Forest Gump made that line famous and for a guy who seemed very simple he had a lot of wisdom. I suggest you watch the show again. Today I saw a Facebook page (the closest thing we had to Facebook was those pictures we passed around each year and traded with our friends) that said, "people just join the military because there too dumb to go to college...". I had a cow over this one! First off she spelled "they're" as "there" and second only because folks who had guts and gumption and cared about their freedom sacrificed for this country. I wish I had her picture as I would post it for something to throw darts at. Sure we Americans and our leaders make mistakes but overall it is infinitely better hear than anywhere else. But this happenstance made me think about all the old folks that came out of Grainola and Shidler and literally every town in the Osage and beyond to fight for America. Where were the intellectual cowards when it got down to protecting America?
Think about it for a minute. How many people not only gave up their life and if they lived their quality of life because they were injured. My first cousin, Stanley Patterson, a US Marine went to Vietnam twice and has paid for it his entire life. Wayne Patterson, his older brother, was in the Bay of Pigs and their dad, Uncle Harley, was in WWII. Arnold Jones of Grainola was a highly decorated soldier from Grainola, Andrew Glazebrook fought in WWI and WWII, Uncle Snyd (Vernon Snyder) was a prisoner of war with the Japanese and the list goes on and on. Mark Whitt served for about 30+ years all for God and country. Mark's dad (also Mark) was a veteran as well. Then we have this sniveling punk kid spouting off remarks about military people.
OK, back to a box of chocolates. In life we are blessed because you just don't know what is in that box of chocolates and sometimes you get one you just have to spit out. Isn't life better when we can look at the contrast of the good and bad? I was asked today if I had ever failed in a really big bad way. Heck yes! I would dare say there is not a single person out there who has not doubted their own abilities, talents, smarts (country for intelligence) and even looks. In fact I know of at least two young teenage girls over the years who could have won most beauty contests and thought they were ugly and overweight. I for one did very well in school both college and high school and have for years wanted to be smart like almost everyone around me. We are harder on ourselves than anyone else and sometimes we take little bitty things that someone said and we make it into something horrible about ourselves. Sure there are those who seem to always be confident but I bet you a dollar to a donut they doubt themselves many times. We are all human beings and we have all messed up. Just keep looking for that piece of chocolate with the caramel and a nut in it. Time always passes and hurts, doubts and wounds heal. I know folks think that I have lived a great life and everything turns into money. Bull S___! I just never have quit, thrown in the towel, screamed calf rope (anyone remember that one) or stopped trying.
Think of it this way I have a box of chocolates and in each one is a triumph or a tragedy and some are bigger and some are smaller than others. So here is my pieces of chocolate:
Think about it for a minute. How many people not only gave up their life and if they lived their quality of life because they were injured. My first cousin, Stanley Patterson, a US Marine went to Vietnam twice and has paid for it his entire life. Wayne Patterson, his older brother, was in the Bay of Pigs and their dad, Uncle Harley, was in WWII. Arnold Jones of Grainola was a highly decorated soldier from Grainola, Andrew Glazebrook fought in WWI and WWII, Uncle Snyd (Vernon Snyder) was a prisoner of war with the Japanese and the list goes on and on. Mark Whitt served for about 30+ years all for God and country. Mark's dad (also Mark) was a veteran as well. Then we have this sniveling punk kid spouting off remarks about military people.
OK, back to a box of chocolates. In life we are blessed because you just don't know what is in that box of chocolates and sometimes you get one you just have to spit out. Isn't life better when we can look at the contrast of the good and bad? I was asked today if I had ever failed in a really big bad way. Heck yes! I would dare say there is not a single person out there who has not doubted their own abilities, talents, smarts (country for intelligence) and even looks. In fact I know of at least two young teenage girls over the years who could have won most beauty contests and thought they were ugly and overweight. I for one did very well in school both college and high school and have for years wanted to be smart like almost everyone around me. We are harder on ourselves than anyone else and sometimes we take little bitty things that someone said and we make it into something horrible about ourselves. Sure there are those who seem to always be confident but I bet you a dollar to a donut they doubt themselves many times. We are all human beings and we have all messed up. Just keep looking for that piece of chocolate with the caramel and a nut in it. Time always passes and hurts, doubts and wounds heal. I know folks think that I have lived a great life and everything turns into money. Bull S___! I just never have quit, thrown in the towel, screamed calf rope (anyone remember that one) or stopped trying.
Think of it this way I have a box of chocolates and in each one is a triumph or a tragedy and some are bigger and some are smaller than others. So here is my pieces of chocolate:
- got a great job right out of college working for Ross Perot
- Moved to Dallas and then to Chicago
- Got into Amway (hard work and lots of rejection, painful experience but made a lot of money)
- Changed jobs and hated it
- Had our first child (one of the very best things to every happen)
- Moved to Oklahoma and a new job
- While doing that started a chain of day care centers (big bad failure, bad idea)
- Bought more day care centers (big bad idea)
- Bought more real estate to average out of a bad deal (worked pretty good)
- Bought a bank (president committed fraud, big bad idea)
- Very successful career in data processing for banks while living in Oklahoma with short moves to Colorado and Texas then traveled all over the US.
- Bought Auntie Anne's Pretzels stores (8 - all over Oklahoma) - very bad idea
- Started an armored car company - one of the worst ideas
- built a business of owning and operating ATMs/money machines all over the US - very good idea for about five years then became a bad idea
- Bought more real estate, rental houses, offices, land, farms
- Started development company for housing projects - very bad idea
- Started home construction business - worst idea yet
- Start commercial office building company - very good idea
- Bought more land and a farm
- Built the first Pumpkin Patch in Edmond - very good idea
- Quit data processing company and started consulting company - not real bad but not good
- Went back to finance industry = very good idea
- Started software companies to build remote deposit applications for banks - so so
- Built software for collection of bad checks - so so
- Started selling credit card processing services to banks = Pretty good
- 2007 and 2008 what can I say - bad bad bad but buy buy buy
- if you don't get it what I am saying is it was a bad deal if you owned stuff but a great time to buy, which I did
- Became a certified trust officer managing trusts - not great but not bad either
- started a financial planning business - pretty smart
- taught Sunday school to young marrieds and youth for 37 years - good idea
- started a non-profit for adults with special needs - Wings - very good
- Raised three children - very proud of them and the decisions they have made
- Stayed married for 40 years as of December 21st, 2014 - pretty good idea
I left out so much but you get the idea. You win and you lose but Never ever cheat, steal or lie. Help others reach their goals. Give a smile and encouragement to everyone. Trust God when it gets dark even if you or me have not followed the straight and narrow. Get up one more time than you get down. Thank God for the blessings of opportunities that have gone bad.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
So what do you learn in the Osage?
- Persevere
- Never, Never give up
- Love life and forgive others will give you freedom from bondage of bad thinking
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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