WELCOME TO
Jonathan’s Christmas Epic
(episode 7)
My 2003 experience summed up (ha!) in 8 short pages (single-spaced, 12 point font).
Past Christmas letters (epics) are available at http://www.strive4impact.com/letters.html
This letter (#7) is available with a nicer font, is easier to read, and has pictures, if you go here
Dear Friends,
2003 has been a year of new beginnings and difficult goodbyes. I have had the opportunity to make some new friends and get reacquainted with some old ones. I have also had to say goodbye to some friends who I had thought would be with me longer than they were. All in all, 2003 has been somewhat of an overwhelming year, one that has been wonderful and difficult at the same time.
January marked Carrie’s return from Germany. She had told me that she would be returning on Thursday, Jan. 30. That would have meant that I would be need to take the afternoon off of school to come to the airport to pick her up. One of her friends had scheduled a massage with me for Jan. 23, and when I went to answer the door for the massage on the 23rd, Carrie was standing there, already back from Germany! I was very surprised, to say the least! It was an awesome surprise and I was glad she was back to Colorado after having spent 5 months living abroad in Germany.
As anyone who has lived abroad knows, coming back home is always difficult. There are many things to adjust to, many experiences to try to piece together, and overall, it makes one think about their bigger role, and why they went abroad in the first place. Most people who haven’t had one of these “coming back” experiences think that returning after a short time (less than a year) is mostly difficult because when you return, things have changed so much. Really, it’s not that. It’s mostly that you have changed when you return. The things at home (that you wished would have changed with you,) have actually not changed, and the things at home that you wished would stay the same have only changed a little. This was the experience that I had when I returned from Germany in 2001, and it was also the case for Carrie when she returned. (Just to acknowledge the point someone will make, it’s probably different for people who go away for many years and then return, but I’m just talking about short-term overseas experiences.) As a result, Carrie spent some time adjusting to being back, which meant that she and I spent some time adjusting as well. Working through this adjustment time has been a great benefit and blessing in my life, as she has been there with me for many of the ups and downs of the past year.
March marked war with Iraq. I felt myself very intertwined with this because before the war started, I watched a group of soldiers in Jeeps and Humvees slide into the desert of Iraq under the veil of darkness. I watched as they attacked an outpost with long range weapons, and I felt the fear of the people who were being shot at. I later found out from a news article that this was an elite group of American and Australian soldiers who had been sent in to clear the way some 29 hours before the war officially started, at approximately the same time I was watching this go on behind my eyes. I don’t consider myself uniquely psychic, but this was the strongest intuitive experience I have ever had, and will join me with the second Iraqi war, probably for the rest of my life.
There are people who I know, who have had very close friends die over the past year, in fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have spent a lot of time trying to grasp America’s planning and reasons, because the rationale for the deaths has been very hard for me to understand.
People say that war with Iraq was over oil, but all the facts point to no, when they are looked at objectively. Going into Iraq seems to have been about preventing another country from achieving nuclear capability, but I’m not sure that that was the case either. I really can’t say why we went to war; I have a couple of theories (admittedly borrowed,) which I won’t go into here, but I would like to take a couple of minutes to talk about war in general.
My thoughts on war are varied. I definitely believe that war is stupid. It’s three or four boys fighting over the same girl. Only the boys become countries. The words, fists, and rocks become propaganda, guns, and rockets. The girl becomes some prized possession that everyone wants. However, the problem with everyone going after the prized possession is that when everyone goes after it, no one gets it. (If you haven’t seen A Beautiful Mind, do. It is a wonderful movie and offers a great explanation of why no one gets the one thing when everyone goes after it.) At the same time that I believe war to be stupid, I believe it to be necessary. What Americans and Iraqis are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, what Palestinians and Israelis are doing in the Mideast, what Chechnyans and Russians are doing in Russia, is all necessary. It’s very difficult to believe, and nearly impossible to accept, but war is necessary.
