I don’t know what preceded professional wrestler Ric Flair being kicked in the face, in the above picture, by Hulk Hogan.

What I do know, is that Flair, almost undoubtedly, got back up off the mat in an overtly dramatic fashion, let out a loud: “Whooooooo!”, to the delight of the crowd onhand, and then got back into the fight.

That’s what Ric Flair did. He was one of “The Four Horsemen.” He was an icon. When he got knocked down, he almost always got back up again.

I’ve never fought Hulk Hogan, but I did get knocked down recently.
Monday, I started off my new series of blog posts, When Life Kicks You in the Face, in which I discuss the process of overcoming my current set of obstacles.

Today, I’m picking up where I left off, but I want to cover some things first.

In my first post, I discussed some reasons I was hesitant to publish this series. But there are some other reasons too.

Since everything went down in March, I feel like I have less of a handle on the every day direction of this blog. To that point, this has been pretty much just a humor blog. That was the sole purpose: To make you laugh.

But then everything changed.

We still have a good time. We laugh. We still have the Funhouse on Friday and everybody enjoys that. But there’s another layer of depth that has emerged within the last few months.

I felt unsure about that for a while, but I don’t anymore, so I just wanna be honest.

It’s not going to stop.

I don’t plan on phasing out the funny altogether. But I do plan on being honest. Sometimes, that will lead to laughs. Sometimes, it will make you think and maybe bring about change (or at least a desire to do so).

I’m not totally sure how everything will go, but I wanted to warn you in advance. If it’s not your cup of tea and you prefer to get off the train, I won’t begrudge you.

So, for those of you who wanna stick around, let’s move on.

The best place to start is my first week as an unemployed teacher.

Up to that point, I’d already sent out countless job applications and received nothing back from anyone. Not a phone call. Not even an email.

Nothing.

So I decided to stop doing it. I was getting nowhere, and the process was doing nothing but stressing me out.

The truth is that I’ve never once got a job by looking on Craig’s List or Monster.com. I’ve never secured a position of any permanence by dressing up a resume and sending it off in a mass mailing.

Every job I’ve ever had came through a friend or a mutual acquaintance. I always got hired right when I needed to be. I’ve never gone without. God has always been very good to me.

For the time being, I’ve resolved to stop sending off applications. I’m taking a hiatus from the job hunt.

I want to write. I want to work for myself. I want my wife to be able to stay home with our son.

To some of you, that might sound like a silly pipe dream. You might even think I’m being immature. You might be right, but in the next volume of this series, I’m going to give you a some more background that I think will explain my plan a little better.

In the next volume, I’ll tell you how I started my life as a freelancer. If you’ve ever thought about freelancing, or you just have a dream you’ve been afraid to chase after, I think the next post is something you’re going to want to read.

While you’re waiting for the next volume, I’d love for you to get involved in the comment area below. Here’s what I want to know:

If time and money were not an option, what dream would you pursue? Be honest.