TRAPPSTR

Let’s run 13.1 miles together…

Posted on 28. Dec, 2009 by Brett.

Took a big step in 2009 by running the Country Music Half Marathon which happened last April in Nashville, TN. Let me qualify this by saying that I am no super-athlete. I was an average basketball and football player in high school and a slightly less mediocre intramural athlete in college. After gaining 30 pounds post college and my japanese friend Hiro constantly pointing at my belly and saying “You have babies, Brett?”, I decided it was time to do something about it. So I signed up for a half marathon with a few other friends. Like most other people, I hated running, but I considered the benefits…

• Decrease the size of my “baby bump”
• Feel better
• More energy throughout the day
• Strengthened immune system (haven’t gotten sick this year)
• Strengthened heart (kind of a big deal)
• Get smarter by listening to podcasts during training
• Pray while running
• Fun race day atmosphere with 30,000 other runners and 1000’s of people cheering you on
• Huge sense of accomplishment

When I started running, I could not run a mile without walking. It was bad. I’m talking felt-like-a-Lego-Optimus-Prime-lodged-in-my-lungs bad. But I stuck it out, trained at my own (slow) pace, and finished the half marathon with a respectable time, just over 2 hours. Granted, I left the race in an ambulance, but that’s a story for a different day. :)

I’m challenging all the TRAPPSTR.com readers to do this half marathon with me on April 24, 2010. I don’t want your excuses! I know you hate running and I know you don’t have time. None of us has time. Your health matters (ask Urban Meyer) and you’ll be amazed at the motivation that will mystically appear when you’re training towards a fixed date on a calendar. There are tons of free online training resources, and of course I’ll offer my purely unprofessional advice along the way as well.

I registered today and would love for some of you guys to do this race with me. We can eat together the night before and hang out. And you know you don’t want to miss the first ever TRAPPSTR.com party ;). Shoot me an email if you’re interested and want more information (iamtrappstratgmaildotcom).

New Year’s resolutions are worthless. But accomplishing real, tangible goals with other people is the path to change.

Do it.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE COUNTRY MUSIC MARATHON WEBSITE

Have you ever run a half or full marathon? What did you learn? Would you recommend it?

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Counting down my top 10 most memorable moments of the decade

Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by Brett.

My boss Chris has been counting down on Twitter his top moments from the last decade. I thought this was cool, so I’m sniping his idea. Keep in mind this isn’t a list of my best or most significant moments, just the ones that are still jumping around in my memory.

2000 – At 12:33 pm on December 31, 2000, my family gathered around my dad’s bed and he passed away after a 3 1/2 year struggle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. I remember there was snow on the ground outside. I remember holding his bony hand. I remember when the color left his face. I remember loud crying. I remember God’s love through it all.

2001 – As a sophomore in college, I met a guy named Olan Stubbs in 2001. Definitely a moment that shifted the tectonic plates of my theology. He committed to disciple me for the next three years. He invested in me. He challenged me. He taught me about the sovereignty of God. He questioned everything I thought about God. And it was good.

2002 – I spent the summer of ‘02 in Auckland, New Zealand. Our small mission team lived on the 2nd floor of a dingy downtown hotel on Queen Street. This was the New Zealand equivalent of living in Manhattan and was my first taste of urban living. One night, South Korea won a big game in the World Cup, and Auckland’s large Korean population poured into the streets celebrating, dancing, singing. They formed a makeshift parade and moved down Queen Street like a giant pulsating caterpillar. Our group morphed into the crowd and soaked up an unforgettable experience.

2003 – I was part of an incredible fraternity in college. Our fraternity wasn’t a “frat” like you see in movies. It was a remarkable group of leaders focused on being the best…at everything. At a national awards banquet in August of 2003, our group was selected as Alpha Tau Omega’s Top Chapter. The memory of that announcement at that banquet in downtown Indianapolis glows red in my mind to this day.

2004 – This was a weird year for me. It was my junior year of college and the video game, Halo, was coming on strong in college circles. Several of my fraternity brothers lived in an off campus house we dubbed “The BDA House,” and we played that game every stinkin’ night that spring. No moms around to tell us to stop, only the sunrise. We cussed. We yelled. We shot each other with pistols and sniper rifles and rocket launchers. We threatened bodily injury. This was the most carefree time of my life. I remember driving home as the sun was barely coming up as the grannies were filing into the YMCA for their early morning workouts.

