Coca-Cola product placement

Coming to you live from Dallas, Texas! I'm leaving to drive home in a little bit, but it's been a good weekend. Aside from my favorite hockey team getting killed by the local one (and the ensuing walk of shame that followed), there's not much to complain about. One of my favorite movies to watch in nearly any mood if American Beauty. So many themes inside, so many lessons to take away. Kevin Spacey's performance as Lester Burnham is in my mind, one of the best performances of the last 25 years.

One of my favorite lines in a very quotable movie is Lester declaring, "It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself." That line had always stuck out to me, but never been specifically relevant to anything in my life...until now. This weekend hockey trip to Dallas was an oasis, a therapeutic pilgrimage to escape the meandering life of an Arkansas college student. But I got a lot more out of it. I got a big surprise.

I would by no means consider myself 'old' or 'mature.' I do like to throw those words around because I'm in my 20s, however. But with the experience of life comes situations in which you think you have a bead on things. You're pretty sure you've got it all figured out. And then you end up surprising yourself. Maybe the surprise comes because you're different, or because they're different...but when you realize it it's a giant elephant in the room, a not-so-negative scarlet letter. The peace that comes from finally having a real resolution/wisdom about a situation or a someone is only comparable to the feeling of drinking an ice-cold Coke on a blazing hot day. You may not even like Coke, but if you're out in the heat, the wave of refreshment you get from the beverage is heaven on earth. I may be 22, but if the past 36 hours are any indication, I've got so many more surprises ahead of me.

Better go grab a Coke...