Face-Off

This week, I've been forced to confront a number of unpleasant things.

One of them was a person who has insisted on plowing full steam ahead for months with something, despite repeated kind-hearted pleas from those affected...pleas to take stock of the fact that the effort just wasn't going anywhere.

A second was an inner-ego aspect that had to be recognized, dealt with and controlled. A third was the realization that no matter how much I want to control certain things, I just have to deal with the parts of life that can be changed...and often, those things aren't people or the economy or even transforming every person into someone who cares about what I care about. (And although I realized this third thing long before, I still find myself struggling with it.) I see a big theme here.

I guess the truth is, we all have to endure Face-Offs from time to time throughout life. The more honest we are with others and ourselves, the less frequently they occur.

I've noticed an abundance of street corner characters over the past few months, people dressed in costumes trying to wave you in to a restaurant, tire store or furniture outlet. It seems to be a symptom of the economy. The best of them are dressed in very silly--and sometimes obsurd--outfits, waving like hell to get you to notice. The worst of them have lame, unimaginative costumes with people inside of them who stand there, barely moving.

So my friend shared a little tid-bit with me yesterday as we chatted at a light: "No matter how many Face-Offs you're having, no matter how frustrating things can seem, at least you're not dressed up as a pizza standing there in 5:00 traffic."