Maybe it's because I have a friend dying in the hospital, two
friends recently diagnosed with cancer, or just being here in
the Czech Republic, home to my ancestors, but I?ve been thinking
a lot lately about how we live life.

Last week we looked at how many people are so busy earning a
living that they forget to live their life. This week I've been
thinking about the innocence we have as children, and how we
often let that get stolen once we "grow up."

How often do we tell kids to grow up? But what if that isn?t
very good advice?

Of course we want people to learn to take personal
responsibility and become aware of the challenges they will
face. But let?s not lose that sense of childhood curiosity,
adventure, and innocence along the way.

A child can spend an hour staring at the design in a leaf,
watching an ant colony, or studying the clouds. As adults, we
think we're way too busy for stuff like that, or have more
important things to do.

A couple years ago, my sister came to visit with her family. Her
husband, my brother-in-law Todd was in the final stages of
terminal cancer. He had fought the good fight for five years,
but at that point, it was only a matter of months. We went to
dinner with their two young children.

Understandably the kids were having a hard time dealing with the
situation, especially my nephew, who was about 11. This was
causing Todd a great deal of stress, because he knew he wouldn?t
be around to help him make that transition into adulthood. So he
was trying everything he could do to get his son to face the
realities of life, and what it would look like without him.

But you know what?

I don't think that's what my nephew needed right then. He would
face the cold realities of adulthood soon enough. Back then he
just needed to be a kid. And sometimes we all do.

I have no memory of my father, so I can't know what my niece and
nephew went through. But I?m 48 and I still don?t want to face
the thought of losing my mother. And I doubt it will be any
easier at 68 or 88.

I can still remember how excited my brother, sister and I were
when mom mixed up Kool-Aid, made Rice Krispie treats, or baked a
chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. (And we got to lick
off the beaters!)

I remember how safe I felt in my grandmother's house, and how
strong I saw my grandfather as. Later the roles were reversed,
and they looked to me for strength. And yet later, I needed all
the strength I could muster, to speak at funerals.

Now my other nephew is already married. Kids grow up, new babies
are born, and time marches on. But what do we do with that time?

Between my trip to San Diego and a meeting I had in Salt Lake
City I had just three days at home before coming here. With all
that travel, I found out at the last minute that there was a
concert up in Pompano Beach, featuring two of the favorite acts
of my adolescence, Deep Purple, and the Edgar Winter Group.

Spontaneously I jumped online, found a broker, and scored a
couple primo seats in the second row. I had seen both groups in
their heyday and couldn't wait to relive the experience of my
youth.

Then adulthood got in the way?

I?ve been going to the Opera, the occasional jazz club or Jonny
Lang gigs, but I haven't been to an honest to goodness rock
concert in at least ten years. Was I really up for the mosh pit
scene?

I had seen Deep Purple on a double bill with Uriah Heep around
1972, and Edgar Winter probably in 1973. I was around 14 then, so
in doing the rough math, I could only imagine how old these guys
were now. I knew Dan Hartman from EWG had died some time back,
and Ritchie Blackmore had left Purple again and Jon Lord had
stopped touring.

Then my friend going with me had to cancel at the last minute.
The concert was an hour north of me, in an outside venue and it
was muggy; looked like it might rain. Would there be anywhere
"safe" to park one of my cars at a rock concert? The "sensible"
thing would be to stay home.

But since when was rock 'n roll supposed to be sensible? I put
on my Scorpions t-shirt from the Monsters of Rock tour and
headed up I-95?

Now at first I was kind of questioning my decision. Looking
around, I was surrounded by the target demographic for Rogaine,
Cialis, and loose fit Dockers. What kind of rock concert is
that? The humidity was about 98 percent and the rain looked like
it would start any minute. Then the two guys who were tuning the
guitars on stage for the Edgar Winter set turned out to actually
be the guitar and bass player. Come to find out, it wasn?t the
Edgar Winter "Group," but the Edgar Winter "Band." There was no
announcer, no backup vocalists, and no pyrotechnics. Edgar did
the keyboards, vocals, tambourine, sax, and even some drums.

But you know what? It was wonderful.

The guitarist was Doug Rappoport, the bassist was Mark Meadows
and along with Chris Frazier keeping time, they jammed. The set
lasted about 45 minutes and included some stuff from the White
Trash days, an extended version of "Tobacco Road" and of course
the EWG classics.

Let me tell you, Edgar can still wail! Maybe he doesn?t hold a
note for 20 minutes like he did back in the day, but he can
still nail one for what seems like15. And when he straps on that
synthesizer and hits the first notes from "Frankenstein" - if
you don't have chills going down your neck, it's time to move to
the monastery.

Then when the Purple boys came out, things went berserk?

On the drive up, I was wondering if people still rush the stage,
light BIC lighters for the anthems, and smoke a little primo
sensamelia to enhance their experience. I'm happy to report the
answers are still yes, yes, and yes. (And I'm grateful to tell
you that since it was a hospitable crowd, not bringing a BIC did
not preclude me from participating in the other two activities.)

Oh and by the way, the boys from Purple can still rock! They had
people jamming from the first beat and never let up a minute. It
was an intense, rockin' set from start to finish that left the
crowd delirious.

When I saw them back in the 70's, Ritchie Blackmore played the
guitar behind his back and at one point threw it on the floor
and played with his toes! And it?s no lie to say that he sounded
better with his feet than most guys do with their hands. So I
did have a little trepidation about seeing the band without
Ritchie.

But Steve Morse who took over is a bona fide guitar God in his
own right, and he was beyond amazing. He kept the feel of the
original numbers, but wasn't afraid to put his own mark on
things. And while he isn't as crazy a stage presence as Ritchie,
he can pick it with anyone. The crowd was won over by his first
solo.

But of course the real moment of truth would come with "Smoke on
the Water." It doesn?t matter who you are, that song needs two
guitarists, not one. What a pleasant surprise to have Steve
bring out his son (and an extra keyboardist) to play with him
for the track. It was the finale of the set and absolutely
brought the house down.

Anyway, enough ranting about reliving my head-banger days. How
about YOU?

How often do you get sucked into being adult and sensible when
you really should be childlike and carefree? What's the thing
from your childhood you let go of that maybe you shouldn?t have?
And when was the last time you really did something spontaneous?

Did you give any thought to the questions we discussed last
week?

Maybe for lunch today you should have a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich and wash it down with chocolate milk. Or bake one of
those chocolate cakes with the peanut butter frosting! When?s
the last time you had a really good pillow fight anyway?

Along those lines, Joe Calloway has a new book out this week
that you'll want to read. Joe is a savvy entrepreneur, critical
thinker, and just all-around good guy. His new book is titled,
"Work Like You're Showing Off" and like everything he does, it's
great stuff.

Now of course the herd would tell you that showing off is a bad
thing. But that's why they?re in the herd. Showing can be a good
thing. It's a mindset.

In the book, Joe shows you that showing off is about living life
and doing work in a way that creates joy, jazz, and a kick in
our lives and in the lives of those around us. This is a
business book for almost everyone from executives and managers
to receptionists and sales clerks.

I'll be here for almost a week, then go on the Israel and
Turkey, so I'll try and check in from one of those stops. Have
an amazing week!

-RG (Randy Gage - http://www.randygage.com )