The Scenic Route

     Take the scenic route! I guess that can mean a whole lot of things. My Mom and Dad just went on a road trip to South Dakota. My Dad has always wanted to see Mount Rushmore, so they finally decided to go. My Dad retired a little over a year ago. Now they have the opportunity to not only enjoy each other more, but also to see and do more of the things they enjoy. I must get that from my Dad. I love to get in the car and cruise, nothing like a good long road trip. When I was young, I used to roller speed skate. I went to Nationals every year I skated except for my first year. I was fortunate enough to be able to go all over the country and compete. As a matter of fact, I got to go to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, train for a week, and stay in the dorms with some of the best athletes in the country. Now, my Dad sold cars as well, so when we would travel, we rode out in a sweet ass conversion van. At that time, there were CB's in the vans. Yes, CB's, you know...10-4 good buddy!! We would drive and talk to the truckers and even had one come watch us compete in Lincoln Nebraska. When we would go though it was mostly business, so in order to make the best of it, we would stop off at the "scenic view" locations. My Dad would always get sucked into some sign that said, "Hot Springs next right" or something. I remember stopping at the "Hot Springs", we would pull in the park expecting to see something like Old Faithful, but it would end up just being some old stinky bubbling water. Somehow it would turn into a big joke and the source of many a comedy routine for the whole trip. We got lost in Cincinnati so bad after stopping at an airplane museum that I thought my Dad would never stop off again. No compass, No GPS...JUST THE SUN!!! I remember my Dad saying, "The sun sets in the west...WE ARE HEADED NORTH!!" Everyone was so tired and just wanted to get home. No matter how many jokes got cracked about getting lost in Cincinnati, afterward, we STILL stopped.
     I think there is a scenic route in life though too. It's like we just need to slow down. Whenever I have a bad month in the car business, I say to myself, "Jeff, slow down and get back to the basics." It always works. It's like I quit listening to what the Customer wants and give them what I think they should want. I had a customer tell me a long time ago, "God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason...Listen twice as much as you talk!" I can't tell you how often I think of that. We are in such a hurry in life that we forget to stop at the "Hot Springs" and enjoy the that laugh it brings. Everyday our paths cross with people, I guess I think it's for a reason. If you never slow down and listen though, you might miss the happiness it brings. I'm sure a lot of you have seen the movie, "Evan Almighty". There is a scene in the movie where Evan's wife is in a diner and God is serving her. On the TV in the diner they are running the story about about Evan (who God has basically turned into Noah and is making build an ark). She is embarrassed and makes a comment to God about how crazy he is. God's response though is what I love, he says something to the effect of...if you pray for strength or happiness do you think God just makes it so or does he give you the opportunity? I think he gives you opportunity!
     In the world today it's so easy to caught up in all the hustle. We text, we email, but we forget to slow down and talk. Instead we send a message on Facebook. When was the last time you WROTE someone a letter? It seems as though sometimes we do away with or try to forget something that makes us happy. Why? Because we're too busy, or that's just life? Who says you have to grow up anyway? To me it seems like the little kids have the right idea! We forget to just sit outside and enjoy the sunshine, why? Because it's too hot out! We forget to lay under a tree in the shade with someone and not have to say a word or skip some rocks on the water. We forget to kiss slow, instead it's...mwah, bye, love you. We forget to squeeze someone tight and smell their perfume when we do! So slow down and ejoy the scenery! Opportunity is always there, you just have to take advantage of it! There are way more things to be thankful for than not. So thank God and enjoy! I'm out, Your Boy JC!