2005 – In April, I did an in-the-field interview with a company called Booster. Got to dip my big toe into the waters of the “real world” that day. I worked at a school in Mount Laurel, Alabama, and loved it. That would become my real job for the next four years as I traveled around the south helping schools raise money and teaching kids about character. Still with the same company. Still love it.

2006 – I’ve written about this before, but 2006 was the year I got my first new car. You can read about it here. 3.5 years later and I’m still making that same car payment…dangit.

2007 – I moved from Birmingham to Nashville this year which was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. I was launching a new Booster team in a new market. And to be honest, I wasn’t very good at it. Being in a foreign city with few friends and feeling like a failure is a sucky place to be. But I learned more about myself that year than any other year this decade. And for that, I’m thankful.

2008 – I can’t really recall anything super-memorable from this year. Isn’t that sad? Countless chances to do something worth remembering, and I failed. 0 for 365.

2009 – In April of this year I ran my first half marathon. When I first started training in January, I could not run a mile without stopping. My lungs had the capacity of kazoo. But I trained consistently into the spring and finished the Country Music Half Marathon with a respectable time (I also tweeted 88 times during the race :)). The only problem was that I finished the race in a state of extreme dehydration and my body immediately went into shock. My breathing turned into uncontrollable wheezing, and my hands withered up like brittle tree branches. I began shouting for help in the crowd of thousands. I collapsed and within seconds a medical team was hovering over me. They carried me to a medical tent and told me they had called an ambulance.

“No! I’ll be fine!” I shouted.

The lead nurse pushed me back down onto the gurney and said something about “cardiac arrest.” Suddenly, the ambulance option became a lot more attractive. That’s the only time in my life where I thought I might die. But I guess it wasn’t my day.

I think it’s good to look back, ponder, reflect. That gives great perspective moving forward. At the end of this next decade, I’ll be–gulp–38.

38.

38?

Really?

That’s ancient. What memories will be made? What kind of change will I have sparked? What will my integrity look like?

Better start planning now…

What are the top moments of your last decade? What will the next decade look like for you?

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TRAPPSTR.com Movie Review: Avatar

Posted on 19. Dec, 2009 by Brett.

(No spoiler alert needed here. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s okay. Read on.)

Ok, let me get my critiques out of the way first.

1. The storyline is a little cliche. High tech brutes overrunning indigenous natives isn’t exactly a new concept.
2. One scene of bad dialogue at the beginning as project leader explains Unobtanium.
3. Liberal themes run thick like pudding–environmentalism, New Ageism, and demonizing of the military. The story is powerful enough to soften the most hardened conservative. I imagine this movie will have a strong polarizing effect on the super-left, and protester numbers may triple at next year’s G8 Summit (haha). Let me tell you: If you can’t get past these themes, you will not enjoy this film because they are unveiled and in-your-face.

Now, with that behind me, let me say this: Avatar is the one of the greatest, most epic movies of our generation. The film was much ballyhooed for it’s ground-breaking use of 3D technology. And if you can see it in 3D, do it (I had the privilege of seeing it in Imax 3D). It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust, and I actually felt a little nauseous during the first ten minutes of the movie (of course, the pungent smell of vodka vomit from the guy who upchucked in front of me might have had something to do with it). But during one of the opening scenes when character Jake Sully walks through a lush, luminescent forest, I realized that I was watching something truly special. One of those milestone moments in movie-making that I’ll tell my grandkids about. The only thing I had to compare it to was the first time I saw Jurassic Park and that famous scene of the grazing brachiosaurs. Hello, Computer-Generated Imagery (aka CGI).

This is the first movie that I felt I was inside of. Literally. Dirt flies in your face. Campfire ashes flutter about. Tropical canopies tower overhead. There were times when the action is so intense, the colors so vivid, and the 3 dimensional effects so jaw-dropping that I felt like I was a character inside of Cameron’s alien world. This film will push movie-making into a realm where the human imagination is increasingly irrelevant in entertainment experiences. Where our grandparents huddled around the AM radio listening to dramatic readings of big tales, we are now transported to full-dimensional worlds more real than our own. Several times I thought, “Man, Earth seems so boring now!”

