Lessons learned from disappointment and country music

Because I drive the kids around most of the radio stations can’t be listened to because the music is too coarse for young ears.  My motto is that if they have to bleep out words, then it’s a station I don’t listen to with the kids.  It was shortly after driving with the kids that I started listening to country music.

I heard a song the other day that detailed what I’ve been thinking lately.  I’ve made it a point lately to be more thankful for things that I take for granted.  When we’d get a bill I’d just be thankful that we can pay it.  When my sciatica pain would be almost unbearable I’d try to be thankful for the fact that it sometimes goes away.

It’s a great song isn’t it?  I’ve heard lots of Darius Rucker on the radio, but this song really stood out.  I’m late to the party on this one as the song was released in 2009.  Most of his songs have an underdog appeal to them and they’re all country, but easily accessible to pop audiences.  As the lead singer to Hootie and the Blowfish you’d expect nothing less from Rucker than a catchy tune.

I’ve always been very lucky to some extent.  Of course there were periods where things didn’t go my way and I wondered what the heck I was doing.  At one point I had recently moved to Key West to accept a radio job.  Shortly after moving there the General Manager left town and raided the prize closet, which had air plane tickets and hundreds of other prizes.   A couple of weeks after that the owner of the station had the station mail forwarded to his address in Cleveland.  I felt like a kid whose parents changed their address while they were away at summer camp.

Having said that, I was in Key West, so I made the best of it and stayed a couple more months living off brown rice and cheese.  It was a confusing, odd time of my life where I ate too much brown rice and hung out with salty characters.  However, if I hadn’t accepted that job would I be where I am now?  Life is really perfect now, great wife, two fabulous sons and everybody is healthy.  I’ll have some brown rice to celebrate.