G-Poppers … March 27, 2015

Jonathots Daily Blog

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G-Pop was always pretty sure when his granddaughter had something to say or ask, but found that it was lodged in the back of her throat, nearly choking her.

There were tell-tale signs.

For instance, she would come into the room, sit down and fidget for a while, and leave–only to return several times, repeating the process.

So finally, on the fourth such visit, G-Pop decided to address the situation.

G-Pop: Something on your mind?

Granddaughter: No. Why do you ask?

G-Pop: Well, I ask because you’ve been in here four times in the past ten minutes for no particular reason, saying nothing–but kicking your feet against the coffee table.

Granddaughter: Are you mad because I’m kicking the coffee table?

G-Pop: (laughing) No. I just wonder what you have on your mind that you want to share.

Granddaughter: Not share. Ask.

G-Pop: Ask away.

(Granddaughter paused again. Apparently there was a big glob of something that was having a whole lot of trouble getting to the surface. G-Pop sat patiently, waiting for her.)

Granddaughter: (at length) You know I love you, G-Pop.

(G-Pop interrupted with a laugh.)

Granddaughter: What are you laughing at?

G-Pop: You always know you’re in trouble when somebody begins a conversation with “you know I love you…”

Granddaughter: You’re not in trouble. I just love you.

G-Pop: Thank you.

Granddaughter: What I’m trying to say is, I don’t understand why you aren’t rich and famous.

G-Pop: Which would you prefer? Rich or famous?

Granddaughter: Aren’t they the same?

G-Pop: Oh, no. One is fame and one is money. You can get money without being famous, and you certainly can be famous without getting any money.

Granddaughter: Really?

G-Pop: So which one? Do you think I should be rich? Or be famous?

Granddaughter: I want you to be both!

G-Pop: So let’s say I was. How would that help you?

(Granddaughter sat, thinking. So G-Pop offered an idea.)

G-Pop: If I had money, maybe I could buy you more things. And if I was famous, your friends might think you were really cool because your G-Pop was well-known.

Granddaughter: I suppose. Gee, that makes me sound really dumb.

G-Pop: No, it makes you sound human. It’s just that human sometimes sounds dumb.

Granddaughter: Why aren’t you on television? Or in the movies? Or on the news?

G-Pop: You ever go on a long trip?

Granddaughter: Sure.

G-Pop: Well, you’re young enough that you probably don’t understand that to drive the first mile of a long trip means you have to get your car ready, pack your bags, check the fluids on your engine, get some money, plan the trip, pick up some snacks…

Granddaughter: That’s a lot of stuff!

G-Pop: It is. And even though you might be heading for somewhere far away, your destination doesn’t make any difference, because what’s important right now is how well you plan and how much you enjoy it.

Granddaughter: What’s this got to do with being rich and famous?

G-Pop: Rich and famous is a dot on the map–maybe far away. Some people sit around wondering how they could take a rocket ship there, or be dropped in by helicopter. But since those possibilities are very limited, they usually end up going nowhere. But if you take the keys you’ve got and use the vehicle you own, and drive as far as you can, enjoying every mile of the way, you might just someday get to that dot. But if you don’t, you can sure help a lot of people on the highway enjoy a lot of scenery, and find a way to make everywhere you travel resemble that dot.

Granddaughter: I don’t quite understand.

G-Pop: I wouldn’t expect you to. But just remember this–it’s never about the destination. It’s about the journey. And as long as you’re having fun with what you’re doing, helping out folks along the way, and learning the precious value of planning, you will always be happy–which is actually the best impersonation of rich and famous.

 

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G-12: Wanting or Willing … February 21, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog

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Being human, I have an ongoing sensation that the world will not be completely set aright until those around me become more concerned and involved with my immediate happiness.

The difficulty with that thought process is that when eight billion individuals are campaigning for their own cause, you create collisions instead of promoting cohesion.

Matter of fact, if you’re in a room with ten people and there isn’t at least one person who abandons his own selfish intention to bring about a treaty of peaceful coexistence, the silent warring that goes on among the members will stall all progress and promote an atmosphere drenched in stress.

I don’t think anybody would disagree with that. Yet the reason nothing is done to improve this standoff is that we are convinced that it’s natural to be unnaturally contrary.

Actually, we don’t actually see the results of evolution in our lifetime because it is several generations before one single transformation emerges. Blinded by our own ambition and completely unaware of the need for change, we stubbornly pursue the status quo, selfishly.

But if you’re of a mind to consider something revolutionary, you might want to contemplate the difference between wanting and willing.

If you’re a person who is absorbed in the quest of wanting, you always end up with the same three questions:

1. Why did this happen?
2. Why isn’t it better?
3. What am I going to do?

On the rare occasion that plans work out to spec, you will find yourself happy. And the ninety-five percent of the time when your calculations are altered, you will revert back to this trio of nonsense.

The transformation to becoming willing is not adding a divine aspect to our nature. Rather, it is allowing our nature to accept the fact that divine conclusions will come if we just allow time and chance to work in our favor.

Here are three other questions sprouted by a willing heart:

1. Do I understand what has really happened?
2. What do I have?
3. Where is the starting line?

It is an advanced form of common sense that slows life down so that the subtle changes become more visible instead of whisking by quickly, oblivious to new possibilities.

Wouldn’t it be fascinating if the great evaluation of human life in the eternity of eternities ends up being a single question: were we just wanting or were we willing?

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