Growing Up in Flip Flops

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I was awaken by a nightmare this past week, which centered on my greatest childhood fear.  Or maybe it was listening to this song too many times.

Last night I had a dream
You were in it I was in it with you
Everyone that I knew
And everyone that you know was in my dream.

My mother had a non-verbal solution to notify my sister and I when she was ready to leave whatever store we had been in with her. And that signal was for us to come running to her.  No excuses.  And the most amazing point is that I still respond to my mother's signal.

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Editor’s note:   In light of recent events I have changed the title of this episode. 

I recount a couple events in which I did not participate nor was involved.  I heard the aftermath directly from the individual involved, who was my buddy.  But for my mother demanding I stay home for some reason, I would have been involved in one of the events.  

That said, my friend has gone onto great personal success both professionally and personally.  So I guess one can escape from bouts of teenage stupidity. And it could have easily been me.

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In my first job out of university, I was placed in a management track and had the opportunity to travel with an experienced interviewer as part of my training.  I learned a lot from him, but two questions I asked of him and his responses have stayed with me all these years.  They provide a real insight, I believe, into our behavior.

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An incident I witnessed completely changed how I viewed adults and interactions with them.   They weren't different from me and the emotions I felt as a teenager, as I discovered.  Mostly they kept their emotions hidden, but on this day, the adults' emotions were on full display.

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In this episode, I encourage you to make a list of tangible things or experiences which give you true joy.  I'm not talking about happiness, but true joy. And for the 100th time you experience them, just as it was the first time.

Have a listen, you might amaze yourself and give yourself something to remind you to smile.

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This episode is a departure from my usual format and subject matter.  Instead, I ask you, the listener. to answer a simple question for which there are no incorrect answers within the bounds of the question.  Have a listen to learn the question, then take some time to answer the question, and you might be surprised at your answer.

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Witnessing a single event during a high school class had a profound and life-changing effect on me.  It has always amazed me how one can go through the years absolutely convinced the position or viewpoint they hold is entirely correct and right, and then in a single moment have all previous foundations of that belief wiped away.  That happens, because I know, as it happened to me.

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In this episode, I recount my role as an acolyte in Methodist church services as an example of how services have changed in my lifetime.  And I consider what my mother's reaction would be to the current state of services and what she likely saw as the beginning of the downward spiral in formality.

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A couple high school summers were luckily spent working in a refrigerated warehouse keeping me out and away from the hot Florida sun.  I learned a couple things in that job involving both that one's perspective changes how a situation is viewed and how life choices made early can either open or close opportunities for you.  And I knew which path I was going to endeavor towards.

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Remembering my time in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts is bittersweet.  There were great opportunities which were presented to me and that I was able to enjoy.  At the same time, I became bored with what I saw as irrelevant activities which the leaders had us performing.  And this led to one of my great regrets in life, not completing the requirements for Eagle Scout.