Filed under: Ordinary Life | Tags: bands, concerts, entertainment, Leslie
This weekend was supposed to be amazing. It was going to be epic. I had been looking forward to it for months, ever since my beautiful wife splurged on an anniversary present by getting a VIP package to see U2 at the Rose Bowl.
The weekend began when I woke up this past Saturday with a bit of an upset stomach, but thought it was just something I ate. Didn’t feel well enough to go to a friend’s housewarming party that afternoon, so sent my wife without me. I then spent the next few hours in unexpected agony and threw up about 6 times on Saturday. No bueno. I could barely stand and laying down hurt too much, so I spent most of the day and night trying to find a comfortable sitting position.
Sunday was better, but not great. Decided to pull it together and go to the concert since my wife had saved up a lot of money towards this and there was no way we were going to miss the experience. I was managing the discomfort okay, thankful we had easy VIP parking right next to the gate and a short walk to our seats in the 5th row. Spent about half the show sitting down as the Black Eyed Peas opened the night and I thought the intense amount of low end would be the end of me, but I did okay. Glad I did, because we got to see Slash come out and join the Peas doing Sweet Child of Mine. It was an awesome moment.
When u2 came on, it was surreal. The stage was so amazing and the crowd was electric. I was starting to feel pretty good. Unfortunately, I think Leslie caught something similar to me. She wasn’t feeling great during the VIP party, but she decided to ignore it and enjoy the show. About 10:30, 90 minutes into U2’s set, I looked over and she had tears welling up from her stomach pain. I think her tears were also partly because she didn’t want to be the reason we missed out on anything that night. However, I love my wife… way more than I love U2, so we left and missed the last hour of their set. I’ll see the end of the show someday on DVD. I’ll be with my wife for the rest of my life. It was an easy decision. I guess in some ways, it was still an amazing weekend afterall.
John Wooden is one of the greatest coaches of all time. He led the UCLA Bruins to 664 wins in 27 seasons and hung 10 championship banners. He retired from coaching in 1975, but his work has continued to this day as a world renowned and well respected author, speaker and mentor to many. Today is his 99th Birthday. In honor of his ongoing legacy, here are 9 of the best quotes from the Wizard of Westwood:
“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.”
“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.”
“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
“Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.”
“There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.”
“I always tried to make clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere.”
I really need to memorize these… and then live them.
