Hunting In Los Angeles

Keep your voice down and stay alert. 

We're on a hunt. 

Where are we you ask? We're in a very busy parking structure in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles and we're hunting for a parking spot. This prey is elusive and cunning so keep your wits about you. 

Did you hear that? I think it made itself available nearby. Let's turn the corner and surprise it on 3. 

1-2-3!!! 

Too late...its gone. 

Welcome to my frustration earlier. This went on for a several minutes and I finally decided that I would find better game afoot at the parking structure just a few blocks away. I began to make my way out towards the exit when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw it! The quick flashing of taillights, the sudden chirp of an alarm being disabled, and then, the mighty roar of an engine waking up and getting ready to vacate its current spot. I felt so alive; the way a lion must feel after it’s been carefully studying the unsuspecting zebra by the water hole (I don't want to hear it. I know zebras don't roar when they wake up, but I'm telling the story). My  pulse began to race, my breathing became heavy, my vision was focused, and my foot became heavy on the accelerator! I was moving in for the kill…I was going to have that parking spot! But as fate would have it, as soon as the spot opened up another vehicle came along right off the street, into the parking garage, and straight to my spot. 

It shouldn't have bothered me because it's not like they saw me with my blinker on. I wasn't waiting right behind it, in fact, I'd have to make a pretty interesting and possibly illegal U-turn to make it in.  But I did get a bit upset. The reason was that this person didn’t spend a single minute looking for a spot! She just drove right on in and to her good fortune immediately found a space. And of course,  she wasn't driving just any ordinary vehicle, it was the “Ultimate Driving Machine”! A brand new 2008 BMW 6 series. And if this wasn’t enough, the owner was incredibly good looking. As soon as she stepped out of the car spotlights rolled onto the scene to illuminate her and fans blew her hair around like an Herbal Essence commercial. It was ridiculous!!! I found myself thinking all sorts of crazy thoughts about how unfair the whole situation was. I was the one that spent all that time in the parking lot looking for a spot. I thought to myself, "I bet her rich dad bought her that car...I had to earn my 1998 Toyota Corolla with the windows you have to manually roll down, am/fm radio and cassette player (that's right...it doesn't even play cds), and cracked paint job." So I drove off with my pride in the passenger seat.

I know the whole situation seems funny, but it might echo with your story from time to time. Have you ever caught yourself thinking how unfair it is that someone else got the promotion or the credit you worked so hard for? Maybe you can't wrap your mind around that fact that you're (insert age here) and you're not where you thought you'd be at this age, yet someone younger has it all together? What about this one, you try so hard to do the right thing, but why do the people that do the wrong thing get ahead? Comparison, after comparison, after comparison.

I understand that some of these questions are legitimate. I know that it's more than just frustration. These situations can sometimes carry with them deep feelings of hurt, the sting of rejection, or the disparity of feeling worthless. And it's not just that one time, is it? You've felt it before. You see, we carry the past hurts, and we tack them on to the new ones without ever really addressing the root cause of the pain. But we sure do a good job of addressing other people and what they do or don't deserve. Still, what about those situations where it really is unfair? What then? It's been my observation that there is much more in play than what's going on in my limited view of the world. And some of the things that I've really wanted, in hindsight, would've ended me. So I choose to trust. I choose to trust that God knows what he's doing. That He is in control and come what may, I know He's a good father that really has good things for me...and for you. I know it may sound really cliche and maybe you're reading this and it just seems like one big cop out. But how fulfilled do you feel after the endless comparisons? Do you compare and at the end of it think, "You know, I feel better about the whole situation now...I'm gonna be alright." I didn't think so.

Life isn't always fair. Parking spots get stolen and things don't always turn out the way we plan. But there is a payoff in doing the right thing and in choosing to trust. Because there is so much more going on than we can see. And the one that can see it is on your side.

Pins and Needles

Do you remember when you were a kid and you had run out of normal games to play like hide-and-seek, tag, or truth or dare and you'd just start making games up? 

I remember playing "chest" with my friend Darrell and we would just take turns punching each other on the chest as hard as we could until one of us gave up. Well, to be honest, Darrell was the school bully and I just agreed to play this game with him because I figured that if I didn't he'd beat me up anyway. At least this way I could hit him back and not fear for my life. My dad told me about a game he played growing up. He lived in a ranch when he was younger and from time to time the kids from the surrounding farms would get together and they'd throw rocks at each other! Oh, don't look so surprised. I'm sure there's a beautiful young lady out there that used to eat bugs with her friends just to pass the time on some hot summer day.

A neighbor of mine had this obsession with having a few of us sit on our hands until they would fall asleep just so we could feel the tingly sensation when they start to "wake up" again. You know the feeling because you've felt it too, wether it was from your arm falling asleep because you were to nice to tell that person leaning on it that their head was way too fat and heavy, or from sitting on your leg in class. It feels like a thousand tiny little pins and needles are just prodding and poking at the palm of your hand (or leg) when the blood starts rushing back in it. Like I said earlier, it's that feeling that your senses are "waking up."

Many of us have been asleep for so long. We've grown up believing so much about the world, people, religion, and everything else simply because it's what we've been told. But are we thinking long and hard about these ideologies that we've cemented in our heads as the absolute truth? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to claim that everything you've ever known as a lie and if you take the red pill you'll wake up in the real world. I'm simply inviting you on a conversation that provokes thought. I'm inviting you to keep reading, to agree or disagree, to question and probe. I'm inviting you to wake up and ask yourself if you're really thinking.

And if it feels as uncomfortable as pins and needles poking and prodding at the palm of your hand, pay attention to that...because it's probably a sign that you're waking up.