Gordon of Gordon Avenue

I was talking with a friend this weekend and he started opening up to me and sharing his story.  The night before he had visited his mom and her new husband…and it didn’t turn out so good.

When he was a kid he remembered hearing his parents fight a lot, but he didn’t know about what.  Then the day came in high school when his parents officially broke it off and got divorced.

“I wanted to go live with my mom, but she didn’t want me too.  My own mom didn’t want me.  So I’ve lived with my dad ever since” he told me.  Feeling moved by his vulnerability I asked how the whole situation made him feel.  One word came from his lips:  Abandoned.

More specifically, he said he felt abandoned by his mom.  Can’t you imagine knowing that your own mother didn’t want you?  Maybe you can.

As we talked more he expressed to me how he has always felt that the whole situation was his fault.  That maybe if he was older he could have stopped the fighting or something…maybe he was an extra stress on the family that drove his mom away?

It amazes me how easy it is to take the blame for something that we have no control over.  My friend asked the question, “Was it my fault?”  No it wasn’t.  But that doesn’t change the fact that he feels that way.

So I guess I’m speaking to two people here.  The first group of you is the ones that can relate to my friend; you’ve experienced divorce or some form of abandonment.  Please know that it is not your fault.  They made their choice.  Was it fair?  Absolutely not…and it sucks.  Lets just be honest.

The second group is those of you like me.  Here you are listening to your friend talk about the abandonment they are experiencing, what do you say?  My advice:  not much.  Just listen.  Let them know you got their back.  And for goodness sake let them know it’s not their fault!  But nothing more.

It’s Brown.  It’s Round.  And it’s the reason I’ve had any success in life.

What is this wondrous sphere that has so guided the life of Gordon?  It’s called a…

Basketball.

I was reading yesterday and I came across an ancient Hebrew Proverb that caught my eye.

“Lazy people are a pain to their employer.  They are like smoke in the eyes.”

Ouch!

The first thought that came to my mind after I read this was, “If you like smoke in your eyes, than you’ll really like having a lazy person work for you!”  This brings out a truth that I think no one should take lightly at all.

If you are lazy, you will be a pain to others.

You will have the same effect as smoke in the eyes.

So back to basketball.

It’s not really basketball in itself that has helped me in my life; its what it gave me that’s so important.  Through sports I learned the priceless lesson of Discipline.  I remember practicing drills for 4 hours a day in the summers.  I remember putting cinder blocks on my shoulders and doing defensive slides.  I remember going to camps and practices where we would do the same thing over and over again till it became perfect.  I remember running when I didn’t want to.  Working out when I didn’t feel good.  All of this gave me the greatest gift of all time:  The gift of Discipline.

Think for a second about anybody that has been really successful in anything.  Every single one of them has worked really hard to get where they are at.  The lazy person never succeeds….or if they happen to get lucky, does it ever last?  And if it does happen to “last” how annoying are they?

Ask yourself this question:  How disciplined am I…for real?

I have no sympathy for lazy peopEdit Post ‹ Gordon of Gordon Avenue — WordPressle.  When they complain to me about how they can’t seem to “catch a break” or get a job, it only irritates me.  Here’s why:  If I am a wise employer, I’m NOT going to hire a lazy person; that would be dumb of me.  So first, make sure you work really hard.  Then let the complaints come.  =)

I’m speaking mainly to myself on this one.  The lazy part in my life is sleep.  I could sleep the day away if I let myself.  What’s Yours?

When you say No you actually mean Yes.

I don’t know about you, but I have a problem.  There are things in my life that I keep on doing that I know I shouldn’t do, and in fact I don’t want to do, but for some odd reason….I keep doing them.  Can you relate?

It’s such a tiny word, the word NO.  Yet with it comes the power to change your life in an instant.  Although I don’t think we really like this word.  It seems so negative, so depressing, almost as if it will take from us our freedom.  But what if the opposite is true?

The words Yes & No are opposite words with completely opposite meanings.  But is it possible that they also are the same thing?  I read a book once called “The Positive No” in which the author talked about how to say “no” in a way that brought out positive results.  What he pointed out is something that I will never forget.

Whenever you say “No” to something, you’re actually saying “Yes” to something else.  If I chose to say No to unhealthy food (McDonalds comes to mind), for example, I’m actually saying Yes to good health.  When I say No to Country Music, I’m saying Yes to good music!  (ok that was a joke…but seriously now…)  And the opposite it true as well: whenever I say Yes, there is something that I’m saying No to.

Sometimes I think we only hurt ourselves more by gritting our teeth and repeating to ourselves, “I won’t do it, I won’t do it….”  It’s like trying to NOT think about a White Elephant; the more you focus on NOT thinking about it the more you do.  Go ahead try it for a second…do not think about a white elephant.

It actually makes it worse!

So what do you want, really?  Think about it again, dig a little deeper.  When I focus on what I really want—on my “Yes”—than surprisingly those little temptations don’t have the same appeal anymore.  No and Yes are one; you can’t have one without the other.

