Angus Nelson

I opened the front door this afternoon and to my surprise I found a plastic bag on the ground.  Inside was the annual phonebook delivered to presumably make my life easier.  However, I haven’t used a phonebook in years.  In fact, I can’t say that I know anyone who has.  With all of the technologies of the internet, Google text, and the ease of cell phone media packages, why in the world would anyone still use a phonebook and waste all of that time and paper?  You’d have to be near Amish to be dependent on such an antique tool.  Yet, here it is.  People thrusting energy and resources into an outdated and overly redundant effort achieving little results.

Does that sound like a bad relationship to you?

He invited me to join a league with he, his wife and several other folks.  This has been my first year, my first introduction to Fantasy Football.  Call it beginner’s luck or what have you, but my team has done very well at 10 wins and only 4 losses.  I must confess however, that I have put MANY hours into studying the players, predictions and also trading many players in attempts to maximize every week’s performance.  Most guys simply get a decent bunch of guys and ride them through the entire season.

The strategy for me has been the most appealing.  One week, there’s a standout player that no one ever dreamed of picking up that’s suddenly become a hot commodity.  That’s been difficult for me since my teams has been successful, that puts me at the end of the line in acquiring new talent every week.  Losing teams get the priority and therefore, I have to look for players BEFORE they get hot.  But ultimately, there’s a lot of luck regardless of predictions or projections.

My problem is this, I’m not a very good winner.

In fact, I’d say that I’ve been a bit of a turd at times as I can’t resist taunting my bro-in-law.  Furthermore, my sister-in-law makes up two of my four losses and I finally beat her this week in our playoffs.  Do you think I could just let that bus go by?  Last night, I had to whip out my iPhone and quote performances of her players and where where she could have re-arranged her bench to have beat me.  This, in itself, isn’t all that bad.  But her dad had just arrived for the Holiday season, we were sitting down to dinner and I just couldn’t put it on the shelf.

On one hand, a little trash talk is always par for the course.  It’s a must for friendly banter and competitive entertainment.  Yet, why should I feel compelled to engage during a FAR MORE meaningful event?  Worse, I don’t really trash talk, I have a way of gloating in a more derogatory fashion.  I slam people.  I’m more cutting.  That sucks.

To me, humility is such a powerful and amazing trait that I admire in others, leaders especially.  My own life definitely contains a great amount of humility, but in this particular area… not so much.

Anyone know of some training for proper trash-talking etiquette?

I was at cocktail party last night.  People were decked out in lovely attire and I was there with my wife and friends.  It was held in a high rise office building 60 stories high, a spectacular view of the city..

At some point in time, a storm rolled in and rain and wind were pelting the glass windows.  This is where things got out of control!  As we were standing, holding conversation with the guests, the floor began to sway under force of the wicked winds which were pushing against the building.  No one else seemed at all disturbed by the occurrence and continued their merry socializing.  I, on the other hand, could not.

The entire building was swaying several feet and I thought for sure this thing was going to come down.

With everything I could, I clamored for the door to the stairwell as the elevator was no longer an option.  Grasping the door frame, then the railing, I called for my wife to come join me.  She just looked at me as if I was crazy!  I pleaded, but she wouldn’t come.

With every sway I became filled with more anxiety and panic.  With every sway the more I grabbed to control the things around me.  With every sway I was sure that my wife, my friends, the building and all would  come to ruins. Everything around us was completely unstable, drifting in directions unknown, and no one knew what the outcome would be.

This is how I woke up yesterday.

Metaphorically, however, I think I’ve woken up that way many days.  Most of my life is completely out of my hands and yet, I somehow try to clamor for control.  Sometimes, I panic or get full of anxiety for reasons that are unfounded or even unlikely.  Usually, I perceive my circumstances to be far worse than they actually are… or ever could be.

Things are not always what they seem, sometimes letting go is more powerful than hanging on.

What are you hanging on to today?

Speculation and conjecture have surrounded last week’s circumstances of Tiger Wood’s accident. In no way will I join the pundants in this endeavor.  However, I’m painfully aware of the fact that people don’t hypothesize on things unless there’s an action or behavior to substantiate it.

For three years, I worked at a ski resort in Ketchum, Idaho as a ticket checker on the bottom of the mountain.  My job was to provide not only security for the profitability of the company, but also the enjoyment of the thousands of skiers that visited every year. When people are on vacation, they are far more friendly and flirty than they would ever be at home.  As such, I honed my flirty skills everyday all in the name of entertainment and public service.

However, one day, several of the local girls began to tease me as a being a “player” and therefore, had opinions of me that weren’t really true.  The truth was, I didn’t even date anyone during my three years at Sun Valley Ski Resort.  But the truth doesn’t matter if the perception is supported.

For the sake of conversation, I’m going to totally give Tiger the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s say he’s completely innocent of any affairs or extracurricular activities.  The current accusations could only be evidenced if people had seen him alone with another woman, or extra-friendly with one often enough.  In other words, if he would have kept certain boundaries, no one would be able to have these suspicions.

If Tiger woke up that next morning and wondered how in the world anyone could have concocted the stories they did, he’d have no one else to blame but himself, deny all he wants.  Somehow, he positioned himself in such a way as to make the stories of adultery believable, whether true or not, just like I positioned myself to be perceived as a player at the ski resort.

Now let’s go to the other side of the equation.  There’s corroboration from an alleged girlfriend that claims she spilled the beans because she became jealous of Tiger having additional girlfriends besides herself (am I the only one to find that little nugget unbelievably pathetic and mind-boggling?).  Then, as the days unfold, more and more women are coming out to confess their sexual interludes with the golf guru.

So I ask, why would a guy with a beautiful wife, successful career, grossly-profitable endorsements and limitless possibilities of future fiscal opportunity even get involved in extra-curricular romantic endeavors?

Here’s a guy with everything, and he’s sabotaging his family.  Unfortunately, people do it ALL THE TIME… call it risk, adventure, boredom, coping mechanisms, addictions, or whatever.  In the end, it makes you wonder why.

For much of my life, I knew I had good intentions.  But then there’s several stories I could tell that leave me defensless.  I did some things that really didn’t make any sense, caused me guillt and grief, and ultimately brought sabatoge to areas of my life.

That flirting I did at the ski resort was external and obvious.  However, I have many other stories I could tell you that were secret, internal and hidden.  Interestingly enough, EVERYTHING we do in secret will eventually reveal itself in our lives in one way or another.  We all struggle with character issues, poor choices and mistakes.  But it’s what we do to bring those things into the light, to get help, accountability, even counseling that determines the end results.