President George W. Bush says that war is necessary to protect freedom. I don’t believe that war protects freedom anymore than ignorant peace protects freedom. September 11 is the most recent example of showing us that peace doesn’t protect freedom, and thousands of years of battles should show us that war doesn’t protect freedom either. However, I do hold the belief that as a global society, we are awakening. We are starting to realize some very important things about humanity:
#1. There is a higher power and an order to things. No matter how hard we fight against it (in our own hearts and minds, and on the battlefield), love is more powerful than fear.
#2. Peace can only be maintained by individuals—in the way that they raise their children, in the way they act towards others, and in the thoughts they allow to take hold in their minds. Peace and prosperity can be reinforced by governments, but only when people choose peace and prosperity for themselves.
#3. No matter the color of their skin, the gender they were born into, or the God that they worship, people are people. When it comes down to it, 95% of what people do, is done with the intention of having a successful life, making a difference, and leaving the world a little better than it was.
The challenges that oppose each of these three points are very difficult to overcome, but as a global society, we are awakening to the possibility that we could learn to live as brothers and sisters, leading the successful and responsible lives we choose to live, with the technology and social systems in place allowing us to do so. War is a process we have to go through, and for that, I salute and appreciate all the incredible service people who put their lives on the line every day.
The major problem is that we should have been done with the war part of our process before 1945, or at least on the day America dropped the second bomb over Japan. But we have not moved forward yet. We have a long way to go, including in America (perhaps especially in America).
War happens in a cyclical pattern. It’s very close to predictable, when, and where, major war will break out—the problem is that none of us ever live long enough to experience the full cycle more than a few times. There is a very small percentage of the global population which studies war and comes to realize the pattern, and most of them have a hard time finding the words and the media to communicate what they know, with a world which is more preoccupied with watching TV (and a multitude of other things) than it is with preparing for the future. (In America, the average 8 year old spends 3 hours in front of the Television every day). The only way that we will break the cycle of war and move forward is if more than 2% of the people in every country in the world step up to become leaders for the cause. It seems a daunting task that 2% of the people in every country would do this, but I hold onto a hope, and a dream, that it can be done. I hope that in the upcoming year, you can spend some time thinking about these points. See if there are ways that you can apply them in your life. I will be working to do the same.
January-April, I had the opportunity to direct my first full show at Frontier Academy, where I was teaching theater and German, as well as doing web design. Jodi Anderson and I decided to direct A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This was my first full directing experience and really taught me a lot about myself and directing. I love helping people learn theater, because the skills taught in theater are so relevant to life. When taught from an Intention-based approach, people learn to ask three questions in studying theater: What do I want? (intention) What is preventing me from getting what I want? (obstacle) How do I overcome the obstacle to get what I want? (action). This approach teaches people to know what they want, to identify the things they will need to overcome, to think before they act, and ultimately, to take action. I really enjoyed the opportunity to impact many peoples’ lives in a meaningful way, through directing this show, and through teaching a theater class for 9th and 10th graders.
March also marked the beginning of a couple of new businesses for me, which I have continued to be very active with, because like massage, I know that I can earn a good income from them, while helping other people.
www.callingadvice.com is a site I set up to help people find US area codes, instructions for international calling, and cheaper options for communication. If you haven’t visited it yet, or even if you have, please do check it out. I’d love to hear what you think. It’s been very cool to know that while earning a part-time income from this web site, I am also helping people save money and find information easily, and in that way, I am making a difference in their lives.
I also started my own business, working with a company called Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE:PPL). If you haven’t heard about PPL, or even if you have, would you mind doing me a favor? Take a minute to visit my web site at http://www.prepaidlegal.com/info/jkraft.
What I have really enjoyed about Pre-Paid Legal has been the people whom I’ve met and had the opportunity to spend time with. The time that I have been able to share with incredible people, and the books that I have read, as a result of being involved with Pre-Paid over the past 8 months, have definitely changed the direction of my life. I consider myself truly fortunate to have had this opportunity come into my life. If I call you for an appointment, please go gentle! I am starting a new business and I would appreciate you listening to a short presentation. If you are not interested, I won’t be offended if you say no. Also, if you know of anyone who could use a great attorney, but can’t afford $200/hour, Pre-Paid Legal can help them get excellent attorneys in a very affordable way.
