Therapy Blogs

Well I'm back home after a two week vacation -- the first one Sherri and I have taken in a long time. We had a great time at Normal Rockstar's wedding in Nashville. We are so happy and excited for those two. It really was a special wedding. Not too many people commit themselves to their future spouse like those two did. They lived committed to their future spouse from when they were kids! The most touching part of the ceremony for me was when they both removed their own purity necklaces that they had been wearing for so many years and exchanged them. I remember when I first asked Jeremy about his necklace and he explained to me why he wore it. Seeing the day that he was able to give it to his wife with integrity was just the best part of the ceremony for me.

So anyway, we had a great time away and even had a holiday from blogging!! In fact, we didn't read or exercise nearly as much as we had hoped either. No big deal though. We were on holidays! So now we are back home, back to somewhat of a routine and hopefully back to some consistent blogging.

While we were away we got to talking with some friends about blogging and one of them was expressing their concern with blogs that are "therapy blogs". I've read blogs that fit this description and didn't think a whole lot of it except that it seemed a little strange to be sharing so much personal information with absolutely everyone and anyone. The cool thing about blogging and writing in general is that you can take the time to collect your thoughts and write them down exactly as you want. You can . . . and you should. Anything you write down has the potential to last forever though, either in a journal or especially online. Even a blogging friend of mine ended up removing one of his controversial blogs, but I know of at least one person who still has a copy of the original. From there it can be copied and pasted and emailed to millions!!

Writing about very personal things can be very helpful and therapeutic for people and can help them deal with tough life situations like death or addictions or relational difficulties or many other situations that we have to occasionally deal with. Shouldn't that type of information and sharing be reserved for relationships that have reached a level of honesty and intimacy that you can never have in the public forum of a blog? In fact, it not only seems unwise but maybe even dangerous. To me it has potential danger in a few areas. The first obvious one is that writing is permanent and could come back to haunt you later in life when you are in a completely different place. Second, in the heat of the moment you could write something you regret which may only create a more difficult situation. Third, there are some freaks on this thing called the internet who may want to know about your weaknesses so that they can use that against you. I don't know! Weirder things have happened.

For these reasons I will try to stay away from writing anything resembling a therapy blog and if I find myself reading one I will stop and move on.

Am I being too hard-nosed?

GL

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Watching Sports is a Waste of Time

I was out for a run today and got thinking about the NHL strike since I had just read an article on it on cbc.ca. As sad as I am that there was no hockey this season I think I may have been better off for it. All of those Saturday nights I would have just spent sitting in front of the TV, not playing with my son, or giving my wife any attention, or really stimulating my brain for that matter. In fact, I bet relationships between husband and wife and boyfriend and girlfriend throughout Canada were a little healthier this year.

There is the camaraderie you get from watching sports that other people are into, but I feel like that’s not an issue after experiencing life in Nashville for three years not being a football fan. (Man is that sport boring!) There was some lost camaraderie that made me think I should watch some football but it really wasn’t a big deal at all. You can be friends with people who are addicted to sports that don’t interest you. You just need to be a patient person.

I guess it’s all in how you want to kill your time. Everybody is allowed to waste some time in their life if they want but I’m trying to lean towards making the most of all my time. That doesn’t mean that I’m this studious guy who is always reading or learning or exercising or practicing or having deep discussions with people, in fact, I feel like I’m the opposite, which is why I probably lean so heavily the other way. As I get older and now have a son, I realize how important time is and how much of it I’ve already wasted.

All that said, if the NHL and NHLPA can get their act together and stop screwing up the sport of hockey, I’m sure I’ll watch my beloved Leafs next season and force my one-year-old son to become a fan of the greatest hockey team in the world!

GL

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On Blogging . . .

So my buddy Normal Rockstar started a blog and I thought it was a waste of time. I made fun of him and gave him a hard time about it. Then I eventually started my own! He convinced me of the merits of blogging. What can I say, he’s persuasive. OK, not really, he just let me figure it out on my own with a little bit of leading.

Anyway, the purpose of today’s blog is to explain how blogging became a bad thing for me recently. It was one of the things I was afraid of.

