I've Seen What Happy Is

My father continues to teach me every day. He continues to teach me the most important lessons of life. And he continues to teach me what it means to strive to be a good man.

His latest lesson derived from a glance and a facial expression. It was all at once an expression of complete and utter contentment, peace, accomplishment, and hope.

Last weekend my sister and her family joined me and my family at my parent's house. During the simple act of eating breakfast together around a large table I saw the expression that so moved me. It happened when my father looked around the table at his three grandsons, his granddaughter, his son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, and his wife. I think even my new puppy caught glimpse.

He was for that moment filled with pride. It was a pride that I am just beginning to understand at this stage in my life, and one that I truly hope to feel at his stage in life. It was a pride earned from being the patriarch of a thriving family, and from being loved by that family.

With just a glance he teaches me. With just a glance I learn what I want in life. With just a glance I am utterly grateful.

HJ

Sharing Just For Sharing - The Plateau Of Social

Acta Non Verba is the credo of Father's alma mater, USMMA. It means "Actions Not Words."

My Dad and I are also big Theodore Roosevelt fans, who's personal credo was "speak softly and carry a big stick"-- another version of "Actions Not Words."

But today being famous has become its own virtue. People are famous just for being famous, with no "Action" required. The Kardashians are a prime example of this dynamic. Aside from one uninspiring sex tape (so I'm told) have any one of them ever done anything except whine in front of a camera? Other examples include the likes of Paris Hilton, The Situation, and a myriad of YouTubers out there just flooding the world with their own likenesses.

Social media has only served to exacerbate this phenomenon. In fact, sharing has now become its own virtue. Klout scores, Twitter followers, likes, retweets - they are all becoming a new doorway to our own perceived fame. While chasing this fame won't end social networking as we know it, I do believe it is leading to its plateau.

My friend Tony Gandia pointed out to me that UNfriending has become a trend. Why? because people are flooding us by hitting share just to hit share. People are pumping more and more useless and regurgitated information into the ether as if they themselves created the original content. All this in an attempt to to increase the Klout score, tack up some likes, grab some followers, and reach for our own little moments of fame.

There is information and data, and then there is noise. And here I am ready to hit "publish post" to create some more noise.

We Think It Is So Much Harder Now, But Is It?

We're moving at warp speed from day to day, meeting to meeting, project to project, and commitment to commitment. We're working harder than ever to succeed, provide for our families, and in many cases just to make ends meet. Many of us in my generation, the 35 - 45 set, who are starting and raising families, and who are building careers, are often quick to lament how complex and fast paced our lives are now. Technology, broadband, and constant access have turned up the heat on our lives, and we strain against the pressure. But is it really harder now then it was when, for example, when my father was my age?

My father was born two years before the Great Depression. He was a college kid (at a Federal a academy) during World War II. He served in the US Navy as an Officer in Korea, and he started his family when our country was engaged in Vietnam. He was in corporate America during the hardly booming 70's, and then he had to send two kids to private colleges just as tuitions started to balloon in the 80's. And in the midst of all this providing there was retirement to prepare for in the late 90's, a retirement that arrived somewhat earlier than expected due to the now common term downsizing.

Granted there was no 24/7 information cycle, there was no constant transaction stream at the speed of broadband, and there were no PDAs as appendages. But does it sound like it was easier during my father's time to raise his family, grow a career, and grasp at some peace of mind? Yet he made it seem so doable, almost easy. Now I understand.

It may not be easy now, but it certainly was no easier then.