There Goes My Hero

I believe that you have to witness something or someone before you can be inspired to become it. I understand Neil Armstrong was not able to witness someone walking on the moon before he did it, but he might have witnessed the beginning of space travel. There are inventors and creators and pioneers that have been the first or the only people in the world to achieve or succeed in an act or position in life, but those are so rare. I'm thinking in terms of the challenge children face of sustaining healthy relationships when raised in a home of constant fighting, lying, beating, screaming, etc. Or the little leaguer who is taken to his first baseball game and is in awe of the professionals that are playing, so he goes home watches every inning of baseball he can possibly find. People and situations are constantly thrust upon us at such a young age, it's impossible to believe none of it influences you. Whether you stand firmly against ever wanting to do it (a son of a preacher becoming agnostic), or you let it clear a path for your entire life to follow, it all goes into building who you are. I also believe, whether I knew it or not, that my role model has been ever-so-present in my life from such a young age (immediately, as it were), that it was hard for me to realize who I was turning into. But without any doubt, and with pride, I can say that I would be privileged to model my life after my grandfather.

After two years of writing in this thing, I realize that I can be a bit intangible about so many topics. I have thoughts and ideas and angles to look at, but it's hard for me to stay grounded. I can assure you, this is not the case when discussing my grandpa. This is a man who has watched 88 birthdays come and go, but is still one of the sharpest tools in the tool shed. I use that analogy to not only blindly convince you of his mental prowess, but because he still can't help but get his hands on his tools and do some tinkering around the house. This is a man who takes care of my grandma with very limited assistance from a nurse and my parents, yet my grandma is 87 years old and spends the majority of her time in a hospital bed. His care has actually caused an increase in her condition at times. Yet, through the pain and difficulty he has faced, a task I'm not so sure I'd be up to face, he hasn't lost his optimistic nature with a slightly sarcastic tone, or his sense of humor with a sense of reality. He still get's her into her wheelchair, wheels her to the kitchen table, makes her dinner, encourages her to eat and drink everything on her plate, and maybe even make a pass by the front door before he lays her back down. And though she's battling through some form of Alzheimer and Dementia with the possibility of a stroke (none of us are quite sure), there is still a twinkle in her eye whenever he's around. And just when you think she has no idea what's going on, this exchange happens:

Al (My grandpa): [to the nurse] Hey would you like a cup of coffee before you leave?

The Nurse: Sure, that would be nice.

[they sit down and begin to talk]

Aggie (My grandma): [from the other room] You know, Albert is my husband.

This past Sunday's Bears game got me thinking about the role models we allow into our lives. Jay Cutler has taken considerable heat for not playing the second half of the NFC Championship game due to a knee injury. I've gotten past his decision not to play. I was most upset with his seeming lack of excitement when his team was fighting and clawing with their 3rd string quarterback, ending up 30 yards short of extending the game to overtime, possibly allowing for Cutler to get a start in the Super Bowl and a chance at redemption. We all know Cutler isn't a fan favorite, and has never claimed to be a role model. Down the road, Derrick Rose is making himself into one of the most elite role models you could imagine. A young man (25) who recognized the work require to be elite in the NBA, an athlete that refuses to give into the taunting, screaming, arguing, playground mentality of a current professional sport, an icon that stopped three teenagers leaving a Bulls game to roll down the window of his SUV to say, "Hey, man, just want to thank you guys for taking time to come out,"and a superstar that has "stop swearing" as one of his season goals because his mom told him 'people can read lips' (Riley: Rose is an NBA MVP).

These are the usual suspects when it comes to 'picking' role models. Athletes, celebrities, actors, politicians, talk show hosts, reality stars, whatever. The general trend is to find someone you see excelling on television and claim you want to live like them, follow in their shoes. But at some point, seeing people on TV doesn't translate to being able to follow their shadow. If you increase your work habit because you heard Derrick Rose spent his off-season shooting 3-pointers, then I guess that's a positive. But even hearing about all the great things Rose has done off the court doesn't mean you get to see them on a regular basis.

I was fortunate enough to not have to pick or find or choose my role model. I've been fortunate enough to witness a marriage of over 60 years, with a bond of love still so strong, my grandma, who doesn't recognize who I am, won't let her nurse have coffee with my grandpa without staking claim. I've been fortunate enough to witness a man who has never quit anything he can accomplish, who has never lost sight of the most important things in life, who still loves to laugh, who takes care of his family without hesitation, who unlike Colonel Slade (7:15 in), when faced with crossroad, not only knew the right path, but always took it.