By far the most spectacular element of the graphics are the CGI characters. In other block-buster CGI flicks like Lord of the Rings, there is a clear distinction between characters played by actual humans and characters created by computers (ie. Frodo vs. Gollum). Avatar makes it impossible to tell the difference. My jaw dropped in the opening scene in the Pandoran bush when Jake Sully’s avatar first interacts with the angry Neytiri. The authenticity of the facial expressions were unbelievable.

However, if Avatar was just a gussied-up tech flick with a video game plot (paging Resident Evil…paging Resident Evil), it would be an epic failure. Thankfully it’s not. It is a rich story with exquisite character development. Australian actor Sam Worthington does a flawless job portraying the role of a blue-collar, no frills Marine. The love story that is present in all epics is there, but it’s not overdone. Producer James Cameron does a great job of letting that relationship simmer and evolve at just the right pace. Epic themes run throughout and of course the messianic theme that we find in all great films emerges strong at the end.

Can you tell I liked this movie? Haha…inner sci-fi geek exposed.

Go see this movie. Let go of yourself. Immerse yourself in a story fantastic enough to vault the Avatar franchise into a category all of its own and sure to be mimicked for generations to come.

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But the fun wore off…

Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by Brett.

It started with a Nintendo. It seemed like everyone but us had one. Then that fateful rainy day finally came when mom drove me and my two older brothers to Huntsville, and we returned with that two-tone grey plastic box of fun. We played the heck out of that 8-bit Super Mario game. We bought new games. We threw controllers. We blew dust out of the cartridges. We had fun…

…but the fun wore off.

So I set my eyes on something new.

A metal detector! There was this one in the Sears catalog that I drooled over. And I got it. I metal-detected the heck out of my frontyard, backyard, the woods in my neighborhood. I found lots of buried beer cans and other exotic aluminum treasures. Alas, I got bored with my new toy and the fun wore off. So I set my eyes on a brand new…

SUPER Nintendo! And I heard there was a Super-er Mario game where you could get this racoon tail and…FLY! Wow! How cool! And the Trapp’s got a Super Nintendo, and every day after school I would fly the heck out of that racoon-tailed Super Mario. BUT, the fun wore off, the years ticked by and the search rolled. So as I approached 16, I got all worked up for…

A driver’s license! And with that license would come the freedom to practically own the streets of Florence, Alabama. Think of the places I could go! Lauderdale Lanes, Chat-n-chew, church! And so my 16th birthday came and went. I drove the heck out of that hand-me-down 1991 maroon Mitsubishi Galant. But after awhile, driving kind of got old and the fun wore off.

“I know what it is,” I thought. “A new car!”

And that’s exactly what I got my senior year of high school. Well, not new-new…but new to me. A 1996 cherry red Isuzu Rodeo. Wow! I drove the heck out of that car all through college and into my first job. But the excitement eventually evaporated and so did the fun.

And so it went on. A new computer, a new Tahoe, my first house. They were all fun…

…but the fun wore off.

And that’s how it is isn’t it? Ask Tiger. The fun wore off a billion bucks and a smokin hot wife, eh? Who knew that was possible?

“If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world.” –C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

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What’s your plan for 2010?

Posted on 07. Dec, 2009 by Brett.

It’s December. You’ve got 11 months to look back and reflect on…

• What one word would you use to describe this past year for you?
• What goals did you set in 2009?
• What goals did you accomplish in 2009?
• What did you learn about yourself in 2009?
• What/who held you back in 2009?

Maybe 2009 was a great year for you. Maybe it was a total bust. Guess what? It doesn’t matter. It’s ancient history now. You know what does matter?

2010.

Yep, Lord willing, you’ll have another year to learn, grow, and make a difference. For the next year…

• What goals are you setting in 2010? (For help, check this out)
• What one change in your life would radically change everything?
• What books will you read in 2010?
• Who could you enlist as spiritual or professional mentors?
• In your career, what 3-5 things can you stop doing to focus more on your gifting?

What would happen if you lived the next year on purpose? What would happen if you cut out 30% of random, unintentional, cruise-control living? What if you actually took this list of questions and…

1. Prayed about it
2. Typed out your responses
3. Printed it
4. Hung it over your desk at work

What would happen?

