Flying golf clubs, Pokemon and rumble strips.

Loving and letting can lead to a more peaceful life. But, there will be days when it just doesn’t happen. You will still occasionally get up on the wrong side of the bed.  You will still get short with other people. You will judge others and say things you regret. All of this is okay.

The key is to recognize that you are off your base. As long as you realize that you are not thinking, saying and doing things that are aligned with Love and Let, then your ridiculous behavior will be short lived. In other words, it’s okay to be human.

A few weeks ago, I spent an entire weekend being crabby. On multiple occasions I said things that I regretted; things that made others feel like crap or talked badly about others behind their back. I also threw a golf club for the first time in ten or twenty years. (yes, I am embarrassed by this) Holy cow, that is NOT ME!

From the time I woke up on Saturday morning, nothing went the way it was supposed to. I had back pain, problems with my email, misbehaving children, a spouse that couldn’t read my mind, on and on. I had the same problems that every other American, middle class, suburban dad may have on any given day. All of my issues were truly first-world ridiculous nuisances.  The only difference is that I reacted to them un-lovingly and without the ability to release their hold upon me.

On Sunday night my wife took my 8 year old son to Target so he could buy some Pokemon cards with the money that he had been saving up for that purpose. When they got back home, my son was full of sadness with an outer layer of rage. He didn’t get the cards he wanted and was deceived by the advertising on the box from which he selected the cards. He wanted to rip the cards apart. His anger turned to tears. He couldn’t understand how the world could be so cruel. It was like looking in the mirror. Watching my son act ridiculously helped snap me back to my usual self. It was the same behavior. The only difference is that he is 8 and I am 42.

The point is that we will fail to be perfect. It’s a fact of life.

My friend, Mark Hollander, once told me about something his mother used to say to him. She would say that life is like a highway and the dotted line in the middle is like your

center; your true self; your God; your ideal way of life. But, from time to time we drift off center. If you drift far enough, you hit the rumble strips of life and they remind you to get back to center.

A big part of choosing love is forgiving yourself and learning from your periodic drifts away from your center line.

Have a beautiful day!