The Day That Time Stood Still

Right now the time is 1:55am(according to my cell phone). We are getting hit by a massive thunderstorm, and now the LED screen on my phone is stuck on 1:55am in bright glowing light. I'm sure it is probably just techinical difficulty. I'm sure what a really need is a new cell phone....mine is ancient.

So what's the point of this post? Is it to spook you or make you superstitious? Is it to inform you about outdated or modern cell phone and communications technologies? Is it to give you another late night weather report or to bore you half to death. No, no, and no. It is none of the above.

Earlier today my friend was having a bad day, so we talked on the phone for a few minutes before I arrived at the gym. I told him that I'd call him back. Several hours later, I called him back, only to find him in a totally different mood. He was happy, appreciative, refreshed and ready to move forward with his life. I'm sure all of you readers at home want to know what I said or did to help him don't you? Nothing. I did absolutely nothing. Here's where things get interesting.

To give you a little background on my friend, he has had somewhat of a hard road. People have not been very kind to him. He has fought a battle with bipolar disorder, sudden weight gain, and now withdrawl from medications that he has said goodbye to(under his doctor's supervision). He is an absolutely brilliant person, an amazing friend, and a an inspiration to be around. But he can not always see the forest for the trees.....just like you or me or anyone else.

So back to the story. In between phone calls, he tells me he stopped at this gas station to get some gas and a slice of Godfather's Pizza. As he started to get in his car, a mountain of a man who resembled a hardened inmate approached him. He asked for a ride. Normally, my friend would have said no, and drove off, but something compelled him to say okay. Something greater than himself.

So the man got in the car and started telling my friend his story. It turns out that the man was a 37 yr old father of 3 with 9 grandkids. He had just left rehab for drug addiction and was finally given a second chance at life.....only he had cardiac issues. The doctor's told him that he had abused his body to such a point, that now he had the heart and organs of a 90 year old. He could basically drop dead any day.

Most people would turn their noses up snobbishly at a man like this for his mistakes....not my friend. Instead he invited him to his church. The man had no idea how to react. He just said "If only I had a friend like you 10 years ago......" Ten years ago would make this 37yr old man 27.....the same age that my friend is now. My friend realized something very important today. He had been stuck in what he had referred to as a "stupor". He had realized that life had been standing still and he was stuck in his past.....a mistake all too many of us tend to make at least once in our lives.

It was time to snap out of it. It was time to move forward. It was time to live again. He was refreshed, and invigorated. He realized that the world was his to seize. It was a beautiful awakening, that marked the end of a tragic beginning....the day that time stood still.

For all of you out there who are stuck on an ex-husband or wife, an old friend, a job that fired you, or friends that made you feel like crap years ago, it is time to give yourself permission to let go. Before you do that, I want you to retrace the steps of your life. Go back in time to the day(s) that time stood still. These are the days that you relive or just can't move on from. Now ask yourself....do I really want to be 13 forever? Is that really rational? No. Do I really want a boss or a job that will fire me instead of helping me to succeed? No. Do I really want a husband or wife that was willing to walk out? No. Give it all up. Release the burdens. Free yourself. Go back to the day that time stood still. Put a new battery in the clock and let the hands of time move forward once again. You owe it to yourselves! Take care everyone!!!

See you next time!!!