In May, my sister Deanna celebrated her 12th Birthday and my brother Adam celebrated his 22nd. It’s hard to believe we’re all growing up, especially Deanna. Some of you remember Deanna from when she was little, so just to let you know, she’s now 5’3” and is 12 (going on 25). I have gotten to spend some great time with each of my siblings over the past year, which I really have enjoyed. It’s hard to believe that there were so many times growing up when Adam and I couldn’t find a way to get along. We get along very well now. I count my brothers and sister(s) (you’ll hear about my new sister in a moment,) among the greatest things I am blessed with in my life.
In June, my older brother Brian got married to his true love, Jamie. Having a sister-in-law has been pretty cool, although I am openly admitting in this letter that over the past few months, there have been times when I’ve said “My brother’s girlfriend,” or “my brother’s fiancé”, rather than simply saying “My sister Jamie.” But I’ll get there, it just may take a month or few more (Sorry Jamie!). The wedding was wonderful and filled with some great family and friends, many of whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. I really enjoyed getting to be one of the groomsmen in the wedding as well, as this was a first for me. It won’t be a last though I would imagine.
Holy cow! It seems like most of my friends are getting married. I know that it is around the right time of life for it… early-mid-late twenties, but I didn’t think it would happen to most of them, all at the same time. Oh well. It is pretty funny though… I’m thinking I’ll end up running the tux to the dry cleaners several times over the next year, based on weddings alone!
In July, I once again went to Country Jam with my family. Country Jam is a four day country music festival, held in grand Junction, Colorado. I had a lot of fun, even though country music isn’t my favorite. I went because Country Jam definitely gave me some nice time with my family, including my new sister. Scott, Adam’s girlfriend Laura, Laura’s friend Megan, and Dan and Christina were fun to have at our Country Jam campsite this year as well! You can see pictures by going to http://www.strive4impact.com/photos2.html
On August 1, Carrie and I had tickets to go to the Metallica summer sanitarium tour! It was a lot of fun, although an admittedly tiring day. The experience got more tiring though. We both were headed to the Pre-Paid Legal convention in Las Vegas (a wonderful excuse to head to the city of lights), and the events overlapped in a big way. So, after being at the summer Sanitarium tour from 11:00 AM (Aug.1) until 12:30 AM (Aug. 2), Carrie and I got to crash at about 1:30 AM. We got up at 3:30 AM and got in the car to drive the 12-hour drive to Las Vegas. We arrived in Vegas at 3:45 PM, just in time for the event that was taking place. (Oh and Carrie got a ticket on the way to the Pre-Paid Legal convention in Beaver, Utah, which was sort of ironic, since Pre-Paid Legal took care of the ticket for her and she didn’t have to pay it. Anyway, that’s a story in itself.) We went to the PPL events until 11:00 PM, and we still didn’t have a hotel room. So we went looking, and finally found a place, although that is a huge story as well, one that is too involved to go into in this letter (which I’m seeing has again become quite long—but that’s what makes it my Christmas epic!) We were exhausted, but how does that saying go?...oh yah, when in Vegas… no, that was something else. Anyway, Carrie and I toured around the very north end of the strip in Vegas (on foot we got as far as Caesar’s Palace that night) until 2:30 AM. When we got back to our hotel, we definitely crashed. But we were up again at 7:00 AM on Aug. 3 for the great buffet at the San Remo, and were at the final closing team events at 8:30 AM. After that, we went out to Lake Las Vegas, which is a Hilton resort outside of Vegas, where we were able to stay very inexpensively and hang out with people we’d met through Pre-Paid Legal, in a very fun setting! We were able to stay at this great resort for very little money (thanks Dori!).
