If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it at least 11 1/2 times: the hits just keep on coming.

Life hurtles towards us at full throttle sometimes and after taking a few shots to the noggin’, some body blows, more shots to the noggin’ and more body blows (followed by eleventeen hundred more shots to the noggin’), with any luck we learn to duck, bob and weave and defensively throw our hands up to try blocking some punches in the interest of self-preservation. In the heat of our battles in this thing called Life, emotions can run high and it can feel like the Universe is conspiring against us at times.

Fighting the Universe – how hard can it be?

Surely there’s a manual somewhere.

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s that putting your dukes up against a formidable opponent like the Universe can pretty much wipe you out. That’s not to say we should just wave the white flag at the first sign of adversity. Hells nah! Life’s a battle and we’d get nowhere fast if we didn’t push through the hard times. But there’s intrinsic value in taking a step back from the emotions and recognizing the patterns and signs we’re given when it becomes clear that not everything we want is meant for us or right for us.

Sure, we can fight it. We may feel that since we survived the last round, we’ve caught our breath long enough that we feel ready for the next one. The bell rings, we tap gloves and start dancing around the ring. “Stick and move. Stick….and MOVE!”

Well…

Sticking and moving doesn’t always work when Mr. Universe himself has other plans. And sometimes there’s just not much room to move in the boxing ring of life, despite our best shimmy. Eventually another uppercut smacks us upside the head and sometimes we’re knocked down and hit the canvas.

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Spoiler Alert: getting knocked down in life is part of the human experience.

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If this is where our story ended it would be the most pathetic of all, but thankfully it’s not. We know what to do – we’ve been knocked down plenty of times before. We might linger on the canvas longer than we should sometimes but that’s ok! And hopefully when we see others knocked down, we offer them a hand back up.

Flashback to a classic scene from Rocky IV where our beloved Rocky Balboa, bruised, bloodied and battered while fighting Russian beast Ivan Drago, is between rounds and trying to make sense of what’s happening.

Rocky: “I see three of him out there!”

Pauly: “Hit the one in the middle!”

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Good call. When life beats us down, our vision can get impaired but we gotta keep going. Hopefully we learn to follow the signs of what’s working in our lives and what isn’t so we can head the right direction.

The more I walk the planet, the deeper my appreciation is for the things that are flowing in my life – and I also appreciate the signs when things that used to flow, no longer do. Cuz when that bell rings for the next round…I’d like to be fighting along with life’s plan for me rather than against it.

Written on this day in 2013 prior to the Caveman Good days. Fun memory!

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Feeling thirsty? Have a sandwich!

I was driving eastbound on Interstate 80 with no particular destination in mind, which was perfect cuz I’m pretty sure I-80 stretches from Cali all the way to Great Britain (or until you run out of gas, whichever comes first). I was rocking out to Joe Satriani with the windows down and sunroof closed (only cuz I don’t currently have a sunroof but if I did you can bet it woulda been open! Miss my sunroof and how at night, it magically turned into a moonroof, a star-roof, a birdwatching roof, once a birdpoop recepticle-roof…..ok I don’t miss that but I digress).

According to my calculations, I was pretty close to the Equator when I started getting thirsty.  I pulled off to grab a drink at a gas station, and lo and behold, there it was: THE TRUCK. It wasn’t just any truck, mind you. It was an oasis in the desert…a cousin to the Taco Truck – a Pulled Pork Sammiches kinda thing. One bite and suddenly all of life’s mysteries were clear. My destiny, my reason for existence, was so that I’d be here, across from this random Shell station somewhere in North America, to experience this life-sustaining yummy scrumptiousness.

Ever have one of those random moments, one of those seemingly accidental finds, that has a way of restoring balance to the world? 

Ok me neither but this came pretty damn close.

The meat was tender goodness….the melt-on-your-tongue variety that instantly made my taste buds explode and made me feel like I never even had pulled pork before (which wouldn’t be much of a story if I hadn’t had it before, butchyaknow….I had so yeah!). And the sauce….ohhhh, the sauce. A tangy, spicy-sweet, supernova-sensation in your mouth, that’s what it was. If they sold the sauce alone, I’d pull over just for that. 

When traveling life’s highway, I highly recommend a good pulled pork sammich. Not only do they make for good eats, but you’ll look so much cooler when driving next to people who don’t have one….which means you’ll look cooler than pretty much everyone else on the road. Let’s face it – life isn’t a race – it’s about looking cooler than the people next to you. Sure, the argument could be made that there’s nothing really cool about having sauce dripping from your chin and bits of pork meat stuck in your teeth as you’re doing 95 while zooming towards your non-destination, but the naysayers will have something to say every time. I’m told it’s rude to point and laugh at other drivers who aren’t stuffing their faces full of pork. Then again…..the people who say such things never tasted this.

A couple of things struck me after getting back home. First, I never would’ve experienced Pulled Pork Bliss had I not decided to hit the Random Road. It’s OK to not have a plan all the time – the journey is what makes it! Secondly….being different, being unique, standing out…is GOOD. My new friends in that truck knew they had a great sandwich to offer humanity. The fact they had a quality product sure didn’t hurt, but really, just the fact they offered something other than the norm – that was enough for me. 

Be different today! Life’s highway is calling….