Finally they announced that the flight would be on it’s way.   People who needed a little extra time to get down the jetway boarded before us.   The last in this group was a pretty young woman in a wheel chair with an effervescent personality.  When the agent asked if she could make it down the jetway on her own she answered with an emphatic yes,  did a  wheelie with her chair and disappeared into the jet-way.   I boarded a few minutes later.  I had carefully chosen my seat on this very cramped small plane.  Bulk head seat on the aisle. This was where I would have the most leg room and could get a lot of work done.

But alas! Someone was in my seat.  My brow furrowed.  So much for happy face happy place.  Before I could speak a fight attendant addressed me.  “Would you kindly take the window seat she asked.  But this is my seat, I thought, digging for the piece of paper that would prove it.  The flight attendant lowered her voice, ” this young lady prefers an aisle seat,” she said, gesturing toward the person in my seat.  Since when, I wondered are people allowed to sit where they prefer to sit rather than where they were assigned to sit.  I said nothing but I’m sure that my face communicated the inconvenience and displeasure I felt.

As I huffed my way past the passenger sitting in my isle seat I saw for the first time that she was the spirited young lady who had done the wheelie on the way to the airplane.  Surely she had seen my ugly face,  but she smiled and apologized.  I assured her it was I who needed to apologize.  During this flight we had a wonderful conversation.  We talked about attitude and how if affects our life.

I found out her name was Joannah and at seventeen she had been in an accident that injured her spinal cord. She has been  paralyzed from the waste down ever since.  With a smile that lit up the cabin she told me she was on her way  to Japan alone to do research for her dissertation on Ancient Japanese art and literature.

She asked what I did for a living.  I sheepishly admitted that I spread good news and laughter around the world but today I was waiting for my face to get the memo.  We laughed and chatted the entire flight.  As I drove home, I thanked God for health and for the opportunity to meet this vivacious and courageous women.  I prayed that God would continue to help me live with the kind of grateful attitude and a daily sense of adventure Joannah demonstrated that day.  Meeting her reminded me…..

• Live joyfully even in difficult circumstances.

• Let your light (and face) shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

• When someone asks if you can handle it, do a wheelie.

That’s what I want.  A wheelie attitude.

Thanks Joannah!

Am I the only one that can loose my grip on a good attitude in a heartbeat?   Who have you met that inspired you with a “Wheelie Attitude”

Rise up and walk, run, live!

People often ask me, “Ken, how do you get up and do comedy and present a message of hope on those nights when you don’t feel funny and you not exactly bubbling over with enthusiasm?

I am going to give you my answer in my next blog, but I want to hear from you first.  Benjamin Franklin said, “Many men die at 25 and aren’t buried until they are 75.”  How do YOU keep from throwing in the towel. How do YOU stay out of  “The Box?”

I am convinced  that people actually “living everyday life” have some of the best answers to keep “living everyday life” when they are tempted to “box it up.”  I am also convinced that some of us authors and speakers miss out on your wisdom because we spend more time creating than living…..  SO….

If you are a stay at home mom, I want to hear how you get kids ready for school and coordinate a household and family during those days when you don’t even feel like getting out of bed, days your daydreams run contrary to your reality.

If you are a career person, how do you continue to hammer out the work required when you feel like you have run out of ideas and energy at the same time, when you have lost the passion for your job?

Pastors and spiritual leaders, how do you continue to preach and inspire when you feel spiritually dry and doubt’s shadow flutters at the edges of your brain?

Writers with an empty mind, when your staring at an empty page, how do you fill that page and then another, and another.

How do those of you who are facing a new career, a new family, or a risky adventure move beyond fear and step into the unknown.

Where do you find the strength and inspiration to continue if tragedy has interrupted your life and now you must find a way to move forward.

If I have missed your calling or situation, feel free to fill in the blanks and have at it.  If your comments are used in my book I will send you an autographed copy free of charge.  But someone reading this may find your insights a great motivator to live outside the box so…

Leave a comment, help someone live.

Wild Roses

Today I woke up early determined to run up the mountain to two beautiful lakes. This is exercise at it’s best and I was committed to reaching the lakes in less than an hour. The route is all up hill amid towering pines paralleling a rambunctious stream.  As I labored upward there was only one thing on my mind.  Make the trip in 60 minutes.  Okay, I was also thinking of oxygen. 

