A Good Monday

Yes, Loyal Reader: you read the title of this post correctly. For once in my life (believe me, I'm as shocked as anyone!) I have had a Good Monday. (Best guess here: the King of the Damned is wearing a wool turtlneck sweater today . . .)

For starters, my poem was one of the two winners of Holly Lisle's contest and I was very pleased (surprised-but very pleased!) by her kind words. Poetry not being my forte, it was doubly nice for me. Also, I ran a four hour seminar today, which -while not fun- at least went easily and was well received. The boss was thrilled and complimented me in front of the office bigwigs, which was a good thing.

The weekend was very nice, the couples baby shower turned out to be nothing more than a dinner party (thank God!) and my brother's wedding was a very nice affair. I got to see all my family, especially all my lovely nieces who I don't see often enough. On Saturday, I got in a lot of type-in for GS and I'm really happy with the way the whole thing is turning out. I have a good feeling about this book.

Holly had an interesting topic of her site today: "The five smartest mistakes I ever made". She asked folks to post their own on their blogs, so here are mine . . .

1. I Quit School and Left Home at Age 14

This was a real rough time for me but it was necessary. I'm not a proponent of either of these things as good ideas but it forced me to grow in ways I never could have imagined. I had gone from being a perfect child and straight "A" student to doing drugs, failing every class, being brought home by the cops each night and seriously contemplating suicide. Leaving that environment behind taught me I was capable of facing life on my own terms.

2. I got married way too young.

Twenty-one years old is too early for anybody to make a lifetime commitment. Lucky for me I hit the right woman the first time out of the gate. She turned me around, taught me to believe in my own potential and stuck by me through more scary shit than you'd ever want to hear about. Fifteen years later and I'm here to tell ya' it was the smartest thing I ever did. Period.

3. I started two (failed) businesses

I learned more by failing than I ever could have succeeding. I was looking for the easy way out, the quick buck, and an escape from dreary adulthood. Failing taught me that you get what you earn and you have a right to be proud of what you've got, no matter how little it may be.

4. Had my son when we were piss-poor and just gone into hock up to our ass to buy a home.

Could barely meet the mortgage and needed tens of thousands (that we didn't have) to make the dump liveable. The boy was an incredible financial strain we couldn't begin to handle. He was also the greatest gift I could ever conceive of and worth every second of the three jobs I worked to get by. He's the greatest thing I will ever do in my life and I than god for him every day.

5. I cut my entire family and all my friends out of my life for an extended period. Spoke to none of them for years -didn't even invite my family to my wedding.

That was painful. For me, and for the folks I care about. It was done out of anger and misunderstanding but I needed that space away to become a man. I found my own voice, my own beliefs, and my own way of facing the world that I never could have done if I had those people hovering over my shoulder, giving advice and disapproving this or that. I needed time to become me. Now it's all settled and I'm back in their lives, but it's on my terms, not theirs.

That's it. That's me in a nutshell. Hope it doesn't frighten you too much (It scares the hell outta me!)

Later!