It's quite ironic how we don't appreciate how much we can learn from a young child, considering that once upon a time we used to be one ourselves.
When visiting a good friend of mine, he introduced me to his youngest son, while giving me a tour of his new house. The entire house was simply beautiful, but I just couldn't seem to get over how fascinating his son's room seemed to be, and it started to remind me of what we were all like as younger kids.
He had posters up of his favourite cars and a picture-collage of all the places he wants to visit. When I introduced myself he told me that he didn't have much time to talk because he had to go finish his school project, which happened to be: constructing his dream house with popsicle sticks. Wow!
He is a bright kid with an imagination out of this world. That boy doesn't just reach for the sky, I bet he is convinced that he can touch the moon. So when did that change for us?
Here's what I will share with you: as we get older, we start taking down the posters of these fancy cars and mansions BECAUSE we start accepting the fact that whatever life throws our way is completely normal and we can't do a single thing about it. We give up on our dreams and aspirations, and we settle for mediocrity.
A wise man once told me that an obstacle is simply an opportunity in disguise. When I understood that, I started to welcome obstacles with open arms, and I started to change my life around for the better.
Accelerate beyond mediocrity, and refuse the thought of the incapability to do anything about what life throws your way. For some of us, it has been a really long time since we stopped dreaming and you may feel like "change" is out of the question. You'll be happy to know that: it doesn't take time to change, it simply takes a decision.
Sweet dreams randomizers,
Mr. RT
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Will You Be My Valentine?
I considered being witty in order to explain my short disappearance from blogging, but I didn’t want to end up doing what John Mayer did in his interview with Playboy Magazine, so I’ll just leave it to this realistic and simple explanation:
I got sucked into a black-hole and warped across the world into a field of crops, and had no access to a computer because the Amish people captured me and kept me hostage in a room full of artificial beards and oversized top hats.
Now that we’re on the same page, let’s talk about Valentine’s Day.
Unfortunately, my valentine was stuck working in her restaurant on the 14th, so we decided to celebrate ours on the 16th. This turned out to be a major benefit for two reasons. First and obvious, I had two extra days to prepare the surprise I had for her. Second and best, all the prices for Valentine items tend to drop 50% as soon as the 14th comes to a wrap. Maybe I should make “Valentine 16th” a tradition every year!
None the less, I surprised Miss Valentine with a visit on the 14th with a rose and a card that read: “Just because you have to work, doesn’t mean you can’t have a Valentine Memory! Happy Valentine’s Day! And just remember, X marks the spot...”
After a handful of text messages about what the X meant, and twice as much on the phone, I simply told her: “don’t worry, as more days go by, things will start making more sense”
On the 16th she came to visit me in college, as I was finishing up my last class of the day. I held her hand and slightly squeezed it and took her for a walk with me. Avoiding the freezing cold weather outside, we walked through an indoor bridge that led us to the fourth floor of the art department building. I stopped, and let go of her hand. She stopped and looked at me puzzled.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a parcel and said: “oh, I almost forgot, special delivery for you.” She hesitated to take it, but then noticed a build bold caption on the parcel that read: “Operation X”
She smiled as she took the parcel from me and started to slowly open it. She reached in the package and pulled out an envelope that read: “pssst! Open me later!” and then reached in one more time to pull out a pitch black NBA sport headband. I couldn’t tell whether she was disappointed or confused, but she definitely had a reaction worth mentioning.
I told her the headband is going to be her blindfold today, and asked her to put it on. She hesitated a second time, but this time she giggled and put it on in a hurry. I asked her to wrap her arms around my left arm as I slowly guide her to “Operation X”, and she complied with another giggle.
I slowly guided her to the closest elevator, and took it down to the basement floor. My beautiful Valentine continued nervously giggling while asking me what foreign country I was taking her to, but I simply continued staying in character and guiding her to the desired spot.
Suddenly, her journey comes to an instant stop. I pull my arms away and I rotate Miss Valentine around three times. I then use a keen, villain-like tone, and ask her to take her blindfold off. She removes it slowly....... and there it stands: a locker with a big bold “X” on it.
“Should I be scared?” she asks. I couldn’t help but lose my character as I busted out a quick laugh. I quickly gained composure and put on a straight face again, while telling her: “You may now open up the PSST letter, Miss Valentine.”
She opened up the envelope which consisted of the combination number to that locker. After several attempts, she managed to break open that lock, and she slowly flipped opened the locker.... dun dun dunn!
There it hung: a stuffed cartoon character, shaped like a heart with arms and legs sticking out of it. She did her adorable giggle as she grabbed that character and busted out laughing when she realized that every time you squeeze it, it says a cheesy pickup line.
Underneath that heart-shape pickup artist, laid a red glossy bag with another giant X on it. She then slowly pulled it out of the locker and started searching inside the bag. The first thing she found was a Valentine card that read:
“X will always put me to the test,
X will never let me take a rest,
X is a mind-game like a game of chess,
X made me cry and put me in a mess,
But..
X is what connects both you and I,
X is the reason I will always try,
X is the only thing that makes me fly,
X exists in my life and you’re the reason why
I – X – You”
Needless to say, baby girl was balling her eyes out before she even got to the last line in the card. She continued looking further into the bag and found a medium-sized stuffed money that held a heart between its palm. The heart also had a screen attached to it so that bad-boy was definitely made to do some damage.