There is a phrase that my dad has been saying to me since I was a kid.  It goes like this:

Anything of Great Significance requires a number greater than 1

I hear the door open and my mom’s sweet voice says, “Come on let’s go.”

It’s dark, raining, and worst of all…its 5 am. ( I know some of you are thinking the worst part is the fact that, Yes, I do still live with the parents….but hey, free rent!)

“How did I get myself into this?” I think out loud.

I go downstairs with both eyes still trying to figure out how to work, make myself a PB & J sandwich and put on the gear…complete with 5 layers.  I look at the Thermometer; 35 degrees.  Ok, one more Jacket.

5:30.  Time to go.

We put on our helmets, turn on our flashers, grab our rode bikes, and head out into the darkness.

For the last 3 months this is what I do 3 times a week.  It started when I realized that I didn’t like NOT being in shape.  I used to bike as a kid all the time; in fact, once I did 200 miles in one day!  But I stopped in High School, when my life became wrapped around basketball.  High School is done and so is those 2 hour practices everyday that keep you in phenomenal shape!  So a plan had to be made.

You ever want to do something like work out everyday, yet you can never make yourself do it?  I’m NOT a morning person.  So how in the world do I get myself to ride for an hour at 5 am and then go work out at the gym for another hour?  There is only one possible way:   TEAM.

Here is the reality:  you will never do anything truly worthwhile and long-lasting on your own.  This may be one of the greatest things that I’ve learned from my parents.  So if you want to get yourself in shape and work out on a weekly bases…you better get yourself a work out partner.  My dad and I have been workout partners since I was in High School and I can tell you, there have been so many times where I didn’t want to work out, but because of my Dad I did.

So if you want to do something really awesome, here is my advice:  Don’t do it alone.

Anything of Great Significance requires a number greater than 1

Me and by best friend Cory–or as I call him “The Man Mandina”–had been planning a “Mancation” for a long time.  We had it all planned out.  3 nights at the beach. 2 movie marathons.  It was going to be epic.  Then it happened….

This morning we were planning on leaving, when we found out that Cory’s wife had a high fever.  Hmmm…well no problem, she’ll get better…oh wait….that’s right…there is a little baby that needs to be taken care of….WELL CRAP!!

Needless to say, instead of hanging out with my best friend on the beach watching some good man movies like, “The Godfather,”  I’m sitting in busy coffee shop writing about disappointment.

What do you do with this?  When something you are looking forward to falls through.  When someone lets you down.  When you don’t do very well on that test.  When your favorites band’s new album sucks…

What do you do with disappointment?  There are two options here: 1.  Go throughout the day mopping, depressed, angry, and do nothing.   2.  Acknowledge that it sucks.  Move on.  Get back to work.

I know that the first option doesn’t do any good, but I still want to be depressed and angry…maybe I could buy a violin player for a day to walk around with me so everyone could sympathize with poor ol’ me?  I have only one wise choice:  Move On.

This is the difference between the Greats and the not-heard-of.  The Greats all have one thing in common; When disappointments come around they don’t stop.  They move on.  And they find Joy in every situation.  If you want to make a person weak, kill their joy.  And Joy is way different than Happiness.  It sounds really weird, almost dumb to say, but its so true.

So I must find a way to get my joy back today.  I am blessed and so are you.  I guarentee if you stop for 30 seconds today and start naming off things in your life that your thankful for (no matter how insignificant it seems) it will make a difference.

Sweat dripping from my face.

My hair wet like I just got out of the shower.

Guitar in hand.  Mic on stand.

and Pure Joy embellishing me as I looked out into the audience to see people jumping around like a flock of frolicking rabbits!

Our show last night was incredible.

First off, it was freak’n fantastic to so many new faces!  Its always a good thing for a band to see brand spank’n new people who came because they’re friend told them. “Dude, you’ve got to check this band out!”

And as cool as that was, what happened next blew me away.  As I started singing “Moment I Meet My Wish” I looked upon the faces below me, and to my amazement, every one was singing along!

Could this be? No way!

And it didn’t stop there.  The rest of the show people where cheering for specific songs, singing at the top of their lungs, and could it be….yes I do believe it happened…the band playing after us even got up and jumped around themselves!

Last night was a very special moment for me personally.  So thank you to all who came out!

Our live shows are something we believe to be our strength and we put a lot into them, so it’s always rewarding to see people come out!

I’m really looking forward to our next show, which will be very different.  Welcome everyone to Gordon Avenue…gone Acoustic! I personally love our acoustic shows because they are so different than our full band shows.  We like to throw in surprises with all sorts of special guests to sing with us, bust a violin, mandolin, and so on.  Also, our drummer will be opening with some of his own stuff he’s been working on.  So hopefully we’ll see you there!

last night was one of the funnest shows we’ve done in awhile! New faces, sweaty bodies jumping around, people singing the songs really loud!

eating a hot dog

sitting in a room with soft pillows, candy canes, a disco monkey, and an open box…of donuts

my quads are on fire