Topic: Philosophies of Life –Personal Philosophies of Barry Sweet

Theme: Philosophies of Life 

Author: Barry Sweet

Date: January 7, 2018

Video Production by Tim & Karen Morse. Morsephotography.com

Part of the fun and the celebration of life, for me, is finding my own life philosophies… and here's a handful of them… The first, probably the biggest is “Juice Life. Like an orange. Get every drop. Don't miss one...” I grew up in Phoenix and you get oranges and grapefruit on the trees… Somewhere in the middle of the winter, they're all gone. And there is no juice. And my encouragement is to juice while the juicing is good. 

Because everything in life is a TSE…a Time Sensitive Event. I learned about the Time Sensitive Event from the Chief of the Estes Park Police Department, who for years, dedicated, went in to work for 20 years. Every day. In his 20th year, he got a new boss who came in and over a period of three days, fired him. And he said “There was no way for me to go back and make my children small again and bounce them on my knee. I had told them to wait… and now they were gone” (gone to college and their lives). 

And I said to myself…“I am never going to let that be my story”.  And so, with my government job, it pays me well, but never quite enough to live on. So I invented a job, a computer programming job, that brought in some extra money. And on the very last day before I launched the new business one of the kids (either Sierra or Landon called from the other room and said “Dad…” And I had promised myself when they called for me, I would never say the words “Just a minute” but, it was crunch day, and it was the day before I was going to launch the business… and I was on the computer and one of them said “Dad..” from the bedroom and I said “Just a minute…” because I wanted to finish this one last piece… 

The words came out of my mouth, formalized in block letters in front of my face. “Just a minute….” They continued on their way… hit the computer screen, shattered into crystals of glass that fell down all over the keyboard and I just leaned my head against the keyboard”. 

And then said, “I'll be right there”. And I went in and took care of them. I still don't know… I think it was Landon… but I never said those words again, because I didn't want my friends’ story to be my story. Because children are Time Sensitive Events. Children are TSEs… and I've started to realize through life, that everything is a Time Sensitive Event.

Timber Creek Campground… I used to drive by it and say “I'm camping there some day. That's the most beautiful campground in the National Park”.  Timber Creek Campground years ago was hit by pine beetles, and we went in and cut down all those dead pine trees… and I'll never be able to go to Timber Creek Campground.  I've thrown these outdoor parties: a Tree Dance, a Car Dance… these are really fun, fun summer evenings… and I've been secretly planning a party for Alluvial Fan West. A Forest Dance. Those trees were killed by spruce beetles this year. And I'll never be able to go and have that party there because Everything is a Time Sensitive Event…and we've got to Juice Life while the Juicin’s is good… because the juice dries up and goes away. And PTUs are Precious Time Units.  We’re only allocated so many in a day, so many in a lifetime. And if you don't Juice your Precious Time Unitsthey'll just slip through your fingers and be gone. 

And in addition to that… there are PEUs which are Precious Energy Units. You're only granted so many of those in an hour. So many in a day. So many in a lifetime. And you've got to juice your Precious Energy Units and spend them wisely, and choose what you're going to invest them in, rather than letting them get absorbed by the machine, because the machine will absorb your Precious Energy Units.  

And you can spend your Precious Energy Units on anger. And you can spend your Precious Energy Units on self-inflicted poison (which is another way to say anger) and you can keep hatred alive, and acid alive in yourself if you choose, but I also believe that ‘Life is too long… to be unhappy’. 

And I guess one of my other philosophies of life is that “You can't have anything if you don't ask.” And you can get the corner room in the hotel that faces both north and west (If you ask). But if you don't ask, they'll give you whenever they've got in inventory. And so if there are things that you want, because you're a romantic, because you want things to be beautiful in your life, “You can't have anything if you don't ask”.  

And I guess I'll end with one other philosophy. And that is “Turn Everything… into a party”. If you've got friends that are coming over to film… pass out French Berets and Director's Chairs to everybody… If you go to hell… try to turn hell into a party if you can. Find the hot tubs. I don't know…. When times are hard in your life, and you think you don't have what it takes to put the energy into being positive… Turn Everything into a party. 

Look for it. It's hiding there… waiting… and it's this amazing little twist that you do in your mind to say “Wow, can I turn this into a party somehow?” And you can… and it changes your life and makes it great.