Sunday, November 14, 2010

How to get 'LUCKY'

My son Alexender and my daughter Eden are now six months old. Already my children have inspired many topic ideas about which to write. I am sure much of my writing in the future will be some how related to them. The birth of my twins changed me in many ways. My priorities changed instantly. My perspective also changed.

Having a boy and a girl at the same time also reminded me how fortunate I am. Many people would say I am a lucky guy. What is luck? I am certainly blessed. There are many thoughts about luck. Even people who would say they are not superstitious, have lucky talisman or rituals. Lucky socks, rabbits feet, or kisses for good luck may have no effect, but they are widely accepted as reasonable. Some say we make our own luck. Thomas Jefferson wrote, " I am a great believer in luck, and find the harder I work the more I have of it".

Luck is more about perception than experience. Everyday we drive to work never saying, 'wow I made it, I feel lucky.' If we were pulled from a car after a bad accident we might pause to think, my car is totaled, but I feel lucky to be alive. Finding fortune in a bad situation is a key element to blissful living. If we can learn or grow from what seems to be a bad experience, the good experiences are valued as even greater blessings. Appreciating even the smallest blessings as good fortune, makes the big blessings more meaningful.

Being lucky starts with feeling lucky.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Welcome Alexender and Eden

After six months without a blog update, it is important for my return blog to welcome my children into this world. Alexender (Xen) Mark Porteous and Eden Liora Porteous were born on April 15, 2010. It was the most amazing event of my life. The emotional high was incredible. It has been a fantastic journey already and keeps getting better every day.
Their names are very special. We spent a long time deciding on them. I had been working on a list of my own since I was twelve years old. My first name is Charles, as was my father's first name before he had it changed officially to his childhood nick name Skipp. My grand father and great grand father also had the first name Charles. I was told it was a family tradition that led all the way back to the British thrown. As a young man I used to think about names that went well with Charles. I was excited to pass on the family name. Having a daughter never crossed my mind. My wife was very pleased when my father told me that he had legally changed his and that I should not feel any obligation to name my son Charles. Instead Renee suggested that our son share my middle name, Mark. His first name is our own little twist on Alexander, which means protector. By spelling and pronouncing it AlexEnder, we can abbreviate and call him Xen, a different spelling for an Eastern philosophy of calmness and being in the present moment. Eden is a place of unsurpassed beauty and tranquility. It is a oneness with God and creation. Eden's middle name is Liora. It is Hebrew for God's gift of light to me. I never could have imagined the joy a baby girl would bring.


Many years ago a friend of mine was having his first child. Someone asked why he would want to bring a child into this messed up world. He answered, "I believe my child will make this world a better place". That is what I hope for my children- that the world will be a better place because they were in it. My world is already a better place. I know they will be a positive force of change.

Welcome Eden and Xen. Your daddy loves you. I am so grateful to be blessed with the honor of raising you and filling your hearts with love and joy.