For the Love of Baseball & Life....

It's OPENING DAY! 
I found this poem & thought I'd share....

LIFE
by Jim Grant

Life is like a game of baseball,
You play it every day.
It isn't just the breaks you get,
But the kind of game you play.

So stop and look your whole team over,
And you'll find dedication there.
You're bound to be a winner,
With men who really care.

Your pitcher's name is courage,
You need him in the game.
For faith and trust your keystone men,
The grounders they will tame.

Your center fielder is very fast,
Though small and hard to see.
So watch him, son, when he gets,
The ball he's opportunity.

In left field there's ambition,
Never let him shirk.
For in right field there's a husky man,
I'm told his name is work.

At first base there's religion,
He's stood the test of time.
At third base there's brotherhood,
The stalwart of the nine.

Your catcher's name is humor,
He's important to the scheme.
For with honor warming in the bull pen,
The game is always clean.

With love on the bench,
You've perfection no less.
With a winning team,
And joy and happiness.

Your other team is strong, son,
Greed, hatred, envy and defeat.
Are for strong infielders,
You'll have to buck to make your game complete.

Deceitfulness and a man called waste,
Are always playing hard.
Selfishness and jealousy,
None can you disregard.

Carelessness and falsehood,
Are the big boys in the pen.
You'll have to swing hard, son,
When you come up to them.

There's one more man you'll have to watch,
He's always very near.
He's the pitcher on that team,
And I'm told his name is fear.

This game will not be easy,
There'll be trouble, there'll be strife.
To make the winning runs, my boy,
For this game is played on the field of life.

So stand behind your team, my boy,
There'll be many who'll applaud.
Just remember that you're the player,
And the umpire here is God. 

And Another Thing....

If you choose to take booty butt naked pictures of yourself, allow someone else to take booty butt naked pictures of you, or choose to go out in public without nannies & get out of a car spread eagle....please plan on the entire world seeing your booty butt. Please do not act completely devastated & mourn the loss of your privacy & innocence when your pictures of your vagina are running around the interweb thing & creeping through text messaging faster than you can say "WHOOPSIE". 

Technology is a bitch & she has no scruples.

Accountability.

Accountability

Today I posted a link on my Facebook wall to a CNN Entertainment article about R&B singer Chris Brown's recent appearance on Good Morning America. He was there to promote his new album, however Robin Roberts repeatedly brought up his violent past & a horrific assault on his former girlfriend, also a singer, Rihanna. After the interview Brown, allegedly, began ranting & yelling so loudly security was called. He also (allegedly) threw a chair at a window in his dressing room. The impact broke the window, which could be seen from outside the studio on Broadway.

This (alleged) act of ridiculous behavior, combined with several other sensationalized acts of misbehavior (Charlie "Tiger Blood" Sheen , Mel "What The Hell Happend to You" Gibson, Lindsay "Crackety Crack" Lohan, Britney "Buzzcut" Spears....) & recent life events have led me to really reflect on what it truly means to be accountable. 

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines accountability as "the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions accountability>". 

Simple enough; straight forward, right?: Be responsible for your behavior.


Here is how I choose to define accountability: An obligation, willingness, & responsibility to accept the consequences ---- positive & negative ---- of one's chosen behavior & its effect on the past, present, & future. To take ownership of one's self: the good, the bad, & the ugly.

Each & every behavior we engage in has a consequence. Britney Spears & Lindsay Lohan are now more known for their outrageous behavior rather than their accomplishments. There have been times in the last nearly 36 years that I reflect upon with great pride & a sense of accomplishment. There are also events in my life that make me want to crawl under a rock....I have chosen to behave in ways that were disrespectful, self righteous, & down right horrible. But I can't change the way I behaved & I can't expect others to forgive & forget my actions just because I apologized. To an old boyfriend I will always be the angry ex who left a nasty message on his machine, no matter how many apologies I've said or how many years have passed. And I hate that. I hate that anyone who heard that message 17 years ago will only have those ugly words to form their opinion of me. Because those words were not me, nor are they now. But I cannot take them back. I can explain away my behavior that day by telling you about terrible things going on in my life at the time, how he & his poor answering machine got the brunt of all my anger & hatred that should have been directed elsewhere. Surrounding circumstances do not mitigate or change the fact that I made a conscious choice to behave like an outright asshole. 

