Real life, in real time, copied word for word, just as Skip wrote it yesterday in the comments. These are exactly the reasons why we should seize the day. Here’s Skip:
Because you may not get the chance tomorrow.
Between Christmas and New Year of last year a good friend of mine (49 years old) experienced an Aortic Di-section (rare…aorta just splits open). Lucky for him people with him noticed immediately and got him medical attention which ultimately saved his life. My friend turned 50 in January and has a new outlook on life (he refocused) and his family.
His family also realizes that time is short and they need to pay attention to what really matters.
Two weeks ago on a Monday my friend’s wife found out she had a rare virus that attacks the heart. She passed away 3 days later.
They thought they had had their scare and were refocusing for the rest of thier lives only to have a second tragic reminder.
At Disney (and as human beings), we know the best has three simple components:
A meaningful compliment is sincere, specific, and timely. That’s it. Here’s a marine Veteran’s take on it…
Take it away Skip:
A little means a lot.
A lot means little.
Jungle Jeff recently thanked me for my service and said he hoped I didn’t get tired of hearing it.
I retired from the Marine Corps a little over five years ago and I still have people thanking me for my service. You know it’s funny, when we hear it from individuals in a one on one setting or in a small group it makes us feel good to know someone truly appreciates what we did and what our servicemen & servicewomen continue to do on a daily basis.
When it’s done as a production for an audience we don’t care for it nearly as much because it feels canned, staged, disingenuous, or commercialized.
The American people in general feel bad for how our servicemen & servicewomen were treated when they returned from Viet Nam and we have, in my opinion, gone way overboard in an effort to make up for the past and to ensure we don’t make the same mistake again. I know we mean well but…
Most people in this country really don’t/can’t grasp the reality of our country being at war today. We hear about it in the media every day but we as a country are not “really” at war. Why do I say this?
Because with the exception of the families of the fallen and the families of the deployed, we aren’t being asked to do without commodities like soap, sugar, butter, etc., as families were during WWII. We aren’t in blackout conditions at night for public safety. We aren’t working around the clock to produce tanks, ships, or airplanes to meet the needs of the Services. We come and go as we please, we go to work, we go to school, we go to parties, dances, sporting events, etc. We have our freedom.
Why?
Because our leaders knew there was going to be a fight one way or another. Our enemy hates us and our way of life. Our very lifestyle is a threat to their beliefs and they are on a campaign to destroy it. So, our leaders decided that it would be better to fight in the enemy’s front yard rather than our own. This decision means that we don’t have to deal with air strikes, suicide bombers, IED’s, or close quarter battle in our streets, our alleys, our yards, and in our homes.
This is a good thing right?
Absolutely yes…with one minor drawback.
It’s a double edge sword…because we took the war to the enemy’s front yard we don’t/can’t feel the threat (which I’m here to tell you is real) here at home and it makes it difficult for us to comprehend the seriousness of the threat. We feel safe. We are Free.
If you take nothing else away from this blog please consider this…don’t ever take your freedom for granted…someone paid the bill on our behalf.
Quote: “Freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” – Anonymous (found written on a C-Ration Crate, Khe-Sanh, Republic of Viet Nam)
Ok, back to my words…Skip reminds us in a way we’ve rarely been reminded. Out of sight, out of mind. Right? To the hundreds of thousands of US Service women and men who’ve died to protect our Freedom, we owe a debt of gratitude we can never repay.
