To Laugh Much And Often;To Win the Respect of Intelligent PeopleAnd The Affection Of Little Children;To Earn The Appreciation Of Honest CriticsAnd Endure the Betrayal Of False Friends;To Appreciate Beauty, To Find The Best In Others;To Leave The World A Bit Better,Whether By a Healthy Child, A Garden PatchOr a Redeemed Social Condition;To Know Even One Life Has Breathed EasierBecause You Lived.This Is to Have Succeeded.
Let’s take it line by line, shall we…
1) If you know me, you know that laughter is large part of my persona. Being raised by intelligent and funny people, I learned to laugh early and practice often at home and at work.
2) I believe I have succeeded at this because I have been successful at every job I have had, as far as I know, and I have been particularly successful at building relationships or “fitting in”. I think the ability to adapt comes from moving around so much growing up. After being the “new guy” three or four times, you learn how to make friends quickly.
3) I have a wonderful relationship with my children, although it differs with each one, and I believe that my scouts are proud to have me as their den leader and Cubmaster.
4) I have room to grow here as I have yet to submit anything for “honest criticism”. My interpretation of “honest criticism” is feedback outside of your family or workplace. I am just now beginning to understand that you don’t have to wait for the critics to come to you, you can go to them.
5) The one instance of betrayal that comes to mind occurred in high school. I played junior varsity football as a sophomore and varsity as a junior. During spring practice my junior year, I saw the writing on the wall and realized that I was simply too slow to continue to play and that there was a talented junior coming up who would surely start ahead of me. I talked to my dad and he was fine with me giving up football. He had always said that if I ever decided I didn’t want to play anymore, then I didn’t have to play for him. As I had already given up basketball after my sophomore year (buried on the depth chart), I decided that as a senior I would get involved with the BUCS.
The BUCS were the cheerleader escorts. It was a group of junior and senior guys who didn’t play football, but wore coat and ties to the games and hung out with the cheerleaders. The BUCS of previous years had been known as big partiers and when my best friend and I joined as seniors, we planned to keep up the tradition. Everything was going fine until there was a home game when my parents were out of town. All of us, who liked to party, came over to my house and proceeded to get completely hammered drinking Goldschlager (which, to this day, I cannot drink). I should have never gone to the game in the state I was in, but I did. To make a long story short, I got sick at the game, I was stopped by the police on the way out, and I almost went to jail for public intoxication. On Monday, I was given a week of OCS (On Campus Suspension) and my parents weren’t exactly thrilled with me either.
Where does the betrayal come in? One of the other senior members of the BUCS, and his mother, decided at the next meeting that I was a disgrace and should not be allowed to continue to be part of the organization. My mom happened to be at the meeting and she didn’t appreciate having her son criticized right in front of her by a hypocritcal teenager and a mother with her head in the sand. He and I had been friends since I had started at the school and he wasn’t exactly the straightest arrow in the quiver. Therefore, I was kicked out of the BUCS as well.
Big whoop. I learned my lesson, as my father so eloquently stated: it only takes a minute of stupidity to destroy the reputation you have spent your entire life building. The funny things about the situation were:
- my parents and my girlfriend’s parents thought that the school administration made an example out of me and I was punished too harshly for the crime
- my friends thought it was hilarious and didn’t care that I had gotten in trouble
- people who thought I was a nerdy honor student had a new found respect for me when they heard I had gotten busted for drinking
- I didn’t really care because I knew I was going to Auburn in the fall and would probably never return to Longview.
What about the guy who “betrayed” me? My guess is he is still a prick.
6) I get to appreciate beauty every day because I wake up with, come home to, and go to bed with one of the few completely beautiful people on the planet: my wife. As stunningly beautiful as she is on the outside, it is her soft heart and personality that make her truly beautiful.
7 - 12) I am too young and I have accomplished too little to be able to address these lines of the poem.
At this point, I believe I am successful but I also believe I am not living up to my potential. We will see what the future holds.
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