I have realized my life isn’t fair. God and the Universe cheat…….for me.
When I came to out of my stupor sponsored by trauma and the anesthesia known as alcohol, I realized that I could simply take a look at my past history and relationships, and learn a great deal about who I am and where I wanted to go at that time.
One thing I realized once honesty became something that I started to trade in daily with myself, was that all of my unhealthy relationships had a single common thread or common denominator: me.
I was the only common denominator amongst all of my unhealthy relationships.
This is the accountability side of gratitude.
When you accept that, you are the co-creator of your life, and that you have had a part in all of the things that you have and will experience, the concept of victimhood as it pertains to your own life, vanishes. That is an incredibly empowering feeling, and one that I will hold onto until my last dying breath.
So I know that the only common denominator really between my two Lyft drivers last night and the conversations we had was probably my energy of being open and eager to connect as well as my present moment awareness, which has become a constant in my life over the last few years.
I do all I can in every moment to stay utterly present, and I have relatively immediate reactions in those moments when I drift into future or past thoughts, and I’ve been doing a pretty solid job of coming back to the generous present moment of now.
I drove quite a bit yesterday, about seven hours total so I was not really feeling driving into town to go say hi to a friend even though it was only about a 20 minute drive I had had enough of being behind the steering wheel. I was going to stay put in my Airbnb RV, or take a Lyft, and I chose the latter.
When I got in the car, my first lift the driver at first did not seem social until I put my seatbelt on and looked up again and realized that English was probably not his first language. I asked if he spoke Spanish he replied with the smile “Si!”, and it was on like donkey Kong.
The young man and made it to the United States four years ago from Cuba and he had left behind his 10-year-old and now seven-year-old girls, his father and of course, his wife all in Havana.
He explained to me the choice of sacrificing his emotional and spiritual comfort in order to provide not just for his kids and wife, but also for his father.
He said the situation is so difficult in Cuba over the last four years that he’s watched his father lose 10 pounds a year for the last four years simply from malnutrition.
He held up his pinky to show me what his dad looks like today.
The reality is this is that his dad passes up food to make sure that the kids are super fat and happy and that’s his way of contributing to the situation and on some level he’s proud of his as he is sacrificing on his side as well his son sees that even though it literally breaks his heart.
This man could talk about how grateful he is to God and to his family for supporting him, and the fact that he knows that unlike the overwhelming majority of young children in Cuba, his kids are well fed and are gaining weight and he is also sending education materials and other things to help them grow spiritually and intellectually that he can procure here in the United States.
On the way back, I had a really amazing and serendipitous conversation with my driver who is about eight years younger than me, and as it turns out is practicing gratitude and started meditation this year. He is also doing some cool pre-sleep stuff that is ultra relaxing by experimenting with audio and with healing frequencies. There was something hanging from his rearview mirror so I asked about him it about it. It was a mandala hanging, and because of my present moment awareness I am constantly reminded to to stay connected to my breath and to notice all of the things energies, sites and sounds around me so that I can actively connect and demonstrate loving unity in all of my interactions.
We got to talking a bit he asked me directly:
Did you have a single moment where you learn the power of gratitude?
He apparently had a revelatory moment and he was curious if I had one.
So I took him back to July 30, 1984, and the moment when Rusty Fuller my coach from Slauson junior high told me “Get in The Van! We’re getting pizza!”
Rusty explained that all of my friends were going to be down there and that I had eaten in a few days and there was a very high likelihood that the girl I had a crush on was going to be there as well.
He literally threw everything in the kitchen sink at me to tell me to get in that van and make sure that I did and I did, but before that a tsunami of appreciation, love and gratitude rolled over me, and it was in the universe, introducing me to the superpower of gratitude.
It was the conception at least of the GratiDude.
The driver, Robert, turn the rearview mirror and look me in the eye and said “I went to Slauson junior high for one year and Rusty coach me in basketball. He was the nicest coach I ever had”.
Apparently, my Lyft Driver’s Dad was an Academic Nomad, acquiring degrees and expertise and hoping to never have to scale the ivy walls to have to engage in social warfare in a value based economy.
Their Family was in Ann Arbor, Michigan for 18 months.
He did 3 Semesters at Slauson.
And he played for Rusty.
More on The Legend, Rusty Fuller, here:
https://news.a2schools.org/rusty-fuller-coach-longtime-educator/
Can you F’ing believe it?
Here I am on Tybee Island, Georgia, and these are my two Lyft drivers sent from God to encourage me to continue on my path and share all this with you?
I feel like a real life version of Jake and Elwood from the blues Brothers because it is quite clear that I am on a mission from God however, I don’t need sunglasses just at night…..I need them 24 hours a day because my future is so damn bright.
Everything is available to you in the present moment of now.
This is where all the great golf shots are.
This is where lovemaking happens.
This is where dreams are shared, and babies are born.
All of this happens…..NOW!
What are you waiting for?
Anyone ready to open up a can of GOYA, and that stands for get off your ass, and start living a life that has you excited and joyful, it doesn’t just happen. It takes engagement commitment, daily practice just like growing a garden or anything else great that you do.
And you need an advisor.
A mentor.
A coach like Rusty.
We have that group now and we’re here for you.
Enjoy the weekend with positive positive universal salutations, and Attitude of Gratitude!
EVERY DAY:
Love
and
Gratitude
https://www.instagram.com/GratiDude_abides
KevinACarpenter@gmail.com/941.894.8030 Text me your celly-cell so I can build my database please…..
Thank you sincerely.
The G.I.F.T. Today
Grateful: for knowing that I can’t miss when I trust process, breath, and love. Ever.
Intention-stay chill even when you “smell the oats in the barn”
First-flow class here locally before wheels up
Things-holler at LittleMan
CONFIRM YOUR SPOT TODAY PLEASE PEEPS AND PLAYERS, GET BETTER…..NOW!
DOUBLE DONATION MODEL; ONE NOW, THE OTHER WEEK 6 BASED UPON RESULTS
Every day, every way, grateful.
KC
I am here to help, add somebody that needs a “check up from the neck up”
KevinACarpenter@gmail.com
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