Thinking

By: L Jones

Today, I was just sitting at my desk, eating a delicious mandarin chicken salad from Wendy’s, thinking about my next blog post. I was going to write a three post mini-series on my deployment to Bosnia. The beginning of the post started like this; “It was September 11, 2001.” You see, I was scheduled to go to Bosnia that week. My unit had already left and was in the air when the planes crashed into their respective targets.

Instead, I’ve decided to insert a link to a forum that caught the feel of that day. As I read through the post on the forum, it took me back a bit. I will tell you about my exciting trip to Bosnia on my next post. For now, I think I’ll just reflect a bit.

See you tomorrow.

When you click on the link below, scroll down and pay attention to the times on each entry.

 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/520262/posts

By: L Jones

  Yesterday I did something that I never did before. I went to a casting call and auditioned for a part in a low budget pilot for a television show that will be pitched to the networks this summer. At first I was nervous, but then I thought to myself, what are you scared of? This is how the whole thing happened.

  My son came home from school with the script. He had an appointment to audition for a part at 5:10 pm on Saturday at the local library.  He was a little bit reluctant about reading for the part, because he hadn’t memorized the character’s lines. I explained to him that he would probably be able to read from the script and that I thought it would be a good idea that he go.I remember as a child having opportunities to do things and not taking advantage, because I was scared or not confident enough to try; I later regretted not taking some of those opportunities. I didn’t want that for him. We read a few lines, enough that he became confident once more and agreed to try.

  I had to write a paper for my college course; one that I still have not finished by the way. (Did any of you read my post about procrastination?)  I asked the kids if they felt like going to the library. Long story short we went, I did some research, he was able to read for the part early. I went to the area where they were conducting the auditions and there was a hallway lined up with high school kids. By the way, the show is about high school kids.

  The lady who was gathering the information for the casting call asked me if I was reading for any of the parts. I told her no, I was just there supporting my son. And that was it. We left the library after he was done doing his reading and went to get something to eat. I couldn’t stop thinking about the opportunity that I was once again passing up. 

  After some convincing from my son, I decided to go and take a shot. When I came back, the lady expressed how thankful she was that I came back to audition. She let me go right in ahead of the high school kids. She asked them if they minded. 

  The point I had to make to myself is that life is too short to be filled with regrets. When opportunities present themselves, take a chance. You never know what may come of it. I should know by Friday what came of my reading. It was not great by the way. If they give me a sample, I wil put it on Youtube. Until then…

 By: L Jones

One day a bird was flying to a warmer climate for the winter. A strong cold wind blew and disoriented the bird. It sent the bird plummeting towards the snow packed Earth, where it froze on impact. Some time later, an elephant walked by and took a dump on the bird. The warmth from the dump revived the bird. Shortly after that, a lion walked by and licked and cleaned the dump from the bird. Immediately after, the lion ate the bird.
The point, just because someone takes a dump on you, doesn’t mean they want to harm you, and just because someone cleans you up, doesn’t mean they want to help you.

It was a cold winter day in Alaska, some day in January 1993; not sure of the exact day. I was a private then in the Army, assigned to a combat engineer unit. This was my first duty station and my first real taste of the military; basic training is a mind game, but your unit is reality. I wasn’t adjusting well with my new found reality; incurring the wrath of my first sergeant regularly. This day was no different.

Knock. Knock. Knock. I delivered three subtle blows to the door of my first sergeant’s opened door and stood quietly until invited in. Inside my stomach was in knots, sort of like when you’re in trouble waiting on your discplinary parent to come home to sentence you and immediately carry out the punishment. He told me to get in the office and close the door.

A few choice words spewed from his mouth. The words were harsh and stern and pierced like daggers, penetrating my soul, while deflating my ego. A heat surged inside of me; anger maybe, but it seemed more like embarrassment looking back on it. My eyes had become glossy, near tearing; immediately he halted his verbal assault.

The words that came from his mouth after that have stayed with me and helped guide me through my military career and life. He told me “Look private, as long as I stay on you and fuss at you, I care. When I stop, I stopped.”

Before that talk, I had always looked at him in a negative way, because I viewed him and the elephant as an enemy to my being. Before that, I judged people’s actions without first considering their true intentions. Before that, I thought many a lion had my best interest at heart and blindly let them control me.

My last thought, you can’t judge a book by its cover; read the pages and know the story.