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I love to travel, especially with my family. Family vacations are one of my favorite things in the whole world. But there is one aspect of it that I HATE. I hate it so much, that I pretty much refuse to do it whenever the opportunity arises.
I abhor turning back.
If we’re on our way out somewhere, whether it’s a roadtrip or just out to dinner, and someone forgot something… ain’t no way I’m turning back for it! Turning around feels like defeat – like a kick in the gut!
To me, trips are very exciting and turning around kills the excitement.
It’s like a NASA mission lifting off: 5…4…3…2…1… LIFT OFF!
Uh… Houston… we have a problem… Neil forgot the Tang. Requesting emergency landing. Oh, and could somebody grab my Chapstick… it’s in my locker.
Now, I know that there are appropriate times to turn around, like when you realize there are only five people in the car and there should be six.
Houston… we forgot Neil… requesting another emergency landing.
But these aren’t the types of situations that my family wants to turn back. They think of stuff that should have crossed their minds before they ever exited the house.
Could we turn back, Dad? I forgot to put out the grease fire on the stove. I left the hot iron in the open refrigerator, plugged in and submerged in a large bowl of chicken soup. Hey Dad! I forgot my pants! They completely slipped my mind.
Really? You didn’t think of any of these things before getting in the car?
I forgot to go to the bathroom.
What? How does someone your age forget to go to the bathroom? Are you 115?
One time, Riley and his wife were dressed up to go out on a fancy date. They hustled out the door, got the babysitter all taken care of, said goodbye to the kids, drove away and halfway there, his wife realized that she was still wearing her fuzzy slippers.
Now, Shannon is a woman I respect, because she didn’t turn back! She made those slippers work with her ensemble for the night and pulled it off like only she could!
Next, my dear, old friend Will Marfori joins the show. When Will and I met, phones were still dumb. They hadn’t gotten smart yet. We worked together at the Comedy Zone in Norfolk, VA long, long ago. Will was so established that they had named dishes after him. As he puts it, you know you’re big when you have a plate of nachos named in your honor!
Will lives in L.A. nowadays, which is an incredibly beautiful place, filled with incredibly beautiful people. Now, Will has Cerebral Palsy, so in the land of beautiful people, he feels like he has nothing in common with them from the start. It really hit home for him once when he saw a beautiful woman walking toward him on the beach, but as she got closer, Will realized that she was an old grandma… in a bikini.
It made him think about his own grandma. As long as Will knew her, she never looked like this bikini-clad woman. She always looked like an old lady. Maybe having ten children had something to do with it. Maybe, after having ten children, you don’t want to be pretty anymore. You just want to be left alone. She didn’t need attention or romance. As Will remembers, she just wanted to play Cribbage all day, and she’d be happy. She didn’t need to work out or get plastic surgery… she just needed a deck of cards and her peg board.
And, Will likes the example that his grandma set. He doesn’t want to be the world’s most interesting man when he is 70. He just wants to sit in his rocking chair out on his front porch, yelling at people.
But, in all truthfulness, Will has a leg up on most people when it comes to fitting in – even in L.A.: When you are as funny as he is, that’s a beauty in and of itself!
However, L.A. is all about “who you know”, and being new to the neighborhood, Will doesn’t know anybody. So, nobody is nice to him, until they hear him on stage… then they are a little nice to him, offering him a sliver of hope that one day he’ll make it in Tinseltown!
And, finally, inspirational funnyman Ken Davis calls into the show to discuss his new podcast called Lighten Up! In addition to having many other benefits and reasons to listen, Lighten Up! offers great tips for people who want to improve their public speaking. As Ken puts it, the day we stop learning, we die, so he aims to help people continue to learn, whether they are just starting to speak in front of others, or if they have been at it for a long time. Even if somebody already has a career in public speaking, there are still tips and tricks offered that anyone can use each day! The podcast features amazing guests from Andy Andrews and Patsy Clairmont to Abraham Lincoln.
Technology is amazing these days… so amazing he booked our 16th president!
Ken also puts on a week-long seminar that I attended a while back. There were CEO’s, pastors, public relations professionals, and a few of us comedians there, eager to learn! I thought I had it in the bag until he told me right off the bat that I could not be funny while I spoke. What?! Then, Ken told me that I had to make eye contact with the audience. To say I struggled would be an understatement!
But, his instruction worked, and I am able to communicate better than ever before because of what I learned!
Ken also has a devotional out in addition to all his speaking and teaching engagements. At the core of it all is Ken’s mantra: God is the author of joy, so why not bring that into your daily walk?! Too many people walk around appearing as if they believe that if you are poor and downcast, then you must be spiritual. Stop being so depressed and live out the joy that God has in store for you!