Marshall Ramsey

Tonight I’ll be speaking at Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. It’s at 6:30 p.m. at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, so I need to wrap up a couple of cartoons and head south to go speak.  Right now I need to draw like the wind.

There once was a swimmer who went for a dive in a shark tank. As he swam the backstroke, a Great White Shark came to the surface and bit off his left arm. Well, as you can imagine, the swimmer was quite offended by getting his arm eaten. In fact, he got very angry at the shark.  He huffed and he puffed and then sulked.  The shark, being a shark, came back up and ate the man’s other arm. Well, this really pissed off the swimmer!  “How dare you shark! This is not fair!”  The shark, being a shark, came back up yet again and ate the man’s legs.  As the man bobbed up and down on the surface, he got even angrier!  “I’m never going to forgive you shark!”  The shark, being a shark, wasn’t offended. He just was hungry. So he ate the rest of the man for dessert.

The End.

Morale of the story, when you get bitten by one of life’s sharks (layoffs, natural disasters, economic downturns, disease, random sucky life events, etc.) don’t complain about the shark. The shark will always be a shark. Get busy and get out of the tank.

I saw this first-hand after Katrina.  I’ve seen cancer survivors take charge of their lives, too (Lance Armstrong, for instance).  I know people who have lost their jobs in corporate layoffs and went on to soar.  Yes, things may not be fair. They may completely suck. But that’s the very moment you need to get busy.  Complaining may feel good but it won’t get you to safety.

Here’s today’s weather.  There will be increasing clouds and the high will be 61 degrees.  I can work with that.

Busy day here at Tiny Wheels Media.  After I get the kids ready and off to school, I need to come up with a couple of cartoons.  The good news is that I have my new studio set up in my house and I’ll knock those puppies out. Then at lunch I’m having a Thanksgiving feast with my oldest son at his school. I’m so thankful for him that I can’t wait to go have turkey that comes from a can.  This afternoon I’ll need to finish up my cartoons, mail out my resume to a couple of places that requested them and then get my program ready for tonight’s speech in Brookhaven. I should get home by 11 tonight, thus ending my first week since “the change.”

I just got back from the dentist. And great news: No cavities.  My pearly not-so-whites have survived another six months of stress, grinding, tea and acid.  I’m thrilled. No, I’m estatic. I’ll take every scrap of good news I can get right now and I’m going to run with it.

Monday night my wife and I were getting to bed.  I told her it had been a great day.  On the surface, it was a stretch for me to say that — we were both emotionally exhausted from our baby son having surgery and his recovery afterwards.  But it was a great day.  As she looked at me like I had lost my mind (some days I think I have), I told her, “He survived the surgery.  We got it done before the insurance runs out.  We have the money in the bank to pay for it.  It was an awesome day.”

People who are super positive all the time used to make me suspicious.  Heck, at times they annoyed me.  I always wondered what they’re up to.  I have been (historically) a half-glass kind of guy.  But not now. Not anymore.

Cancer changed me a little bit. Finishing a marathon with leg cramps did, too. But my job situtation really made the final push.  My eyes are wide open now. I’m figured this much out:

Life ain’t fair.  The world doesn’t care. But people do.  And even though you have no control over the stuff that life and the world throws at you, you have control over yourself.   I know this much. I’m in an exciting time.  The possibilities of my future are the most promising they’ve ever been. I have nothing holding me back.  Yes, I miss the security — as a cancer survivor with three small children, I CRAVE the security. Losing that security has been my toughest mental challenge.  But I’m not doing this alone. I have a wonderful family. I have amazing fans.  I have people in high and low places who believe in me.  I’m determined to show the world that you can fall out of the nest and learn to fly before you hit the ground.

I’m grabbing hold of every victory  I can find and not letting go.  I might do it with my teeth, too. They’re pretty strong I hear.

I’m holding the first check ever that has “Tiny Wheels Media” on it.  And like a doctor slapping a newborn, it’s my business’s first breath. I’m looking at it, hoping and dreaming how my baby venture will grow up.

Obviously it’s a business. It must make profits. That’s what businesses do.  OK, it must make money. But how I make the profits is what is important to me. That’s what really defines success to me. What values will Tiny Wheels Media have? How will I go about growing my new child? Will it make a difference in the world.  Just like my real children.

This is exciting stuff. I have a clean sheet of paper and am starting from scratch.  I can tell you this, Tiny Wheels Media will be a reflection of who I am. So as I sit with my paper, defining my mission, here are a few words I’ve used to describe my new venture:

1. Creativity
2. Hard work.
3. Family
4. Honesty.
5. Customer comes first.
6. Value.
7. Innovation.
8. Humor.
9. Happiness.
10. Loyalty.
11. Under promise, over deliver.

Is that a profitable model?  I think so. I’m thinking about the long term here. I think there’s a niche for a business that puts creativity first.  It’s worked pretty well for Pixar.

Now to go to the bank. I have another child to raise.