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ISSN: 1539-431X September 11, 2003 Down at Frank's Barber Shop
 What
is RSS?
John Cali This has been a busy summer for me, with moving to Wyoming, and that resulting in me getting way behind on my work. Last week it finally dawned on me I hadn’t had a haircut in months, and I was beginning to look pretty shaggy! I live in a small western town in the northern Rocky Mountains. So I figured there had to be an old-fashioned barber shop around here somewhere. But I couldn’t find one in the yellow pages. All I saw was a couple of those fancy hair places catering mostly to women. And then, while driving through town one day, I stumbled upon Frank’s Barber Shop. It was a nondescript place in a residential area of town, hidden away from the mainstream commercial section. When I walked in, Frank, busily cutting hair, paused and gave me a big smile and a friendly western greeting. He was a trim, obviously fit, middle-aged man with a thick mane of graying hair, and a beard to match. His eyes twinkled with joy and a mischievous sense of merriment. I felt at home immediately. It was instant rapport. As I sat there awaiting my turn, Frank talked and joked with his customers. He alternated between an obvious, sincere concern for what was happening in their lives, and just playing and having fun with them. He had an amazing talent for uplifting people, seeing the best in them, and having great fun all the while. When my turn came, Frank busied himself expertly cutting my hair while chatting comfortably with me, a complete stranger, as if we’d known each other all our lives. This felt really good. And, as it turned out, he gave me the best haircut I’ve ever had, and now he’s got a permanent customer in me. But Frank is more than just a good barber. As we chatted, we found a number of things we had in common, including our love for jogging and other outdoor and physical activities. Then Frank told me his age, and I couldn’t believe it. This "middle-aged" man was almost 70! He looked 30 years younger. As I drove back home, I mulled all this over. Here was this man, elderly by our society’s standards, and yet the joy of life was so powerfully alive in him. He looked and acted so young! And it was contagious. I could see it in his customers, and I could feel it in myself. Frank loves himself, his customers, and his life. Most of all, he knows how to have fun. As Chief Joseph and other wise voices have said, "Life is supposed to be fun." Fun is the order of the day down at Frank’s Barber Shop. Here’s Joseph. Chief Joseph Most of you take your lives entirely too seriously. You get caught up in the world’s prescriptions and descriptions for success. Very seldom does your world define success to include having fun along the way. Success is invariably defined as a destination–a place which, when you get to it, will make you successful. Whatever that place may be–a big bank account, a sexy lover, a gorgeous home, a college degree, a prestigious career, etc.–you name it–that place does not define success. Except by the world’s standards. How many of these worldly successes have you achieved, and how many are you still seeking? And do you define yourself and your value by the number of successes you’ve got under your belt? When will you ever get it all done? When will you have finally arrived at your ultimate success? When will you arrive at that place where there is nothing left to seek, nothing left to find? The answer is simple: NEVER! You will never arrive at your final destination. For there is no final destination, either in your physical or non-physical lives. There is only the journey. Now we are not saying any of these worldly goals is "bad." They are all worthy of your seeking. And you deserve to have all you wish to manifest in this lifetime. You are, after all, creators of your own realities. That was what you, from your soul perspective, intended for you to do in this physical incarnation–to create all the manifestations of whatever your little hearts desire. But your soul did not intend for your creative journey to be a joyless pursuit of destinations, one after the other, after the other . . . . Manifesting what you want in physical, material things is good, it is very good. But it is not your purpose. Nor does it define you or your value. Your purpose in this life is to enjoy the journey. To have fun–to laugh–to play–to romp–to simply luxuriate in the glory and pleasures of your physical being. Your physical being is simply an extension of your greater, grander self, your soul. And your soul wants you to have fun! So when you learn to relax more, to laugh more, to have more fun, you will discover an amazing thing–all of what you want to manifest in your lives will flow to you easily and effortlessly. You don’t have to work hard or struggle to achieve success. You just need to have fun along the way. And then success, however you define it, will find you. It is so simple, and so easy.
This article was originally published here.
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John can be reached by email here
or through their website (http://www.greatwesternpublishing.org). Copyright © 2003 by John Cali. All rights reserved. *************************************************************************
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