Vaporize The Mist

Vaporize The Mist

I'm over 50 and most people my age don't expect life to end without any notice.  Few of us think about dying during our "hurry up offense" days.  I wake up, grab my technologically advanced phone and pad that will be outdated in 3 months.  Check my emails, texts and social media sites.  Down two cups of coffee while watching GMA.  Run to the bathroom, shower, shave, brush my teeth which reminds me I need to see my dentist.  Get dressed, pour the remainder of my second cup of coffee and add some more into my "take along" thermos, grab a half toasted bagel, look for and finally find my keys then speed to my J O B because I'm late.  I "work" for a few hours, head to lunch, eat a burger and fries while sipping on my chocolate shake.  Mustard drips onto my white shirt. DANG! Rush back to my J O B.  Work, daydream, doze and quickly "sneak peak" my Facebook in case I missed something.  Wow!  Glad I didn't miss this.  It's a picture of a white female Bull Dog named Sam cross-dressed to look like a Bandito.  Poor girls wearing a black bandanna, shades, leathers, and a spiked collar.  I think, "why do some people believe humiliating their pets for personal entertainment is a good thing?" Glance at the clock. It's closing time. I gather my belongings, grab those keys and head for the exit.  As I pass by my manager's office she looks up briefly then returns to her work.  It's a great tactic to make employees feel guilty for leaving on time.  No guilt here. 

On the way home, I text while driving and turn on some "bubble gum" for the ears. A smile broadens my face and my mouth begins to belch out the lyrics "Mama Mia Mama Mia" with Freddie Mercury. Roughly 30 seconds later I began to thrash my head up and down as if my neck popped out of joint or I'm having a "Spaz" attack.

The sixty+ year old sun damaged face man wearing a black hat, flaunting his ghostly scraggly white beard, stogie between fingers and elbow resting on the unrolled window of his 1960 something 3 speed column shift pick up just stares at me. I imagine he's saying under his rank "smokey meets whiskey" breath and conclude it's going something like this. "Do I still live in America? Since Pot was legalized in Colorado our state has gone to Hell in a handbasket. Probably never worked a hard day in his life....soft handed son of a gun."  The light turns green.

I finally make it home and decide on whether to cook dinner, eat out, order in or scavenge for leftovers.  I throw a frozen pizza in the oven.  It's a thin crust supreme. If my daughter complains about the ripe olives I'll simply tell her to remove them and mention billions of people around the world are starving.

A thought crosses my mind, I need to check my email and text; a message; nothing that can't wait.  I hug my daughter and kiss my spouse and in a tired voice say to both, "Pizza's in the oven but tell me about your day." Response from daughter is "Pretty good but have some homework."Hun?" "Same old, same old." I say,"How exciting."

My mind catches another thought. I need to wash a load of laundry and change the sheets.  While the laundry is running I take a shower and use those jets that lack the power to make a difference or hit the right spots. Afterwards, I grab 2 slices of pizza, flip on the boob tube, Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu. While "enjoying" a movie that someone said was good, I decided to make sure I was on top of things. I pause the movie and check my email. "What's that on our new carpet?" I walk into our dining room and see the multi-colored mouthwatering display left by my dog earlier that day. While gagging and cleaning up this gift, I look at her intently with a mean-spirited voice and said, "All dogs don't go to heaven!" She shied away but had not a clue. Task completed.

Instead of heading back to finish the movie, I login to Facebook because everyone needs to know my dog vomited on our white dining room carpeting after eating the cat's food and finding a pork chop bone in the trash; which is laying on the kitchen floor along with other items that had been tossed a day or three ago. Jill or Chase can clean that up. After describing in detail my horrible experience to the world, I realize it's time to change my edited cover photo to show my 2000 "friends" how much cooler I am today than yesterday. I then send out a tweet and decide to get really savvy if I'm really savvy with my social media skills. I do a little networking on LinkedIn and create a new community on Google Plus. Next, I begin to write a blog but realize it's getting late so I fold my laundry and make the bed.

My wife enters the room and says she's very tired. I turn on the fan and noisemaker, climb under the clean sheets.  I then check my email and texts one last time and see if anyone commented or liked my Facebook post. Yes, a number of comments:"Gross" "Sick" "Did you stick her nose in it?" "I'd put her down." "You're a better man than I." OK, enough input from that post.

Now it's decision time. Do I read my charged Kindle Fire or maybe; just maybe; pick up a book (6" by 9" 1lb-3lb "waste of space, tree-killing, hardback or leatherbound "dust gatherers" filled with words written on thin pieces of paper ranging from a 1/4 inch to 4 inches in width depending on the size of the words, length of the story and number of pages. My eyes get droopy, I doze, awaken, turn off the lamp, say goodnight to my wife and close my eyes. Last thought.."What a day! OR WAS IT?

OK. Here's the point to my madness. We're so busy we've forgotten how to live. The mist is thick and the lights not getting through.  Something needs to change for me to find THE WAY. How do I vaporize the mist? I become a Vaporizer. Vaporizers change lives and as a result, their lives change. You'll discover exhaustion disappears once you form a habit of vaporizing. Let me explain. 

The Disciple James points out, "Life is a vapor! Like a morning mist that soon vanishes, so life is short and uncertain." There are no guarantees about tomorrow, let alone next year or ten years from now. You may be young and healthy this morning, but you easily could be a corpse by sundown tonight. You may be thinking, “That’s morbid! I don’t want to think about such things!” But if you ignore these things, you will not live your life properly in light of eternity. James wants us to know that…

Moments later I asked myself this question, "Am I going to live my remaining days on this earth like the super busy guy with out of whack priorities."  Not a chance.

So how does one become a Vaporizer? Keep your eyes open. Be sensitive to what's going on around you.  Move forward with your promptings. Never give up. Stay persistent and become an excellent listener. Tomorrow,  people will cross your path that you'll never see again. Your exposure to them may be a few minutes at best then they'll become a vapor; a mist in the wind. To become a Vaporizer you've got to engage. Smile and make eye contact. Say something nice. Tip generously. Help a person with a flat tire. Call the cashier or server by their first name. Pay attention to them. Choose to be a difference maker. Spark a conversation when given the opportunity. Engage and see what happens. Quit thinking about you and/or your issues. Your issues will begin to evaporate once you've vaporized the mist from other eyes. You'll be amazed!

I'm not meant to be engulfed in my own life. God created me to be in community and focus on others. In doing so, He'll bring out the best in me, provide great opportunities to serve or volunteer and create interesting stories that will encourage people and grow His Kingdom.

Life is too short. The mist will disappear once you shine the light. My time is flashing by quickly. I've tuned into the Almighty to prevent Vaporizing opportunities from passing me by. Be Prepared! Be Intentional! Be Ready! "Be Willing! Be Courageous! Be Bold! Be Humble! Be Persuasive!

Once the mist dissipates, the light begins to shine. Keep the light shining, life gets brighter. 

Adios for now,