The Man and The Fool

“I’m stuck in between the man I am and the fool I been…”

• Lyric from Redneck Gigolo by (Charlie) Terrell (and the Murdered Johns)

Prince, Elvis, and Terrell? Not exactly. I am not sure at what point Charlie dropped his first name (but I digress), and besides, I’d forgotten this song until it popped up on my playlist at the gym yesterday. But it fits the week’s theme, starting with seeking clarity.

If life is about transitions and Difference-Making is about what we do next, it’s easy to feel stuck between…

• The expectations of others and the best we can offer, here and now
• The dreams of our parents and the calls on our hearts
• That thing we did that we can’t cut loose and that thing we know we ought to do, but haven’t yet
• That thing we said and that thing we meant
• The person we are and the “fool we was” or the person we’re seeking to become

What if we chose a different intersection? And instead of being stuck there, we approach it with clarity and the option to accelerate straight through, turn left or right, and only to stop if the light is red, or if we need rest. (Digression #2: At which point, stopping in the middle of the intersection is still not a good idea!)

Who we are is good enough. What we’re working on is still important enough to lean into, let’s just do it without the harsh judgment on “who we was.”