From there, Carrie and I went back into Vegas the next day, because we hadn’t gotten to see very much, and then we drove on to California, to stay with my uncle Walter and Aunt Susie in Burbank. Wow! That was an awesome time. Susie took us to the spa one day, which was wonderful hanging out at the spa. I’d never been in a mud bath before, so that was a new experience, but fun, and therapeutic too! It was also just really difficult (note the sarcasm) to have to go into the backyard and pick oranges and grapefruits for fresh squeezed juice in the morning. I definitely felt spoiled staying there, and I was!
After spending some awesome time with Walter and Susie, Carrie and I got to head down to Southern (well, more southern than Burbank) California, where we stayed with my cousin Steve. Steve lives about 100 steps from the beach, which was also oh, so tough (note the sarcasm again) for Carrie and I to deal with. We loved it there as well. I spent a couple of days trying to learn to surf (if you can imagine that!) and Carrie got to head down to UC San Diego (to look at grad school) for a day. All in all, a wonderful time there in Encinitas, CA.
We then headed back to Las Vegas (we didn’t get enough the first time, plus it was on the way) and stayed outside of Vegas in Henderson. A bit of advice—when you go to Vegas, if you’re not on a package deal and if you don’t care about being right on the strip, stay in Henderson. If you have your own transportation, it’s only about 5-10 minutes into Vegas, it’s about 50% cheaper, it’s nice, and it looks like Vegas (just much smaller).
We then drove from Henderson to the Hoover Dam, and drove all the next day to Grand Canyon, Arizona, where we stayed. The next day was like an epic adventure in the car, because after heading to the Grand Canyon in the morning, we drove all the way back to my parent’s home in Aurora, CO, arriving at about 12:30 AM. The drive from the Grand Canyon to metro Denver can be done in one day, I just wouldn’t recommend it.
So I hope I haven’t bored you with too many mundane details of a great vacation (I hope it’s not like going over to the neighbor’s house to watch home videos of their vacations… if it is, let me know. I’ll cut the vacation portion of the letter a bit shorter next year). Anyway, if you would like to see pictures of the California trip, you can visit www.strive4impact.com/photos2.html
School started up in August at Frontier, which meant that I started teaching just theater and doing the web design for the school. I had been teaching German, Theater, and doing the web design for the school, but decided that my work load was going to be too heavy trying to do all three things for the school, while building online businesses, a massage business, and a Pre-Paid Legal business (imagine that—me, trying to do everything at once! Nah, never!). So I went back to Frontier just to teach theater and direct a couple of shows this year. I didn’t know what shows I wanted to do going into the year, and it was kind of a surprise to me to have so much interest from students in putting on a production. The first few days of school seemed to be nothing but students asking what shows we were doing. I am proud to know that I had helped to build a love of being on stage in some of the students that wasn’t really there for many of them before I started teaching theater. I decided to do a show called Arsenic and Old Lace, which I will come back to in a minute.
On August 31, 2003, Carrie and I were driving back from Holyoke, on the eastern plains of Colorado, (where her family lives). When I got back into cell phone range, I picked up a very urgent sounding message from Dad, and another one from Adam. Carrie (who was with me in the car) also had a message from Adam. I knew that something very significant had happened. I pulled the car to the side of the road, and called Dad’s cell phone. Deanna answered the phone and handed it off to my mom, after hearing that it was me calling them back.
“I don’t know how to tell you this Jon. Megan died today.”
My cousin Megan has been one of my very good friends for as long as I can remember. Being six months apart, we shared a lot in common, had many similar experiences, and shared a lot of our difficulties and challenges with each other. We had become especially close during her time at UNC, (where she spent her sophomore-senior years,) getting together, making dinner for each other, and sharing good times. One of my favorite experiences with her was when she and her then fiancé Aaron, and Carrie and I, got together to make Grandma’s famous Poticia bread. Megan and I were the only two of the nineteen grandkids who spent time with Grandma during the making of the Poticia bread, and we thought it would be fun to get together our significant others and have some fun making Poticia. We had a great time.
