Resolutions Shmesolutions, etcetera...

I discovered something about myself this year - I get easily annoyed with the way people get during holidays. Don't get me wrong, I like certain holidays but geez, some people are just overrated and annoying. If that's not you, keep reading...

If we really thought to ourselves what the meaning is behind every holiday, we wouldn't get so stressed out on gifts and it would be way easier to find parking at the mall any day in December.

This Christmas, I read so many posts on Facebook that ranged from "Merry Xmas, remember today is about good food and family" to "Merry xmas, thanks for my new ipad honey" to "Happy Holidays, the best thing about today is all the tamales Im gonna eat" or "Last minute xmas shopping!!!!" Or I heard people telling kids how Santa Claus wont bring them a gift if they behave badly.

Some kids will never hear about another bible story for the rest of the year if it wasn't for the nativity story. "You can have the brightest lights on your house but deep within, you don't have the light of Jesus" (P. Llamas). Although the birth of Jesus should be celebrated, theres no proof he was born on Dec. 25th. That's why you should celebrate his birth and resurrection everyday, not just when the calendar says. Jesus is not a holiday, he's a way of living!

It doesn't have to be Christmas for you to go "confess" and reconcile with God and your family about all the crap you did all year long. Nor does it have to be a Sunday for you to go to church. Nor does a new year have to start for you to change, do it today. Its takes 365 days for the next year to come around and what if you die on day 299? Your best days can start today. If you want to lose weight, drop the cookie and go take a jog instead. If you want to become a better person, set your mind to it every morning not just the first week of January.

Sidenote: Maybe I should have named this blog "VENTING"?

Anyway, Happy New Year!

P.S. And for the record, most people start the new year drunk so...yeah.

And for the other record, Im not against resolutions, just be realistic.

A Man Named Mark

It's funny how you never know who's help you will need through the course of your life.

The other day my car broke down right off the freeway. Although I was fortunate to not breakdown on the freeway, I landed in a pretty bad spot. I was blocking traffic at the light, people were honking and upset. I'll tell you, I've never had so many people flip me off at the same time. I mean, don't my hazard lights mean something?!

Anyway, on the Lake Avenue offramp in Pasadena, there's a homeless standing there. There's always the same homeless guy there but this time he was a new guy I remember seeing only very few times. As I waiting for help to arrive (Ivan to the rescue), this man helped me redirect traffic to the other lanes as I sat like a nerd in my car. No use of popping the hood if I don't even know what Im looking for right?

I know most of these homeless off Lake make their good money and spend it on cigarettes and booze but this guy was actually working. So I get my wallet and give him ALL my money......the whole $2 hahaha but it was either that or my debit card. jk. I never carry cash so that was a good thing I guess.

As Ivan arrives, this man helped us push the car to the nearby gas station. No one else offered help. As I thank this man for his kind help, he tells me: "you probably don't remember me but I remember you, you've helped me before and I help those who help me". All I could do was smile, thank him and ask "what is your name?" He replies "Mark, my name is Mark".

Yesterday I saw mark again and I gave him an apple. I think I made a new friend.

Something worth smiling about. Even if my fuel pump gave up on me.