Beaching for the stars

Alright so I'm at the beach. Not right at this moment but that's the way we say it when we go down the shore for a weekend. But yesterday as i sat physically on the sand and looked out over the ocean, smelled the salt water and felt the breeze, my mind felt extreme relaxation and then began to fill with thoughts.

What I pondered is this: every time I come to this specific beach on Memorial Day (which I do every year), I get an extreme sense of calm - a peace - I find myself free of the chain that seem around my neck with work and other stresses in my daily life. I'll make thus very clear: this place is unbelievably special to me. So much so that I know I have to retire here one day, at least partially.

But this got me thinking what was so special about this place to me and that's where my crazy mind took over and the fun began. Some thoughts/reasons:

1. The place itself is calming. Not a lot of crazy noise, just the sound of the ocean waves really. Sand is soothing on your feet, the water is cool.
2. I've had great memories here. Being here reminds me of those things and the nostalgia unlocks emotional feelings from my past as current feelings.
3. I associate this place in my head as a getaway place. I've built it up before I even get here as a place of serenity, where I can relax and be soothed. The more I need it, given the state of my work and life, the heavier weight it takes on and perhaps the more likely it is to provide that sense of peace.
4. It represents key things in my life that I feel connected to and must have. It represents a dream - one that my parents talked about throughout their lifetime but never pursued. So it becomes even more connected to me because it then gets tied to dreams and goals and measurement against that pursuit.
5. It represents success. All the big financial brokers and millionaires bought 2nd homes down here years ago. Beautiful homes. And when you drive down you cant help but notice their BMWs in the parking lots and lavish accommodations. So maybe it's a little jealousy or maybe it pulls at me because I'm such a driven person with so much ambition.

So when I look across all of these things, I start to wonder even deeper things- is it this beach or any beach? Am I connected to this place in ways spiritually or meta-physically that others simply are not? Does this unlock memories, provoke dreams, and change the state of my brain so much when I am here more than when I just think of it? Yes yes and yes!

Theres so much more at play here than simple senses. I know that for sure but as you tell I haven't figured all of this out yet.

I thought I'd share some thoughts along my journey this weekend, and I encourage you to comment on this post and share your thoughts - tell me if you have similar places and why you think you are attached to them in ways unlike other people.

Boss or Leader: some great quotes

A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting. - Russell H. Ewing

A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could. - Charles Erwin Wilson

Your real boss is the one who walks around under your hat. - Napoleon Hill

Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says "Go!" - a leader says "Let's go!" - E.M. Kelly

Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present. - Rudy Giuliani

The person who knows HOW will always have a job. The person who knows WHY will always be his boss. - Diane Ravitch

A good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him. - H. S. M. Burns

Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself. - Thomas J. Watson

By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day. - Robert Frost

The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. - Theodore Roosevelt

One measure of leadership is the caliber of people who choose to follow you. - Dennis A. Peer

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives. - Theodore Roosevelt

Leadership is action, not position. - Donald H. McGannon

You can't lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself. - Gene Mauch

The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it. - Elaine Agather

You don't have to hold a position in order to be a leader. - Anthony J. D'Angelo

Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them. - Robert Jarvik

You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That's assault, not leadership. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders. - Tom Peters

A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit. - John C. Maxwell

A man is only a leader when a follower stands beside him. - Mark Brouwer

He who will not be named

Do you think when he was hiding up in that "mansion" for all these years that he knew we would eventually get him? Was he really not afraid to die or did he pee his pants like the coward he truly is when the Navy Seals had him cornered? Is it true that he held up a woman to use as a shield when we got close? I'm betting that he cried like a baby and begged for his life when faced with his inevitable death. Died like the coward he was, hiding behind young, impressionable youth with a promise of fabricated eternity and martyrdom.

Did we bring him to justice? One might have a strong argument that we did. Others might argue that he should have been captured and tried for all the horror he provoked and caused. I'd argue that he got off easy. There's no punishment I can think of that we could have laid upon him that could make up for the innocent lives he stole from this earth. The bloodshed, the pain, the suffering. We had no war against Islam. He brought war to us, and did it in the worst possible way.

I wish I believed in hell. And that he would truly end up there, as a rotting corpse for all eternity instead of the nirvana he believed he'd get for carrying out his message of violence. But I don't. So I have to sit here and wonder if he got off easy. His death was probably quick and painless. He received a proper burial at sea. He didn't leave an army of loved ones behind wondering how he could have been innocently killed like so many wives and husbands, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters on 911.

He will never be forgotten and that hurts deep in my heart because we can't change what happened. How he played the role of God and decided who should live and who should die amongst people that didn't want to be a part of his sick and demented perspective of the world. What right did he have?!

Justice served? Not in my book, but hopefully it sends a message. A few messages actually:

1. There is some universal moral code that we all subscribe to, whether we admit it or not. And rule #1 is to not cross the line and kill someone because they believe something different than you. If you do, you lose your right to inhabit this planet and be a part of society.
2. Don't mess with the USA. When we say we won't stop until we achieve our goal, we mean it. We bring peace to the world every single day and lend a helping hand when called upon most of the time. But violate our trust, threaten our people, cross the line - and that same hand will strike you down with a fury unlike any other.
3. We may never win the war on terror but we are not going to ever sit by and watch idly as our safety and freedom are threatened.

I have a lot of emotions at the moment. So much anger, so much sadness, so many thoughts of things i wish i didn't have to think of. Lost loved ones, violence and retaliation. He did this to us. And now he's gone. Will he have a legacy? Yeah. He got what he wanted. Without the heaven/nirvana part. But for me, he will live on not as the martyr he portrayed himself to be. If you haven't noticed, I haven't even said his name. He doesn't even deserve that much from me. He was not an iconic figure. He was not a leader. He deserves to be remembered for what he truly was...a murderer and a coward.