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A diehard Alabama fan explains the Tebow legacy…

Posted on 04. Dec, 2009 by Brett.

Let me be clear: I’m tired of hearing about Tim Tebow.

I’m tired of the jumping around on the sideline. I’m tired of “the speech.” I’m tired of the eye black. I’m tired of the media’s gushing over his every move. I’m tired of the jump pass and all the rushing touchdowns. Quarterbacks are supposed to throw the ball. I’m tired of Verne Lundequist constantly reminding us of Tebow’s roommate. I’m just over it all. And have been for several years.

Now, I had my time. For me it started way back in 2005, when Alabama’s then coach Mike Shula was recruiting Tebow who was a senior at Nease High School in Florida. It quickly turned into a two-horse race between the Tide and the Gators. The hype was out of control as fans obsessed about Tebow’s college choice. There was the group of Florida undergrads who would go to Tebow’s high school games, bare-chested and painted up. There was the full-length ESPN special on Tebow, “The Chosen One.” There was Mike Shula’s infamous 8-hour in-home visit with the Tebow’s the night before signing day. And of course there was Tebow’s announcement live on ESPN. The entire states of Alabama and Florida came to a stop that afternoon to see what Timmy would do. Recruiting websites buckled from all the traffic. Unsurprisingly, he fulfilled his childhood dream and signed with the Gators. Florida fans rejoiced. Bama fans moped. Auburn fans sighed.

Everyone…and I mean everyone, in the recruiting world noticed there was something different about this guy. Good athletes are a dime a dozen, but this one had some serious intangibles–boldness, passion, leadership. His explosive play was matched by explosive character. Most of these blue chippers act like 17-year old prima donnas. But this one acted more like Maximus than Michael Jackson. A warrior. A field general. Shortly after Tebow signed, I told my Gator friend Chris, “You got a good one. I think he’ll win the Heisman and multiple national championships at Florida.” Lots of these high-profile recruits are a bust, never living up to the recruiting hype. Tebow incinerated that hype with a reality greater than the hype predicted, winning a Heisman and multiple national titles. (Still pretty proud of my prediction, by the way.)

So, why? Why do I, a diehard Alabama football fan, write about Tim Tebow on the eve of the biggest Alabama game in the last 17 years? A game that Tebow single-handedly won last year. A game the Gators would have little chance of winning without Tebow this year. Why is Tim Tebow the greatest NCAA superstar ever? Let me tell you why.

Because he is a mystery.

People can’t figure him out. It’s like the spirit of Mother Theresa living inside the body of Attila the Hun. That doesn’t make sense.

It’s a kid who is ruthlessly competitive and ruthlessly kind. Huh?

It’s a kid who can go deaf to 90,000 drunken, raging LSU fans in October and yet turn his ear to helpless Filipino orphans in June. Er…what?

It’s a kid who could literally have any woman in the western hemisphere, yet proudly proclaims he is a virgin. Record-scratch.

And though the media can’t quite figure him out either, they love him too. American media is obsessed with heroes–men to elevate that will inspire the masses. Truth be told, Tim Tebow fits the American archetype for a hero better than any sports figure in a generation. Strong. Athletic. Competitive. Calm under pressure. Humble. Nice. And most of all, wildly succesful.

Even in the brutal world of internet sports forums, rival fans have little to slam Tebow with. You’re doing all right when the only dirt they have on you is that you wore jorts for a photo shoot once.

Part of the mystery is that Tim Tebow is the person we wish we were–deep, deep down. He’s the man our moms wanted us to be. He’s the athlete our dads dreamed us to be when we were in the crib. And in an era of Tiger Woods, John Edwards, and Bernie Madoff’s, he has character, seemingly canyon-deep.

My friend Jim talks about how a man’s hand perfectly explains his existence. One side is all knuckle and bone, crafted with hard ridges and perfect for delivering a devastating blow–a man’s first strike in defending his family or pummeling injustice. The other side of the hand is softer, useful for scooping up a crying child or caressing his wife. The design of the hand represents God’s plan for a man–one part warrior, one part gentle lover. Rare to find a man in such great balance here.

That’s the part most of the world can’t understand about Tim Tebow.

And yes, I’m an Alabama fan, but I’m also a Christian. And while I’m ready for Tim Tebow to move on (and out of the SEC forever), there’s a part of me that marvels with a deep respect for what he has accomplished and what he stands for.

