I can see it quite clearly in my head. It was a summer day, I was responding to ad in the newspaper. I had driven about 15 miles from the house see this car that had been advertised.

There she sat in this man’s yard, a little Austin Healey. She showed a little it of age, but overall looked pretty good. Over time the neglectful owners have decided to throw their beer cans into the car.

That was such a sad sight for such a majestic car.

Being a convertible she was missing the ragtop, which lent for well for them tossing in their beer cans. There wasn’t any body damage. There wasn’t any rust. It was only missing one chrome wing center cap for the wheels. Other than that it was in perfect condition, well except for the beer cans.

I looked her over fairly well.

The owner said $125 and she’s yours.

I was just 18. And although the deal was great I passed on it. But since then I kick myself for not taking up that incredible deal. So essentially this is a story of missed opportunity. One of regret, only $125.

Recently I pulled into the parking lot and a beautiful little Austin Healey was parked right next to me. I shared with this old gentleman my story of the Austin Healey that could have been.

This one instance stands out the most to me, one that I wish I could go back and rectify. I could still be driving along the Colorado mountainside in my little Austin Healey.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but missed opportunities happen to all of us everyday. The kind word not said. The apology not made. Take the extra second to rethink the situation so you are not someday in the future thinking about what could have been.

Halloween is the holiday for me that I have the most fun. One of my fond childhood memories is the Halloween Carnivals that my elementary school would have each year. Cakewalks, Hayrides, haunted houses, games, it was so much fun.

Everyone dressed up in various characters from cartoon to super hero to ghoulish. I think the zombie is the easiest to create. It can be as simple as you like or it can be detailed.

And as far as movies go, Zombie movies are usually my favorite. The main character battles against the droves of mindless dead people to survive. And usually he is faced with overcoming impossible odds.

The main character is trying to survive, looking for other survivors, trying to rescue those that he can, simply trying to survive himself and find the cure to help his fellow mankind.

And all the while the zombies are trying eating his brain, or eating him so he will become, as they are, “ZOMBIES”. He must be careful in their presence because they can sense that he is different, not like them.

I relate this to everyday life. As a leader I’m trying to rescue those that I can from their zombie-like life where everyday is the same, “Alarm Clock, Eat, Commute, Time Clock, Work, Time Clock, Eat, Time Clock, Work, Time Clock, Commute, Eat, Sleep”, change name of day and repeat.

The “zombies”, I mean co-workers, family, friends, who do not think like I do, want me to be like them. They cannot understand the books that I read. They sense the change that I have made in life.

They do not understand why I seek the mentorship of other leaders. They want to eat my brain and fill it with the latest gossip, TV show, or mindless trivia that erodes and stifles my creative thoughts. Sometimes they do not realize the harm; hey it’s what everybody else does.
Resist the Zombies, Fight the Zombies, Battle on and find the others, they are alive. We may not be able to save them all but we can try.