Gangnam Style

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year or two you have probably heard of the song "Gangnam style" by Psy.  It's one of those one hit wonder types of songs and it is currently sweeping the nation.  It has become so popular in American culture that when we took our last trip to my hometown of West Palm Beach and attended an ice skating show at the South Florida Fair called "America on Ice" they actually had a segment called Gangnam style.  That right, in the middle of a show dedicated to American patriotism there was a song totally in South Korean.

Recently the "Gangnam style" craze has hit our family.  Our son and our daughter absolutely love that song.  During our trip to Florida the song must have been played one hundred and forty two times consecutively by all the nieces and nephews all while doing the cheesy dance that goes along with it.  You know the one; you cross your arms in front of you and skip like a schoolgirl in place.  It's amazing what catches on isn't it.

One of the hooks in the song is when Psy (the mastermind behind this craze) sings" Heeeeeeeeey sexy lady".  Now with the catchiness of the tune sometimes you overlook the fact that your six and seven year old are listening to those type of words.  That is until you as a parent hear them repeating those words.
One evening as we were driving to the store to pick up some things for a school project, we heard our son humming the infamous tune and then he began to sing the lyrics.  Except he was pronouncing it "sucksy" which of course upon first hearing makes you laugh because it's a funny mispronunciation. Then we asked what he said just to make sure we heard right. He confirmed that it was "sucksy" which makes it all the more funny.  The laughter however stops when he, out of nowhere, proclaims "I know what that word means".   Now in that instance as a parent your heart skips a beat because you know you didn't tell him what it means so you wonder where he heard it and how whoever it was that told your son this described the word.  It is your natural instinct to think the worst so you brace yourself and get ready to clarify whatever comes out of his mouth.  So we hesitantly asked "What does it mean?" and he says "It means sweaty". After a rush of relief, there was more laughter because we realized that in his mind the song has gone "Heeeeey sweaty lady".  So then the next question was "Who told you that?"  He answered "my friend at summer camp".

After the laughter subsided and we gently explained to him what the song was saying and what that phrase meant in context, I thought to myself how many times has that happened to us as adults?  Our son just took what his friend told him and believed it without thinking about it or looking in a dictionary (because kids do that, but you get the point).  In this instance it led to a funny moment, but for us as adults how many times in our search for truth have we stopped our quest because we heard something and just believed it.  How many times have we read something that sounded good and just stopped there.  We all, whether we admit it or not, are on a search for truth (or meaning) so as you share a laugh at the misinformation that our son received and believed, let me encourage you to pursue truth in all things.
Chris

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Giveaway

To celebrate our one month blogging anniversary we are doing a $25 visa gift card giveaway!

Here is how it works:
Entry begins at 12:01am Saturday, January 26, 2013 and ends at midnight Saturday, Feburary 9, 2013.  To enter all you have to do is share our blog post on Facebook or Twitter. If using Facebook, tag either Chris Kiefer or Shante Nicole Kiefer so that we have record of the "share".  If using Twitter, hashtag #franticallyrelaxed so we can search the hashtag and verify the "share".  You are allowed one entry per blog post you share per week.  For example, you could share each of our blog posts each week. With 10 blog posts each week, it would give you a total of 20 entries for the giveaway.  A winner will be drawn and notified Feburary 10, 2013. Feel free to verify your entries with us before noon on on February 10, 2013.

Good luck and happy sharing!

Gladiator

Rent it on Amazon

I, like most guys in the world, am a huge fan of big epic movies. There is just something about them that gives me goose bumps. Whether its the big action sequences, watching a man go up against insurmountable odds and come out on top,
motivating monologues, or seeing good triumph over evil (cue Tim Allen's grunting) there is just something that draws you back over and over again. No matter how many times you watch one of those movies they still blow your mind and leave you wanting to go out and take on the world.

One of my favorite movies is Gladiator. You know the tag line (imagine the movie previews guy with the deep voice saying this and I dare you not to get goose bumps) "The general who became a slave, the slave who became a gladiator, the gladiator who defied an emperor." Just writing this makes me want to stop writing and watch the movie the whole way through.

Anyway, in the movie there is one of my all time favorite movie lines. This does need a little background so let me set it up for you. It is the big opening battle scene filled with swords, archers, fire, guys grunting, and of course the build up music that lets you know that something awesome is going to happen. Maximus (the main character) is leading the Roman empire on their last conquest against a tribe in Germania. As Maximus, who will lead the cavalry is getting his men into position he gives his amazing epic speech that I am pretty sure most guys have memorized. In the midst of this speech he says something so deep, so profound that sometimes it gets lost in the manliness of the moment. As he is delivering this speech he says "What you do in this life echoes in eternity."

WOW a truer statement has rarely been spoken and in an epic, bloody, testosterone filled drama nonetheless. Think about that for a second "What we do in our lives echoes in eternity." The good moments, the bad moments, the mundane moments, the uneventful moments, the quiet moments, the loud moments, the proud moments, the humble moments, etc... all affecting eternity. The enormity of that statement just blows my mind.

Thinking of your actions that way kind of forces you to live on purpose doesn't it. Knowing that your actions affect someone's else's eternity makes you stop and think about why and how you are doing the things you are doing. Try it for a little while. Live on purpose, live intentionally and see what eternity can look like. Chris