Sitting under a Bodhi tree, Siddhartha Gautama reached the conclusion that through hard work and kindness to others we can live our best lives. It might not even be a good life but it will be much better than the life you would live if you were lazy and hateful. Having reached this state of enlightenment, Siddhartha posthumously became known as the Buddha.
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” Buddha.
If you think that the objective of life is to escape pain and suffering then it is a hard row of dirt that you will hoe. Sure, we can reduce it but we cannot escape it. Even if it could be escaped there would come a time where the feelings of lifelessness would overtake us and we would find a way to muck it up.
“Shower on him every blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, give him economic prosperity such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes, and busy himself with the continuation of the species, and even then, out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick.” Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The whole point that should be taking away from the new testament teachings about Christ is that we, like Christ, should pick up our cross and bare our burdens. If you think that any of the suffering that you encounter in life is unfair or undeserved then I have more bad news for you; it is a sad story and everyone dies in the end. Probably worse than this is that all those burdens left behind get passed on to others.
“Was it done with radium or with mesothorium?” Marie Curie’s chilling last words on her deathbed.
“You will have suffering in this world.” Jesus the Christ (John 16:33).
As the manager of a restaurant I get told daily that my smile and personality really help bring about an overall greater experience. I tell people that it is not my job to see to it that our guests get full; it is my job to provide them with a wonderful and pleasant personal experience that they can hopefully carry with them into the world. I truly believe that if a guest comes in to the restaurant and has a bad experience and walks out in an angry mood only to be killed in a car wreck leaving the restaurant, there can be no denying things might have gone the other way if they only could have had a better experience; albeit dining at a restaurant. Make no mistake about it, a good experience does not protect them from bad things and I know this. But better to die happy than angry at the manager or a waitress. I take my position in this world seriously with regards to everything I do. I hope that telling you that we should all love one another and lift each other up is not me just casting my pearls.
“I will never let anything that happens inside this restaurant stop me from loving you as a person.” Jason Holliman.
“I call him religious who understands the suffering of others.” Mahatma Gandhi.
Not everyone will want to hear or can even understand the gravity of my words. Everything we do does make a difference in the lives of others. I am not just writing milk and honey. I personally work over a hundred hours a week (clocked in) even though there are only 168 hours total in every week. I wake up about 4:45 every day and go to yoga, then go to the gym, come back home and change clothes and then I am off to manage the restaurant. On these 5 days I come home about 11 pm or even later. On my “days off” I waste not a single hour. I also own a painting company that brought me over six figures last year without any advertising. I just spent $6,000 on advertising for this year. I already have several houses to paint when the weather warms up. Not only that but the restaurant will also bring me six figures this year. I also have a newer model infiniti SUV that the owner of the restaurant, Asif, gave to me because he was tired of making the payments. So I told him just take a thousand dollars out of my base salary and I will throw in a little more and pay it off by the end of this year.
Me to Asif: “Too bad we can’t buy more time.”
Asif: “No, but we can better manage the time we are given.”
Asif is moving to Seattle in about a week or less so he gave me all the passwords, keys, lock codes, credit cards, an office, everything, and told me to “just run the restaurant.” Can you believe that? Then we went around town and he introduced me to all his big shot friends and told them I was his guy and to make sure that I never need anything. And I started out as a dishwasher! What’s sad is that anyone could have been in my position but they can’t even show up on time to wash dishes. Well, that’s good for me I guess but sad for society as far as I can tell.
“I will never get beat up by a bunch of dishes.” Jason Holliman.
To be clear, or, as Obama used to say, “let me be clear,” I have two jobs which will bring in over a hundred thousand dollars a year for me. How many people do you know that if they even landed one job making six figures would sit back with their sense of entitlement and do absolutely nothing until it was time to go to work the next day? You already know that when they come home they are not looking for a better job, or another job, or even something to kill time with at night. They make six figures a year, what else can you expect of someone? Two six figure jobs?
“Let me be clear, we need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.” Barack Obama.