I’ve not spent much time with trying to understand how it happened, but my understanding is that a blood clot moved from one of her limbs into her heart or lungs, causing her heart to shut down. This is not something that you expect to happen to anyone, much less a 23 year old young woman, who was sitting on the couch on a Sunday afternoon reading Harry Potter, but I’ve not spent much time trying to understand how or why. During the wake and at the funeral, more than one person came up to me to try to say that they didn’t have any explanation for me, and that they couldn’t make it make sense. Jim Rohn says “Don’t try to comprehend the incomprehensible.” I guess I never asked the how or why questions when it came to my cousin Megan’s death; I figured that it wasn’t my place to do so. I really try to view myself as I am; an infinitely small player in the great scheme of things. When it comes to Megan, it’s not my place to ask how, or to ask why, because the part of God’s big picture that I can see is so small that I have no right to ask those questions. But what I have really wanted, which no one has been able to give me, is a way to deal with the hurt of missing someone who I know I’ll never see again—at least not in this lifetime. I catch a glimpse of her, from time to time, in a song on the radio, or in a dream, but I don’t know when I’ll get to share my experiences with her again, when I’ll get to hear her stories, when we’ll get to have a nice big hug, or when I’ll get to her wonderful laugh. That’s hard. No one can tell you how to not miss a very good friend who suddenly is gone from your life. I’ve known I’ve needed to sit down and write my thoughts and feelings about this, as I can feel them in a knot in my stomach, but it’s been difficult. It’s hard to describe to someone what the feeling is like, unless they’ve gone through the experience of unexpectedly losing a good friend themselves. I know that time heals, and it is healing, and I’m learning to be patient. One of the things I did, as a way to work through missing Megan, as well as a way to celebrate her life, was to build a tribute site for her. If you would like to see it, it is at http://www.strive4impact.com/megan. Missing Megan is something I know I’ll be continuing to work through in 2004.
In October, Carrie and I went to New Orleans for the PPL convention which was held there. I won’t bore you with more vacation stories, but here’s the short version: it was awesome! I got to hang out with my old high school buddy Jason (who drove from Flroida), learn a lot about being successful in life, and wander around on Bourbon Street. New Orleans is a nice place to visit, but not somewhere I’d want to live. Pictures are worth 1000 words, so I’ll stop there about New Orleans before I get carried away…you can see all the New Orleans Pics at http://www.strive4impact.com/photos2.html.
You’ll also see all the pictures from the various pumpkin carvings which happened in October this year. Check them out at http://www.strive4impact.com/photos2.html!
In November, I started a new web site (another one? Yup. I’m a total Internet geek. What can I say?) This site is called www.AffiliateAdvice.us (notice a theme here?) and it is set up to help people learn how to make money online, and also to help them find things that they can resell online and do well with. Again, I’d appreciate your input and suggestions, and if you want a good place to find affiliate programs, www.affiliateadvice.us is a good place to start, if I do say so myself (and I do).
In November, our family also said goodbye Schatzie, our dog, that many of you will remember. Schatzie, our Lhasa Apso was a great pet, and had been having a hard time getting around for the past year or so. She got to the point where she wasn’t able to stand on her own any more, and our family said goodbye to her towards the end of November.
As I mentioned before, this fall I got to direct my second full theatrical production. The performance happened in November. Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1950’s movie (made from the 1940’s play), starring Cary Grant. If you haven’t seen it, it’s an old Black and white film, but definitely a lot of fun, and worthwhile checking out. I really had a lot of fun watching the progress of the students from where they were during A Midsummer Night’s Dream to where they took Arsenic and Old Lace. It really was incredible to watch them become larger than life. I also had the help of Mark Phillips and the Carleno’s. Without them, there wouldn’t have been such an amazing playground for the actors to create their world. We literally transformed the Frontier Academy theater into the inside of an old Victorian home. You can see pictures and a slide show of it online. Go to http://www.frontieracademy.net/activities/drama/index.html.
