GDFP!

A lovely Sunday afternoon spent on my balcony, my doppelganger cat sunning himself next to me, tunes in the background and reading with my feet up. Not a bad way to spend some time. It was just hot enough, with no real humidity, rather pleasant...yeah, the simple life can be pretty good sometimes.

As is often the case, whether reading, listening to music, watching a show or simply driving around doing what I need to do, I will get struck with an idea for a post on this little blog o mine. I'll jot it down to come back to later on. This day was no different, with the sun slowly slipping across the sky and myself reading Stuart McLean stories, since I couldn't focus enough on For Whom the Bells Toll, I came across a line that stuck, "life needs complications." Hmmmmmmmm, I agree, it does.

I like the idea that life can be hard at times. I like that relationships take work, sometimes a lot of work. And I like complications. I feel I am pretty adept at handling 'complications' as they arise, indeed my business is full of them. Five minutes before serving a plated wedding for 250 people is exactly the right time to let me know that half the head table is lactose intolerant or gluten free. In one part of my head I am cursing the living hell out of these people...I'm pretty intolerant of them actually. At the same time as this internal venting is going on I am moving mountains to "make it happen." The guest is king, the customer is always right. Sure they are. In my experience they are almost always wrong or out to lunch, but we still make them feel special.

Complications, as they were, are what keep life interesting in my view. If your job was static with no flux whatsoever could you be easily replaced by a computer, a monkey? I would probably shoot myself in that case. My career has given me opportunity to have a different day all the time...there is no way a computer, or a monkey for that fact, can replace me. OK, maybe a monkey but that's it.

But that's work....life in general is what I like to talk about. My best friend Scott had an initialism for those unexpected moments. GDFP. What is GDFP you ask? Well, let me tale you. You're driving along the highway, cruising at 150km/h on the Autobahn. Everything is perfect, zipping in and out of traffic, dodging the semi's and little Yugo's that dot the road ahead. You and machine are one, unified in purpose and performance....and out of the blue, without warning, in the German heartland, there is a pony crossing the highway. GDFP!!! God Damn Fucking Ponies!!! What separates you and Ayrton Senna from the gomers is how you react to those fucking ponies. Gaping mouth open and asking yourself if they are real....well, you're about to be a smear. Chuckle at the colouring of the pony as you blow past at 165, you're gold. That highway is life of course and those ponies can go fuck themselves....they won't stand in your way will they? Ponies are the complications, the moments we have to figure it all out.

Those challenges, those changes, those things are what give colour to life. They help to build character, drive experiences to new levels and help to define who we are as we weave our tapestries. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone should be mandatory for all to learn. I mean really, figure out a way to incorporate adapting to change and complications into the curriculum. It will help us all in the future.

While there is beauty and intricacy in the greys that we are surrounded by, the explosion of colour that accompanies really living and being complicated, make those complications badges of honour. You've smelled the smoke as the generals would say, been in the weeds as us cooks would say. Regardless of the cliche used, those experiences that allow us to face new challenges with a shrug and a grin are so important on this journey. Life should be a bit hard, a bit complicated...certainly a lot less black and white.

Ciao
D