do you remember it or did you have to be told? There were times when I drove a car. I never had an accident. I was just lucky I guess. I regret doing that and I would never do that again. 6. I am guessing many out there won't have answers to the above two questions. I wish I could say the same, but I thought it was "cool" to drink and do all those things because all of my so-called "friends" were doing them too. Were you/are you able to resist peer pressure in school/college? How? If not, what did you do that you wish you hadn't? I never really felt any peer pressure since I always felt like I was an "outsider," even in situations where I was supposedly an "insider." 7. What things are better left unsaid? I don't know. Sometimes it's the words that we don't say that scare me so. BONUS: Isn't this world a crazy place? Always has been and I suppose it always will be. At least until the next world comes. Today's Comment Question: What can make you smile on a grumpy day? My wife. File under Monday Mission. 7:46:44 PM