She pressed the monkey’s toe and the monkey began bobbing its head as Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E” song started playing. The screen followed along with the lyrics but my I’m pretty sure Miss Valentine was too busy wiping the tears out of her eyes to pay attention to that.
I slowly took the stuffed monkey off her arms and put it on the ground. I held her hands and said: “Miss Valentine, may I have this dance?” and we slow danced the song away.
If you haven’t caught my message from my Christmas experience, I will say it again: you do NOT need to spend hundreds of dollars on a gift, in order to make it something special. I’ve witnessed a friend give a $500 gorgeous necklace to his girlfriend, and she didn’t even have the same reaction as my Valentine did with yesterday’s surprise.
If you will remember one thing from this story, just remember this: expensive goods can “WOW” someone for a moment, but an experience will stay with them for a lifetime.
I – X – You randomizers,
Mr. RT
I got sucked into a black-hole and warped across the world into a field of crops, and had no access to a computer because the Amish people captured me and kept me hostage in a room full of artificial beards and oversized top hats.
Now that we’re on the same page, let’s talk about Valentine’s Day.
Unfortunately, my valentine was stuck working in her restaurant on the 14th, so we decided to celebrate ours on the 16th. This turned out to be a major benefit for two reasons. First and obvious, I had two extra days to prepare the surprise I had for her. Second and best, all the prices for Valentine items tend to drop 50% as soon as the 14th comes to a wrap. Maybe I should make “Valentine 16th” a tradition every year!
None the less, I surprised Miss Valentine with a visit on the 14th with a rose and a card that read: “Just because you have to work, doesn’t mean you can’t have a Valentine Memory! Happy Valentine’s Day! And just remember, X marks the spot...”
After a handful of text messages about what the X meant, and twice as much on the phone, I simply told her: “don’t worry, as more days go by, things will start making more sense”
On the 16th she came to visit me in college, as I was finishing up my last class of the day. I held her hand and slightly squeezed it and took her for a walk with me. Avoiding the freezing cold weather outside, we walked through an indoor bridge that led us to the fourth floor of the art department building. I stopped, and let go of her hand. She stopped and looked at me puzzled.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a parcel and said: “oh, I almost forgot, special delivery for you.” She hesitated to take it, but then noticed a build bold caption on the parcel that read: “Operation X”
She smiled as she took the parcel from me and started to slowly open it. She reached in the package and pulled out an envelope that read: “pssst! Open me later!” and then reached in one more time to pull out a pitch black NBA sport headband. I couldn’t tell whether she was disappointed or confused, but she definitely had a reaction worth mentioning.
I told her the headband is going to be her blindfold today, and asked her to put it on. She hesitated a second time, but this time she giggled and put it on in a hurry. I asked her to wrap her arms around my left arm as I slowly guide her to “Operation X”, and she complied with another giggle.
I slowly guided her to the closest elevator, and took it down to the basement floor. My beautiful Valentine continued nervously giggling while asking me what foreign country I was taking her to, but I simply continued staying in character and guiding her to the desired spot.
Suddenly, her journey comes to an instant stop. I pull my arms away and I rotate Miss Valentine around three times. I then use a keen, villain-like tone, and ask her to take her blindfold off. She removes it slowly....... and there it stands: a locker with a big bold “X” on it.
“Should I be scared?” she asks. I couldn’t help but lose my character as I busted out a quick laugh. I quickly gained composure and put on a straight face again, while telling her: “You may now open up the PSST letter, Miss Valentine.”
She opened up the envelope which consisted of the combination number to that locker. After several attempts, she managed to break open that lock, and she slowly flipped opened the locker.... dun dun dunn!
There it hung: a stuffed cartoon character, shaped like a heart with arms and legs sticking out of it. She did her adorable giggle as she grabbed that character and busted out laughing when she realized that every time you squeeze it, it says a cheesy pickup line.
Underneath that heart-shape pickup artist, laid a red glossy bag with another giant X on it. She then slowly pulled it out of the locker and started searching inside the bag. The first thing she found was a Valentine card that read:
“X will always put me to the test,
X will never let me take a rest,
X is a mind-game like a game of chess,
X made me cry and put me in a mess,
But..
X is what connects both you and I,
X is the reason I will always try,
X is the only thing that makes me fly,
X exists in my life and you’re the reason why
I – X – You”
Needless to say, baby girl was balling her eyes out before she even got to the last line in the card. She continued looking further into the bag and found a medium-sized stuffed money that held a heart between its palm. The heart also had a screen attached to it so that bad-boy was definitely made to do some damage.
She pressed the monkey’s toe and the monkey began bobbing its head as Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E” song started playing. The screen followed along with the lyrics but my I’m pretty sure Miss Valentine was too busy wiping the tears out of her eyes to pay attention to that.
I slowly took the stuffed monkey off her arms and put it on the ground. I held her hands and said: “Miss Valentine, may I have this dance?” and we slow danced the song away.
If you haven’t caught my message from my Christmas experience, I will say it again: you do NOT need to spend hundreds of dollars on a gift, in order to make it something special. I’ve witnessed a friend give a $500 gorgeous necklace to his girlfriend, and she didn’t even have the same reaction as my Valentine did with yesterday’s surprise.
If you will remember one thing from this story, just remember this: expensive goods can “WOW” someone for a moment, but an experience will stay with them for a lifetime.
I – X – You randomizers,
Mr. RT
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