I was out for brunch with two friends at a great spot, Maialano, in Gramercy Park (the Ricotta Pancakes are insane!)
"I took Elena Brower’s yoga class the other day," my friend Ryan said.
Azure chimed in, "Did I tell you the story about the time I was leaving Elena Brower’s class and ran into a guy who looked just like Larry Wilcox, the blonde guy 
from CHIPS?"
I’d heard this story 800 times.
Azure has a trifecta of personality traits that together are as painful as getting a mole removed from your sphincter.
She tells long-winded stories, she is a stoner, and she is sensitive. Which means she forgets that she already told you a story and freaks the hell out if you tell her so.
"What’s CHIPS?" I asked trying to derail the story.
Azure responded, "It’s that show from the early 80′s about those 2 California Highway Patrolmen…anyway, so I’m walking out of class and I see this guy…"
I couldn’t stand it and needed to interrupt, "Azure, you just told this story 3 days ago…
"…you thought it was Larry Wilcox but it turned out to be your boyfriend from 6th Grade who looks like Larry Wilcox…
"…so you went to have Dr Brown’s Black Cherry soda and pickles with him at Carnegie Deli…
"…and pickles turn you on so you ended up having sex in the Carnegie Deli bathroom at 3am…
"…on a Monday."
Silence.
Ryan summoned the waiter, "Waiter, do you have any pickles?"
Azure gave me the look of death, "Yeah Dave, you fuckface…you’re supposed to be a yoga teacher…Yoga teachers are supposed to be nice! And patient! And kind!"
*****
With the market crashing, are we really going to suffer through the same story all over again?
Hiding, hoarding, fearing for our savings and our jobs?
Consider these 2 fearless acts performed by humans inspiring us to turn around and face our fears.
–Surfing Monster Waves in the Black of Night
Check out surfer Mark Visser surfing the most dangerous wave in the world…at night!
–Swimming Cageless Through Shark-Infested Waters
Diana Nyad tried to swim from Florida to Cuba, without a shark cage.
She wasn’t able to complete the 103 mile swim but the waters are so infested with sharks, that to attempt this swim without a cage was considered extremely dangerous.
For protection, she had a support crew which included kayaks with underwater electrical shields that emit a frequency intended to shoo the sharks away.
If that failed, divers were ready to intervene.
Can you imagine swimming in such dangerous waters for 24 hours?
Said Diana Nyad of her life philosophy, “To live a life with no regrets and no worries about what you are going to do with your time. Fill it with passion, be your best self.”
Diana Nyad and Mark Visser are obviously crazy but if they can surf 40 foot waves in the black of night and swim for hours on end in some of the most shark-infested waters in the world, surely we can stay grounded and calm and find our way through this economic chaos.
Maybe we’re facing a double dip recession, maybe not.
Either way, let’s not suffer through the same painful story that we did in 2008.
As best you can, LIVE! There is no cost for passion, no fee for attitude, no interest rate for NRG.
As Voltaire said, "Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats."
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