Perhaps the hardest things to erase from another's memory are the words we speak. Sometimes we are so quick to get our thoughts out on the table we fail to consider their effect on others. Consider Mel Gibson's recent potty mouth. The words he increasingly chooses to puke out are so disgusting, so hateful, so detrimental that it seems to me he will be remembered for his abusive words, rather than his film career. Has he done anything in recent memory to
even attempt to redeem himself? Has he acknowledged his deplorable behavior & made an honest effort to change? And what type of legacy is he creating for his children? If you happen to speak before you think, be prepared to continually answer for your words.


The "Rihanna incident", as the media calls it, happend nearly 3 years ago & Chris Brown is still called upon to answer for his actions that night. He later tweeted something to the effect of "why can't the past stay in the past". Well, sweetheart, it's not that simple. As much as we would like to take all bad stuff & sweep it under the rug, it just doesn't happen that way. The bad becomes just as much a part of us as the good. It shapes & molds us into the person we are & who we will become. 


So how do we move forward? How do we get beyond the bad, so we can focus on the good? It starts with accountability. Take ownership of everything you say & do; use your experiences to cultivate a better understanding of yourself. Answer for your misgivings, however don't let them define you.

Big Step....

Some of you may know from a recent Facebook status of mine that I am --- in a nutshell --- in lazy lardass mode when it comes to exercise. Many of you suggested various ways to de-lardass myself; one of you lunatics even invited me to do a triathalon. I would strongly consider robbing a large bank to get a body like yours, Amanda, before I would consider a triathalon. But it was a nice gesture....And if you've known me for any length of time you know I am about as athletic as a rock. I big, gigantic, been around since the 3rd day (I'm just assuming that's the day God chose to create rocks....I could be wrong) of time, ROCK. I have been hit with every type of sports ball one can fathom & I recently fell down in the kitchen when trying to perfect my dance moves. I tend to explain away my unathleticism on various health issues, poor time management, the demands & joys of parenting, blah, blah, blah. But the honest to God's 3rd day rocks truth is I am just plain lazy. I would far prefer to sleep or read a good book in my free time above all else. I also love to be creative & make lovely things, but that has also gone by the wayside as of late due to my overwhelming laziness. I am hoping the cure for some of my laziness is Spring. And this first Big Step....

One of the suggestions to help elevate my less than amazing status was signing up for a 5K. Several people suggested them, even crazy triathlete Amanda (who is truly inspiring in how she takes care of her body through exercise My brother suggested I sign up for something called the Diva Dash. Like I'm a diva or something....Despite all the wonderful suggestions I wrote them all off & thought I could devise a plan all on my own. Besides, I could NEVER do a 5K. Or a triathalon. Instead of taking action, though, I went right back to lazy. But one particular 5K race has stayed on my mind since that day. My dear friend of nearly 20 years, Angie, told me she is running the Angel Day Race & suggested I sign up too. I decided to look at the information for the race to see what cause Angie would be supporting. This is what I found. The Maguire Gilner Angel Day Run is to honor all the babies who have gone to Heaven before us; it also raises funds to help parents cover the expense of a headstone to honor their Angel babies. This particular event has struck a huge chord in my heart. Two amazing families I love dearly have experienced the loss of their beautiful baby boys, E was born sleeping 20 weeks early & L was here on Earth for 6 months before he flew away. I simply cannot fathom what it must be like to feel your child, to hold him close, then have him leave your physical world so suddenly. By now you may know my husband & I have also experienced the loss of a child through miscarriage. Eight to be exact. While I never got to hold my children, change their nannies, or hear them laugh, I can assure you the loss I feel is very real &, at times, overwhelming. 

No one wants to think about babies leaving this Earth before their parents or pregnancies that end so devastatingly. But it happens. 

Today I signed up for the Maguire Gilner Angel Day Run & Titus Tot Trot as my first 5K to honor our eight Angel babies as well as celebrate our two beautiful daughters here on Earth with us. I decided that if I couldn't start taking better care of myself for me, I WOULD start taking better care of myself for our children. I am grateful my small contribution will support other parents in honoring their children. I plan to make the Angel Day Run the beginning of a new lifestyle for me. And with every step I take, I know that I will have 20 little feet taking them with me.