So thanks for what you’ve done Tim, but I hope my Crimson Tide pummels you into oblivion at the Georgia Dome, ruining your story-book ending and crushing the hopes of jort-wearing Gators everywhere. :)

What are your thoughts on the Tebow mania?

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Top 10 songs of the decade

Posted on 01. Dec, 2009 by Brett.

The other day I tweeted, “Agree or Disagree? ‘Drops of Jupiter’ by Train is one of the top 10 songs of the last decade.“ I might as well have asked “Would you like the Taliban to babysit your child?” The responses weren’t exactly positive. All of ZERO people agreed with me. Haha…

But I’m a sucker for punishment, so here are my top 10 songs of the last decade. I’m not sure if any of these songs will be remembered 50 years from now. Heck, they may be forgotten 10 years from now.

My background is in literature, not music. So in this list, lyrical content will trump musicianship. But it’s my list, so I get to choose, right? :) My working definition of a good song here is a tune that contains “Well-crafted lyrics that elicit a rich emotional  or meaningful response.”

Caveat: If you’re in the “All Christian music sucks” camp then you really aren’t going to like this list. I happen to believe religious beliefs don’t destroy the music-making abilities of one’s brain.

I’m considering songs from 2000 to present. Links to video included. Here we go. Pow!

10. Numb (Linkin Park/2003)

Linkin Park has to be one of the most innovative acts of the decade mixing elements of electronica, hip hop, and rock. I think “Numb” is the best. And the Jay-Z remix is amazing as well.

9. When Love Takes you In (Steven Curtis Chapman/2001)

Steven Curtis Chapman is authentic, enduring, and just all around awesome. He is also a huge fan of adoption, having adopted several kiddos of his own. That’s what this piano-driven ballad is about. Adoption and the Gospel are inseparable and this song hits a grand slam here.

8. Life Means so Much (Chris Rice/2004)

I think Chris Rice is one of the best Christian songwriters of my lifetime. His song “Deep Enough to Dream” would have been number 1 on this list had it not been released in 1997. But this song is nearly as good. It scores a 10.0 on the songs-that-make-you-stop-and-think-about-life richter scale.

7. Love Remembers (Craig Morgan/2009)

I didn’t start listening to country music until 2005 when I first moved away from home and got all sentimental. All of a sudden, country music made sense and the cynical anti-country veil was lifted. This is one of the best country songs of the decade. It’s a breakup song sans twang and booze…well, sans twang. I love songs that speak to universal,timeless human experiences.

6. 100 Years (Five for Fighting/2004)

I’m a huge sucker for songs that make you stop and ponder life. John Ondrasik is a masterful songwriter and this is further proof. He tackles the brevity of life issue without brow-beating. Kudos to you, John.

5. Drops of Jupiter (Train/2001)

I’m convinced the writer of this song ripped off the story of the prodigal son, changed the main character to a female, and gave the tale a space-y backdrop. I was genuinely shocked that none of my Twitter friends shared my love for this song! Then again, I love metaphors, and all the space references make this one big metaphor sandwich. “She listens like spring and she talks like June.” Good grief, that’s a fantastic lyric!

4. Crazy (Gnarls Barkley/2006)

This song has an unfair advantage with me because it was the hottest song on the radio in June, 2006, when I bought my Tahoe. As soon as I hear this song, I’m immediately taken back to those days of cruising around sweltering Alabama highways with the windows down singing, “Who do you…who do you, who do you, who do you think you ah-awr?“. As a side note, this song has one of the sickest videos I’ve ever seen.

3. Beautiful Day (U2/2000)

2. Daughters (John Mayer/2003)

Most modern songwriters just smash together words that make sense and then put them to music. However, great songwriters know that songwriting is craft. A master craftsman antagonizes over every word, ever phrasing, every pause. He uses those carefully chosen words to paint a picture in your mind. This song is a great example of that and is about a man desperately trying to understand his woman. Masterful lyric: “I’ve done all I can to stand on the steps with my heart in my hand.” Oh yeah, and it also talks about fatherhood which is awesome.

