VOTE FOR YOUR LIFE

Some days it’s harder to get started than others. Today was that kind of day. Lisa had to pry me out of bed.

“It’s election day!” she said. “Time to get up and vote.”

You would have thought she was ten and it was her birthday, or that she was successfully running for mayor.

I wasn’t having any of it, especially not at 6:15 a.m.

“Let’s go get coffee. And then we can vote! We can be there just around 7:00 a.m. when they open. Then I can go to school.”

Lisa is a teacher, kindergarten and first grade.

Can’t you just see her in the classroom, “Look, kids, I voted!” as she shows them her red, white, and blue, “I Voted!” sticker stuck on her shirt?

Makes a grump like me just want to scream. Doesn’t she know I have things to think about, and things to be worry about, and things to be grumpy (I refuse to say depressed.) about?

Doesn’t she know that I woke up worrying about the recession, which is wearing me down financially and emotionally, at around 4 a.m., and couldn’t get back to sleep until about a minute before she woke me at 6:15 a.m., with her shuffling and getting ready and printing out the newspaper's Election day guide to the various candidates and ballot initiatives?

She had been preparing for this for days.

I wasn’t having any of it. I was genuinely tired. I still am, as I write this. (Can you hear the tiny violins playing in the background?) I would vote later in the day, at some reasonable hour, like 7:00 p.m.

“Be gone, with thee, woman, and let me sleep, or at least let me lie here feeling sorry for myself.”

She must have sensed my thoughts, or simply inferred from the pillow over my head that I wasn’t going anywhere. That’s when she broke out with one of her secret weapons. She was dressed and ready to go, but she quietly layed down in bed next to me, the guy with the pillow over his head, and snuggled close behind me. That’s all. She said nothing, but I could feel her back there. She rested her hand on my back. She took her time, the sneak, and just layed there breathing, of all things, right next to me.

And a lot of crap just drained away from me.

Yes, the economy is tough. Yes, I’m not sure where all the money will come from. Yes, real estate prices are still drifting downwards. Yes, I’m frustrated, but it’s a fine Tuesday, Election Day Tuesday at that. And my coaching practice is going well. And the kids are amazing. And I live in a great town, in a great, though somewhat bruised, country.

There are no thugs outside my door. Armed police wouldn’t break in and arrest me for criticizing the government, as they had just done to a billionaire (have they no respect?) newspaper publisher in Russia. Nor would they harass me if I voted for Daffy Duck for governor of California this fine Election Day morning. I know this is not true of all voting places in this great country of ours, so we need to be like Lisa, and get up real early and be one of the first to vote, and keep on voting, and keep on teaching those little kids, and those not-so-little kids, and those big kids, and those adults, and ourselves how to live full, passionate lives.

Tough economy or not, bad night’s sleep or not, grouchy or not, it’s time to get up, and be thankful for all the blessings in our lives, which if you are really lucky includes being blessed with someone in your life who knows how to get you out of bed and into your life when you’re not so sure how to do it for yourself.

Or maybe it’s your eyes that can bless you and help you get out of bed by showing you the magnificent light pouring through your bedroom window. Or maybe it’s your ears showering you with the raucous sound of crows from a nearby telephone wire. Or maybe you are blessed by the knowledge that your child needs to be awakened and fed and taken to school.

            Some days it’s harder than others. We all know those days. That’s when you have to try your hardest. That’s when you need help, like I did. But you have to let the world in so it can help you, whether it’s the touch of another person, the whistle of a teapot, or the light streaming in your bedroom window. The world is here for you, but you have to let it in.

            Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
            are heading home again. 

            Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
            the world offers itself to your imagination, 

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place 

in the family of things.

                                                Mary Oliver

I can be reached at drjohnfluca@gmail.com  805/680-5572.

ONE MORE TIME: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE SAVED CHILEAN MINERS

It’s been weeks since the last Chilean miner was rescued. Numerous articles and programs have covered the 69-day ordeal, but before this remarkable journey fades into the past, it might be worthwhile to take one more look at the lessons we can learn from this rescue mission.

