Take A Damn Break And Pay Attention

 SLOW DOWN --take a break. All of you. Quit thinking about what you think is important and worry about what is important.


I speak from experience because a life filled with anxiety sucks. That's why I say, slow down. Concentrate on things that matter like your family, your health, your well-being. Screw the Facebook and Twitter every now and then. They're not that important in the long run; matter of fact in the short run too.


The other night I went to the Warriors playoff game and saw some of the few press friends that I can talk too; while schmoozing with the gang I noticed a few of the --I'll call them the ego schlubs --that sounds about right--they were glued to their smart-ass phones and oblivious to the surroundings. Good for them, in a way, their life reduced to staring at an electronic device. What tranquility. They need to slow down too and look in the mirror because at some point it won't be such a big deal and they'll have to deal with real life and real-life issues.


The past six months has been traumatic. Eye-opening too. Out of misery and anxiety and feeling down for all the various reasons and worrying about things out of my control I figured out the biggest things in life, I thought, are real meaningless after all. I'm trudging into Dr. Phil territory and don't mean to inject therapy into the equation but we worry too much and are concentrated on various things, ideas, events most of which are insanely trivial. We all need to collectively check our ego at the door. SLOW DOWN! Relax. Don't carry grudges like I used to 'cause it's not worth it. Fight the real fight, the good fight and pay no attention to the posers. They're living in a fantasy world based on half-truths and delusional state-of-being. If they only knew how worthless it all is, under the circumstances, then they themselves would get out from under the shell and sort of figure it out but they are in eternal denial. I was there too one day and have, thank god, realized how much a fraud I became because I used to think all of this meant something--it doesn't.


I am hopeful that this registers for some of you. Everyone. Media, civilians, armed guards, sports pundits, everyday people. Individuals who take pictures of their parking passes. Credentialed sports cable behemoths. Drinkers. Smokers. Bloggers and other assorted sociopaths who take pictures and selfies.


The big picture needs your assistance. Membership has its privileges.


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A Life Lesson

 You will never drag me down. Never. You will never, ever, make it impossible for me to speak and to convey my thoughts to my readers, all of them even those that do not like me but can come here and always depend on reading about media matters and subjects interesting to them.


You have tried to silence me through intimidation and innuendo. You have made fun of, belittled me, my friends and foes alike but they still keep on showing up.


Against all odds, I continue to produce. Not all of it is perfect by any means and sometimes I have the urge to just give up and surrender but I can't. My life is a little busy of late; just trying my best to navigate through all of it under less than ideal circumstances and add a little bit to the conversation. That's all.


Truth be told this is no diversionary tactic requesting sympathy or redemption. I had my day in the sunlight and have now figured out, belatedly, that there's far more important things in life than fooling around the relative triviality of some little media blog. Health is important. Physical, mental, all of it. This? This is what it should be and is. It's a place where you can hang out, all of you, a cyber bar to have a few and not have to worry about driving home when too many libations have been had.


Take the time someday, today for example, to tell the person you care for that you love them. Life is too short and unfair. Life is a luxury we often take for granted and only realize that when fate can take an ugly turn. We have no control over that. And when we're fortunate to experience life's upsides and its magic we take it for granted. Don't.


I had an epiphany. I wondered aloud what it would be like for all of us to realize how puny all of this is; how so much of it really, in the big picture didn't matter at all. Forgive me for ruminating about something you might not be accustomed to here just understand that this isn't life and death. I take it seriously and despite losing my shirt every day just trying to survive literally and figuratively, the biggest and most important thing is keeping it all, this, in perspective. It's a life lesson.


And ultimately, life rules, for better or worse.


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