1. A New Law (Derek Webb/2005)

Seriously, has there been a more controversial Christian artist in the last decade? No way. And that’s why I love Derek Webb. His songwriting is bold and frank. This song speaks so clearly to the issues that have plagued the church in the last decade. Sadly, this song won’t make sense to most people (to understand it better…read the book of Galatians.) But it drips with the Gospel. And that’s why I love it.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: A Page is Turned (Bebo Norman), Yeah (Usher), Lose Yourself (Eminem), Space Between (DMB), The Riddle (Five for Fighting), Viva La Vida (Coldplay), Fix You (Coldplay), Scientist (Coldplay), Names that Fell (Zach Williams), Back to You (John Mayer), Kids (MGMT), Meant to Live (Switchfoot)

What are your top songs of the decade? Leave a comment!

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Upcoming posts…

Posted on 28. Nov, 2009 by Brett.

Hey guys, been a little slow over here at TRAPPSTR the last few days. A lot of my attention has been on TheIronBowlisBetter.com. I’ll be updating you all on that in the coming days.

Working on some exciting stories that include Vietnamese children, Tebow-mania, and my previously promised “Top 10 songs of the last decade.” Been working on this songs post for a couple of days now. Much tougher than I thought!

Oh and if you want to check out another great blog, head on over to ZakWhite.com. Zak is a new friend I’ve met on Twitter. He is also pastor of Revolution Church in Texas. He’s a phenomenal blogger and, coincidentally, just happens to be doing a series of posts elaborating on my “28 Things I’ve Learned in my 20’s” ;). I’m loving his thoughts so far.

Hope your Thanksgiving was great, friends. Let’s redeem something this week.

-Brett

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28 things I’ve learned in my 20’s

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Brett.

28 years ago today I came into this world. In honor of my mother’s agony and my waning 20’s, here are 28 things I’ve learned in my 20’s:

1. People, for the most part, have lots of baggage. And what’s funny is that most people walk around thinking their situation is unique or unusual. But we’re all in the same boat.

2. Enthusiasm wins. In all situations.

3. The American church teaches empty moralism for the most part. And that is not the Gospel.

4. Your job consumes most of your life. Choose wisely.

5. Mexicans make the best food. End of story.

6. Getting married won’t make you happy and it won’t fix your problems.

7. Staying single doesn’t fix anything either.

8. Speaking of marriage…it seems to me (from the outside looking in) that without lots of forgiveness and the putting of the other person first, your marriage is doomed.

9. Most Americans either are clueless or careless to the atrocities and misery that happen in the rest of the world. This is a tragedy.

10. Capitalism works. It’s not perfect, but it works.

11. Turtlenecks were a horrible creation and I’m ashamed I ever wore one.

12. Theology is important. Very important. Theological arguments over non-essential issues are stupid.

13. Most Christians don’t really understand grace or its implications (see also #3).

14. I think playing high school sports is the peak of pure fun.

15. People who love people are the most powerful people in the world.

16. The number 1 thing holding most people back is their dislike for reading.

17. You only have a hand-full of truly good friends in this life.

18. In general, people live unintentional lives–coasting and reacting to whatever happens around them. This is a recipe for mediocrity.

19. There are things I’m just not good at and the sooner I can accept that fact, the better.

20. Humility is a lifelong battle.

21. 90% of people are absolutely dominated by their insecurities.

22. Saved by the Bell? Still a great show.

23. Cultivate perseverance. You’ll need it someday.

24. Learning isn’t confined to your schooling. It is a daily pursuit.

25. God made people VERY different. If we stop trying to make people think and act like we do, 50% of our relational frustrations will disappear.

26. College was awesome. Why didn’t I stay longer???

27. I don’t have it all figured out–about 20% at best.

28. I’m the most blessed person in the world.

What about you? What are the top 3 (or 28) things you’ve learned in your 20’s?

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The thing about low expectations

Posted on 16. Nov, 2009 by Brett.

If your English sucks…

If you come from the hood…

If you’re fat or short or ugly…

If your family is full of crazies…

If you don’t have the right clothes…

If you only have a high school degree…

If you aren’t experienced enough in your field…

If you’re really pretty and everyone thinks you’re stuck up…

If you’re from the south and people think you’re an ignorant redneck…

Be thankful.

Low expectations can pave a road of despair…

or one heck of a RUNWAY…

Depends on how you look at it.

That’s the thing about low expectations.

(See also I Peter 4:13)

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