I have an 11 month old son who keeps my wife and I pretty busy. We love him very much but do miss the time we used to have together before he was born. So when he goes to bed sometime around 7:00 it’s Sherri and Glenn time. We look forward to spending time together then. Either playing a game, or reading, or if it’s Monday night watching 24, or doing some of the other things you do when you are married and your children are asleep. One night a few weeks ago while Sherri was putting Jonah to sleep I decided I would start working on my blog until Jonah was in bed. I guess Jonah went to sleep and Sherri knew I was working on my blog so she thought while I was working on my blog she’d quickly do hers too. So I finished my blog and saw that Sherri was working on hers so I started working on something else and . . . well eventually it’s like 9:30 and Sherri has to get Jonah’s food ready for the next day and shower and get to bed since we always have an early wake up. I think What Not To Wear must have been on or something because we got distracted by that darn TV and watched it till 10 then Sherri still had all that stuff to do.

Anyway, we got in bed just after 10:30, mad that we had spent the night on our computers and watching TV when we could have been spending it together. I think we both said that would be our last blog. But it wasn’t. Lucky for you, the reader, I travel a ton so I’ve got time to sit and write as does Sherri while I’m gone. However, this does mean that when I’m home, which I will be quite a bit in May, that the blogs may not be quite as regular so please forgive me but my marriage is way more important!

GL

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Dependable Women

I just finished reading Gates Of Fire by Steven Pressfield. (A short description of the book is in my previous blog.) Now that I’m finished it one of the things that really stands out to me is how important the women were to the people of Sparta. They weren’t equals by any means but seem to have more importance than I would have thought for that time in history.

At one point in the book the women are depended on for the future of Greece! Of course it is not the women out on the battlefield fighting but it is their character and support that the King counts on to carry the people of Greece through the aftermath of this battle at Thermopylae.

The King had chosen 300 Spartan men to basically go on a suicide mission to defend the “Hot Gates” at Thermopylae, a narrow point where the Persian enemy had to pass in order to defeat Greece. The men chosen seemed rather random. There were Spartans who would be considered too old, others too inexperienced, and still others that were the cream of the crop. We find out later in the book that these men were chosen because of who their wives and mothers were. They were the strong women of the city. I’m guessing they were leaders among the women too. The King knew that this was basically a suicide mission and that it would be hardest on the women of the men who were going. He believed that if his people saw courage and strength in these women they would not lose hope in their country.

This King, who was part of this suicide mission, and his wife, met with one of the Spartan's wives. This woman in particular was going to be losing her husband and her son. To this woman the Queen explained her role as Queen.

“Women envy my station but few grasp its stern obligations. A Queen may not be a woman as others. She may not posses her husband and children as other wives and mothers, but may hold them only in stewardship to her nation. She serves them, the hearts of her countrymen, not her own or her family’s.”

I found this quote really interesting since I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I think the spirit of what this Queen said can be applied to the Christian life for men as well as women. Since my son was born I’ve been trying not to think of him as someone I posses but more of someone who belongs to God and whom God has placed in my care. I can hold him as my own as long as I am ready at any time to release him into whatever God has planned for him. Whether that be going off to college, getting married, moving to another city, country or even continent. I know that this is easy to write now while he is only 11 months old but hopefully if I get my mind set in this place now it won’t be quite as shocking when it actually happens.

Let me try to rewrite that quote so it fits better for followers of Jesus. (I know I could say Christians here but that term has been ruined for too many people which is a topic for another blog.)

“A person who follows the teachings of Jesus may not be like most people. They may not posses their spouses and children, or homes and belongings like others, but must hold them with an open hand always ready and willing to release them into the service of Jesus. They live a life of service to all, serving Jesus first and themselves last.”

I think that is what I really took away from what the Queen said.

The Greeks held off the Persians long enough and eventually defeated them. The pride this produced in the people of Greece only ignited the spark of democracy that had already been started. Each individual had a new found belief in themselves and their country. This created optimism and enterprise that turned democracy into the blazing fire it is today.

All in all a great battle book that gives us a glimpse into a past that has shaped how we live today.

GL

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