In December, I was pushed into making a decision which I didn’t want to make. As a new school, Frontier Academy never really had the money to pay me for putting on big productions. I chose to work for a minimal addition to my salary during the fall of 2003. However, Frontier came to me in December to let me know that there was not enough money to hire me back at the same salary level I had been at. They offered to pay me a good hourly wage to come and teach the one theater class that Frontier offers. However, I saw the situation this way: If I were to come back to teach just the one class, there would be no theater program that would be built at Frontier. If I were to come back and try to run the program (by putting in the necessary hours) and the class, I would not be able to make ends meet for myself. It was not a fun situation to be in, and it was a very difficult choice to make to not return to Frontier Academy to teach theater. I will definitely try to help with their upcoming production, which will be run by Mr. Carleno (as we already cast the next show Much Ado About Nothing), but the fate of the program remains uncertain for the following year as there seem to be no funds to support a salaried position for theater there. If nothing else, I am glad to know that I made a difference in the lives of many students whose theater (and high school) experience would have been something other than what it was while I was there. I am also glad to take with me the learning that Frontier allowed me to have.
December was a very busy month. Besides the situation at Frontier, both Adam and Carrie graduated. Carrie graduated from UNC with a double major in German and English, and (my brother) Adam graduated from CSU with a business degree. Between those events, Christmas, going skiing, and getting sick with stomach flu for a week, December seems to have flown by at lightning speed.
So that’s it! My year in a nutshell… well, maybe you would say that it was more like a nut talking about his year for as long as it takes a turtle to grow out of his shell, but I say toe-may-toe, you say toe-mah-toe…
Thanks for reading it to the end! I’m glad to have gotten to share my world with you!
So in last year’s Christmas letter, I talked a lot about how I would be working on the Kraft Roads Theory (finally explaining the differences between women and men), during this past year. Well, guess what? With everything else that has gone on this past year, I’ve hardly picked it up to go over the revisions and comments that some friends were nice enough to have made. I still do have those revisions and comments though, and I still plan to return to it some time. It may be this year, and may not be this year, but you will see it someday soon.
What’s also coming up this year? Well, I’ll be working on a few other web sites (oh, I forgot to mention… there are more sites that I’m working on…one I started in May…www.thelegaleagles.org. Another one got started in November 2003. It’s a support site for people getting their businesses started with Pre-Paid Legal. There are others too, but don’t worry, no porn sites or anything illegal. I decided a while back that it’s better to feel good about what I’m doing, rather than feel guilty. Anyway, I’m a total Internet Geek, but I’m more than happy to share what I’ve learned with those who would like to know. I’m also going to be working full-time with Pre-Paid Legal Services, so again, if you have a couple of minutes, I’d sure appreciate you checking out my web site at http://www.prepaidlegal.com/info/jkraft. Tell me what you think!
In March, I’ll be going to Ada, Oklahoma for the PPL new corporate office grand opening, as well as a convention and training. If you’ll be down that way during March, let me know. I’d love to meet up with you and see you.
Speaking of which, I’m planning to get to Europe some time this summer, so that I can visit old friends (and maybe make some new ones). I don’t know when that will be just yet, but I’m thinking mid-summer some time. My friend Kurt will be getting married in August, and my friend Matt will be getting married (in June?). Adam’s girlfriend Laura will be living in Spain for half the year, so we won’t see her for a while. I’m sure she will have a wonderful time!
I will also be continuing to offer massage, so feel free to schedule an appointment… you know, the health benefits of massage are varied. The amount of oxygen that can be brought into your muscles to improve the…
Oh, sorry. Another tangent. Just visit me online if you’re interested…
Well, I guess that about wraps up this year’s Christmas epic. Thank-you so much to all of you for your love and support throughout the past year. I really have enjoyed getting to hear from you and see many of you. If you get a chance, drop me an email, or call me, or send me a real letter (my favorite)! Tell me how you’re doing, what you’re been doing, and what you plan on doing this year….or you can just tell me what you ate for breakfast. That would be good too!
I hope that 2004 brings you success, happiness, and love.
Peace Always,
Jonathan Kraft
www.strive4impact.com (among others)
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