A flash of color catches my eye. Wild roses!  I can’t stop.  Have to make it to the top in an hour.  But about ten strides later I turn around and run back for a closer look.  The roses are so beautiful, I can’t resist snapping a picture.  Then a sweet, wild, pure aroma washes over me. I inhale  deeply, put my camera away and with renewed energy  continue my sprint up the mountain.  On this steep trail “sprint” means a heaving shuffle, but I refuse to walk. I have to make it in an hour.

Columbine

A few minutes later I see another flower so beautiful it is been designated as the Colorado State flower, the spectacular Columbine. I glance at my watch.  I must stop even if I don’t make it to the lakes in an hour.  The camera shutter clicked and I continued on.  Then there was part of an elk carcass and the bluebells. I end up stopping to take all of the pictures you see here and I am so glad that I did.

Carcass

The the lakes were still there when I finally broke into the open at the end of the trail.

Not only did I reach the lakes I got a chance to enjoy the journey AND I made it to the lakes in 56 minutes.

I know it may sound trite, but don’t let your hurry to reach a destination keep you from stopping to smell the roses.

Don’t hurry past LIFE.

Have you ever stopped to “smell the roses?” What was your experience?

Not long ago I found myself living in a physical, spiritual, emotional and social coma.  I should have had a big Z for Zombie branded into my forehead.

A series of events starting with an eye opening look at what I had allowed to happen to my body and culminating with the horror of losing my beloved 4 year old granddaughter in the mountains of Colorado, started my recovery from living in the depressive staleness of just “making a living,” to breathing the fresh air of living “Fully Alive.”

Thank God, my granddaughter was found alive and well and I  found new hope and strength to live “fully alive” again!

Henry David Thoreau said, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to their grave with their song still in them.”

Benjamin Franklin said, ” Many men die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.”

On the 26th of this month we will be shooting a theater release film using laughter and powerful story to help people live “Fully Alive.” Nothing, I have ever talked about has generated such an overwhelming response as this challenge.  Multi award winning producer Gary Wheeler, and Erwin Brothers motion pictures were attracted to this project because of the power of this challenge to impact people from all walks of life.

“Fully Alive” was conceived specifically to help breathe life into so many who feel like the walking dead.  At times all of us sense we may be living far short of the potential for which we were created, we feel like we are just surviving instead of thriving!

Like my old buddy the apostle Paul said,  “I have not yet arrived in this pursuit, But I long to know Christ and the POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION.”

What could be greater than to know THAT POWER in our life NOW!

I am back on my feet now 40 lbs lighter and running full speed ahead. The physical renewal triggered a change in every other area of my life.  Some days my body hurts.  Some days my heart hurts.  Some days are exhilarating.  Shouts of joy are occasionally mingled with tears……  but I AM ALIVE!

I am convinced that the focus of the rest of my life will be to grab hold of those who have stumbled along the way as I did.  To encourage them to run again.  To learn together how to maximize the moment and LIVE.  This movie is the first step.

St Irenaeus said, The Glory of God is Man Fully Alive. I want to know Christ’s love and  forgiveness in a way that will empower me to ….

Walk through fear to taste of courage
Reject isolation to embrace community
Discover confidence in the nature of my creation
Live with expectancy rather than expectation
Love every person I meet with the passion of Christ

“I want to wake up kicking and screaming
I want a heart that I know is beating,
It’s beating,
I’m bleeding.”  Switchfoot

I WANT TO LIVE!

How about you!! Where are you in the journey of living fully alive? We will be establishing a web page soon where you can share your story, your dreams, your challenges and your triumphs.  Until then, your comments will be cherished as we all move toward living life fully alive.

Kenny Davis way back when...

Not exactly an Ipod

The other day a friend asked if I could recall my very first memory. I thought it was losing my teeth, but Diane reminded me that happened just last year.

The search became quite an interesting quest.  When you open doors to the past, you often find yourself in rooms with other doors slightly ajar.  Those doors lead to other rooms and older memories. Many wondrous and some magical moments are uncovered until finally you are at the last door.

When that door creaked open for me, I was standing beside a large radio.  I’m talking large! This thing was a piece of furniture, the size of a desk that also contained an LP record player.

My mind repainted the picture as if it were yesterday. There I stood all chubby, diaper hangin low,  listening to some ancient comedy show.  When the audience laughed and applauded I would scream with delight.  I loved it.  My screaming got me in big trouble that day.  Perhaps that is why the memory is so vivid.

Fascinating that I worked to hear that laughter all my life, and I have been in trouble all my life.

I would love to hear your comments about your first conscious memory. You might have to open some doors to find it, but for me it was worth it.

I have decided to share this experience in my next book and in my new theater release, “Fully Alive.”  People might enjoy hearing your first memory as well!