If you read my post “This Year in Review,” then you will know that I also became a yoga sculpt instructor back in November. I plan to start teaching Saturday and Sunday mornings at 6 am in February plus I will sub between two different studios as much as I can.
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” The Bhagavad Gita.
Also, I clean the yoga studio’s each Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and it is not for the money. It only pays $13 per hour for about 3 hours a week ( I also get a 50% discount on my membership). I do it to accept as much responsibility as possible and carry my burdens, and the burdens of others, to the best of my abilities. I even fell off a ladder Tuesday afternoon and went to the ER because I thought my arm was broke and I still went to clean the yoga studio that evening. True, I was in tremendous pain because I fell off the ladder and onto a fence but I didn’t want to call in on my first shift.
“If something stands between you and success, move it.” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
I was also one of a very few people selected (maybe 6 or 7) out of the 150 who applied, to be an ambassador for a company called 3W Races. They petition cities to allow them to host 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon racing events in which hundreds of people show up to give it their best. I almost always get a podium. Only three times have I fallen outside of the top ten. Thus far I can say that I have not met one person who can sprint as fast as me and I have probably raced over 5 thousand people.
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” Colin Powell.
As an ambassador for their company I get to race for free. But there is much more. I also have to help set up the events which means getting there at 3 am at some locations in all types of weather. It is expected that I wear their gear with their logo while running, which came as a delight to so many, because I am their fastest runner and it will make the company look good as I cross the finish line, then take the podium, all while wearing their logo!
“Do what you can, when you can, where you are in the community.” 3W Races slogan.
Not only are there perks but it is expected that as an ambassador you give back to the community. There will be events throughout the year where we will pick up trash in the parks and around lakes as well as donate portions of our earnings to certain foundations. Furthermore, it is fully expected that as an ambassador you donate your time to a charity of your choice.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” Doctor Martin Luther King.
I am also a boxer and I anticipate going to New Jersey in July (If I’m not mistaking) to participate in the Masters event. Yes, I expect to be the best boxer there and I certainly would not go if I didn't think I could win it all. Well, actually, yes I would.
“I don’t understand why people would want to get rid of pigeons. They don’t bother no one.” Mike Tyson.
I was talking to my Hall of Fame boxing coach about trying to start a yoga program for children. He said, “well, you know the gym is closed Sunday’s after 12:00 pm. Just use the gym.” So I spoke to a couple of yoga instructors at the yoga studio and they were both extremely interested in teaching yoga to children at the gym on Sunday’s. They are even going to use the yoga studio to sign people up. Unbelievable!
Me to my coach: “I want my nickname to be Jason “The Gold Standard” Holliman.
Coach: “No one has time for that. It should be two words or less.”
Me: “But they called you DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson.”
Coach: “You want to see why?”
Me: “What about Jason “Renaissance Man” Holliman?
Coach: “Did you bring your mouthpiece?”
Me:
I have yet to tell you about the two volleyball leagues I belong to in the summer or how much I love playing racquetball with my best friend and going to movies and eating dinner with my companions. I totally left out my trip to India I have planned in March or that I plan to go back to college online and finish my 4 year degree in history this fall. There is so much that I am leaving out, but I am telling you these things because we have a social obligation to accept as much responsibility in this life as possible and I want you to know that I am doing my part.
Gandhi: “our greatness in being a human is not in our ability to change the world as much as it is in our ability to change ourselves.”
I had a birthday party at the restaurant that I manage back in December and I had over 30 people show up. I waited on them hand and foot and finally one of them spoke up and said, “why are you serving us on your birthday, this is supposed to be about celebrating your life.”
“True, but my life is nothing without you.” Jason Holliman.
Other things I like to do:
Walk my dog at the river.
Read, read, read.
Write on Substack.
Look for the opportunity in everything.
Find new challenges for myself.
Help others as much as possible.
Yoga. (Oh, I already mentioned that).
best,
Team Dragon
You're awesome Jason, Goodluck on your journey😊take care/be careful always, You're the best 👍💪
Be sure that Sproket gets his daily walks!!!!