            The facts: buried 2300 feet underground, 90 degrees Fahrenheit, 80% humidity, 69 days, 17 days before anyone knew they were alive, 17 days on 2 days worth of food, 2 spoonfuls every 2 days for 17 days.

Makes one think of the story of Jesus feeding the masses with a few loaves and fishes. Goes to show you what you can do with cooperation, faith, discipline and a shared vision of the common good. No violence, no madness, no cannibalism, no mutiny, just an inspiring testament to what we can do when we are at our best.

            Some lessons for us to consider:

1. DO NOT LET WHAT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE STOP YOU. A mining rescue of this magnitude had never been attempted before.

2. GET HELP. They asked for help and got it. They went to NASA, for example, for help with building the rescue pod Phoenix.

3. TAKE ACTION. DON’T LET WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW STOP YOU. There were three boring operations going on simultaneously since no one knew which if any would be successful. The drilling teams came from America, Canada, and Chile. Get real. Get the best. Try different methods. A team from a small outfit in Pennsylvania got there first.

4. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BIG PRIZE.

They left politics, ego, and national silliness out of it. It wasn’t about the mining company. It wasn’t about Chile. It wasn’t about the president of Chile. It was about saving the miners.

5. COLLABORATE AND EMPOWER. It was acknowledged that expertise was distributed so they distributed power to get the job done. Mining experts. Psychologists. Medical specialists. NASA. And most importantly, the miners themselves. 

6. HUMOR IS A LIFESAVER. Who will ever forget that first miner coming out of a hole in the ground after 69 days and handing out ‘souvenir’ rocks?

7. FAITH HELPS. Faith in yourself, in your team, in the people working to rescue you, and in your God. The miners were helped by their spiritual leaders, the shrines they set up, and the 34^th Miner, the higher power that many of the miners said kept them going.

8. WE CAN BE OUR BEST UNDER EXTREME CONDITIONS. Though fear can be overpowering, and can cause nightmares, as it did in a least one trapped miner, help, support, and courage can win the day.

9. YOU NEED A PURPOSE. Each miner had a job to fulfill. He had a purpose, a role, a function, and he had a meaning.  You had the tour guide, Dr, House, the chief, the writer, the spiritual guide and his assistant, the delivery man who handled incoming and outgoing packages, the gas man who monitored gas levels in the mine, and so on.

10. ROUTINE IS GOOD. They set up lights with timers and areas of light and dark so they could stick with a ‘normal’ routine. Each miner worked an eight-hour shift, with three shifts per day.

11. FOCUS ON THE PRESENT MOMENT. The miners kept focused on the tasks at hand, never forgetting the bigger picture, so as not to be overwhelmed by what might or might not happen in the future.

12. KEEP A HOPEFUL VISION. The miners all worked to keep alive their vision of their lives after they were rescued and would be returned to their families. They shaved. They bathed. They did their jobs. They wrote. They took videos. Esteban decided to renew his wedding vows. Claudio decided to get married. Ariel watched the birth of his child via video.

13. LEADERSHIP IS CRUCIAL. Leadership saved the day. Without leadership, the miners might never have survived the first 17 days with so little food.

14.  EMOTIONS ARE IMPORTANT. The miners talked. They shared. They laughed. They played. They told stories.

15. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE. The miners were not passive receivers waiting to be saved. They each played their part. They saved themselves by working together to live through the first 17 days on so little food. And they each worked every day after that, each contributing in their own way. Mario had a crucifix and statuettes sent down.

Edison led Elvis sing-a-longs. The doctor made regular rounds.

16. KEEP IT MEANINGFUL AND LEARN. One miner said, “I buried 40 years of my life, down there.” He said he saw God and the Devil, but he never doubted that God would win. Now it was time for him to make some changes in his life.

       You're not trapped underground, but you may be trapped, nonetheless. What do you need to escape from? What might your amazing rescue mission look like? Learn from these miners and consider doing the impossible. They did.