Do we have to thank the servicemen all of the time?

It has been over a month since my last post which is ridiculous considering a whole lot has gone on this past month.

With that being said, let me clear up something about my title. I am very appreciative of all the sacrifices that our members of the United States Armed Forces make in order to protect the freedoms and privileges that we as a country hold so dear. I also fully understand how that sacrifice effects the family and friends of our proud military men and women.

So, why the question? I probably should provide a little background. I spent the past week celebrating the nuptials of my closest friend from high school who is also a United States Marine. A decent contingent of Marines that he works with flew to St. Louis for the ceremony so I spent a lot of time. Regardless of where we went, as soon as it was discovered that they were Marines, a chorus of praise and adulation filled the air. I will never forget the looks of anguish on there faces after having to respond to endless iterations of the same and somewhat shallow "Thank you for your service." In my opinion, they seemed more stressed than honored to receive the praise.

I am all for giving credit where credit is due but after what I saw this weekend it begs me to wonder, do we really need to thank every different soldier that we meet with every chance that we get? It seems that ever since 9/11 and the War on terrorism began, the country has entered into this hyper-appreciative, hyper-congratulatory spirit for all of the "boots on the ground." Maybe its just me, but it seems to dilute the significance of giving genuine thanks. This in by no means reflect that I believe that people are not being sincere in their expressions of thanks. However after being with a group of soldiers for multiple days in a row, it seems that they have heard it so much that they are becoming desensitized to it.

Obviously, they are cordial and appreciative of the thanks but have you ever seen someone who is truly grateful for a word of thanks? If you have you know that it is an expression that cannot be faked and it is abundantly clear that the brief word of thanks struck a cord within them somewhere. I believe that is the kind of thanks that our men and women of the military deserve. To give you an example of what I mean, at my friend's wedding, the father of the bride gave a heartfelt and almost tearful thanks to all of the past and present military men and women in attendance during his toast. You could see that his heart was in it and because of it every current and former military person at the reception had that same expression that I commented on earlier in this paragraph. It was a joy to see the impact that the 1-minute expression of thanks had on the entire room.

For those that read what I have written and have become offended, I am sorry. However, I stand by every word in this post. I believe that it is great that people feel compelled to thank our military personnel for there service. From now on, however, instead of issuing a blanket thank to every soldier that I meet, I plan to reserve them for the special moments when I know those selected soldiers will understand the immense depth of my appreciation for their selfless service to our country and the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made, to keep me and my loved ones safe.

SWAG-ology

It is amazing how themes can carry on throughout an entire weekend. For me, the theme of this weekend was establishing your swagger. As Katt Williams would say, "tuning into your star player."

This weekend wasn't about me establishing my swag because I already know me but it was about helping others to discover there swag. On Friday, I was out with some friends and this guy whom I have never met walked up and kept complaining how he wasn't getting any girls because he had just got out of a relationship. From my assessment, that girl screwed up his mind and crushed his swag. He carried an air of timidness and for a man by my best guess was about 6 ft tall, 235 lbs, that is no small feat. So a friend and I gave him a quick lesson about swag, Needless to say, the next time I saw him, he was walking out of the bar with a smiling woman on his arm.

This is the power of swag, it takes everything about you and makes them desirable but turning your faults and insecurities into charming characteristics that draws people to you takes an inner understanding and satisfaction with yourself that is unflinching and never wavers. At this point, I have told you what swag is and what it can do for you but where does it come from?

Swag is not a tangible object. It's more of an abstract conception that you enrich the lives of everyone you meet regardless of how trivial the interaction because you are just that awesome. Unfortunately, I do not have the ability to teach you how to grow your swag . I also do not believe that no one can tell you how to do it. If someone tries to tell you different, watch out because they might also be a snake oil salesman. At its core, Swag is confidence. The kind of confidence that permeates all aspects of your life and radiates to everyone around you. It's like you have a golden aura of attractability around you.

Do you know the feeling that you get when you are the best at something? Like when you get a A on a test and no one else does or when you are the best player on the court or when you have the hottest girlfriend in the room? That is swag at its infancy. In maturity, that feeling permeates through all aspects of your life regardless of your actual ability. You feel that you can do anything and even when you fail you can still shrug it off and not let it bring you down. There are also some down sides to having too much swag. Sometimes you can be too brash or too arrogant, which turns people off. You could also mistake your confidence for competence and make some really bad decisions.

So, fully maximized swag is really about being confident in your abilities but also being secure enough to know that you can't know everything and sometimes you need some help. In light of full disclosure, I firmly believe that I have a long way to go to reach full swag, on a 1 to 10 scale where 10 is full swag, I believe I am at a 6.5 however I recognize that being swag-alicious takes time and i'm gonna do me until I reach the top.

I've got to go now. Stay up, do you and happy swagging!

Writing for the sake of writing

I have been thinking to myself "man, I should write something in my blog." Unfortunately there is nothing going on that I feel that I need to share my insight about. I have done a lot of really cool things since my last post, the world has gone through some very well-chronicled situations, and what I have always to be believed as true has finally revealed itself: Chris Brown is crazy. However, none of these things have spurred when to take to keyboard and expound upon the events of the time.

I am trying to keep this blog as non-political as possible which is very difficult these days and I don't want it to be a series of essays about racial injustice. Which unfortunately can be hard because I live in a town of 40,000 and no more than 5% of the population is of minority descent. So what should I write about? I assume everyone would be amused be the disgraceful showing that I put on while trying to curl. Also, many of my friends would be happy to know that I have finally started going back to the gym (ladies look out, my charisma with an in-shape body would prove for some exciting times in my life). I have learned that I am a much more interesting and likable person after taking out all of my frustrations at the gym. I also feel less guilty about sitting on the couch watching a movie after a 90 minute body-killing workout.

It has finally been confirmed that my mother, Shanda Kay West, is intent on setting me up with women from all across the country. When I first moved to Midland, she told me to visit DC to meet up with this girl who I have known for a long time and haven't seen in years, then on another occasion she wanted he to take a girl from St. Louis to lunch because she thought that the girl was cute and interesting and then yesterday my mother almost demanded that I take a specific lady (who is actually a really cool person) to dinner or a movie or something when I am in Texas later this year. This is mom being mom but at some point, it's got to stop. She has been doing this since I was old enough to drive and it usually ends badly. If you have ever experienced match-making by your parents or other family members, then you will understand. Oh well, at least she cares.