Above all, I'm fortunate enough to have a man in my life that has given me a future to strive toward, a role model to brag about, and a hero to emulate. My grandpa always criticized my brother and I for ever wanting to buy a jersey with some athletes name on it. Trust me, the only name I want on my back, is Lazzerini.

Does It Bear Repeating Now?

Last night I was setting up shop in my living room to do some video editing on a project I’m working on. I pulled my power cord out for my laptop and spent the next minute or so trying to bend, twist, and smooth out the kinks to make the cord less, um, kinky. Now, it had been sitting in the bottom of my computer bag for a while. At work, my laptop sits docked on my desk, connected to a power source, and when I use it at home, I usually have a long enough battery life to get me through what I need. But last night, I knew I would run out of time with the video editing and processing, plus, I wanted my screen on the brightest setting. So basically, my power cord had been sitting in my bag, wrapped in the same position, for an extended period of time. As most of you know, it’s not good for cords to bent or kinked for too long or it can begin to decay, hence the un-kinking.

Fast forward to the end of my night as I packed back up. I unplugged my power cord and wrapped it up in the exact same way that it had been resting in my bag. Why? Because it is the best way to do it. Based on how the cords leave the adapter, the length and flexibility of the cords, and the little Velcro thing, there is one most logical way to fold it up in a way that minimizes stress and space. So all the kinks that I spent time on at the beginning were just recast and my efforts wasted.

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For over a year now, I’ve been working out pretty consistently. I am fortunate enough to have a fitness center in the basement of my building at work, so it makes it easier to shoot down for an hour before I head home. I am very stubborn when it comes to putting together a workout. I have had training programs in the past, between football, baseball, and the gym we had in the dorms, I have an idea of what I want to do now. I made a plan based on working out 5 days a week (no weekends, given I’m not driving 20 miles to get to my gym), and I have a plan which I believe will help me reach my goals and maintain the plateau I reach. I run every day, and I vary my run every day. After my run, I have two different routines, one involves floor exercises (sit-ups and push-ups), the other dumbbells. I alternate every day, and I haven’t changed (except number of reps and amount of weight) since I started.

I don’t know if what I’m doing is the best method, but so far it’s been successful. The only problem is, after 14 months of doing the same workout, I’m still using the same muscles, wearing the same parts of my body, and basically drilling myself into a groove that gets deeper and deeper the more I do it. Eventually, you're just spinning your tires. Even though I deem this work out exactly what I need for my body to get into the shape and condition that I’m determined to reach (and overlooking the fact that I’m most likely wrong), no matter how much I do between work outs, if I keep doing what I’ve always done, then I’m going to wear out the same parts.

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This isn’t really an apples to apples comparison, but bear with me. I take pride in finding the best way to do things, especially things that I do repeatedly. I’ve driven from the city to work over 600 times, and I’d like to think that after all that, I could find the fastest way to get home. I’ve spent enough time in PowerPoint for my job that I‘d like to think I’ve found the shortcuts, the key combinations, and the rules of the program enough to become as efficient as possible while I work. I’ve made my lunch for work about 95% of the time since I started here, and I’d like to think I’ve found the best way to put the twist tie back on the bread bag, to spread the mustards, to layer the lunch meat, to put away each component in the fridge, to pile everything into my lunch bag so the lid of my yogurt doesn’t dig into the bread, the pieces of fruit don’t roll around, and the can of iced tea doesn’t tip over. Am I a little OCD? Whatever, I’m not a doctor.

But my point is that I think about this stuff. And when I find something that works, I do it until I find something better. The problem is, sometimes the same thing over and over again can turn out to be the wrong thing. Not because it's wrong, but because over-repetition of most things can be dangerous. Whether you do it because wires are wearing thin (always wrapping your headphones around your iPod the same way), or drinks are getting bland (only buying one kind of juice because it’s your favorite), it doesn’t hurt to break the routine, to try something new, to switch things up and see what happens. Just because it’s the best way, or your favorite, or you think you’re too stubborn to change, doesn’t mean that it’s not time for a right turn. Unless you're in NASCAR. Then don't turn right. Otherwise, for whatever reason you have, try something new once in a while. What's the worst that can happen?