I Used to be Fat (or How I Lost Weight)

I just paid someone $50 for the privilege of running 26.2 miles. Yep, that just happened. If you have known me over the last decade, you are probably thinking that doesn’t sound much like Paul. If you don’t know me, I have a confession to make. I used to be fat.

  June 2010            

               In the last 2 years, I have lost 70 pounds. No, you didn’t miss seeing me on the Biggest Loser. I would have bragged loudly enough that you would have already heard about that one.  I have had a lot of people ask me how I lost the weight. Apparently, there was even a rumor that I had surgery to lose it. No, I didn’t have surgery. I had neither the money nor the inclination to do such. For those that choose to get the surgery (and there are several various procedures), I think that is fine. Many have had great success in using the surgery route. It is just not the route that I chose.

                As I looked back over the last few years (dripping sweat post speed workout), I thought about how I got going and got motivated. One of the greatest decisions of my life was to stop the thing that was killing me on a daily basis. Here are the highlights, or lowlights depending on how you look at them.

                                            March 2012

I Started

*Every journey starts with the first step. Trite I know, but certainly true. Anytime I’m up off the couch and NOT stuffing my face was a step in the right direction. I had said hundreds of times, “I need to lose weight,” or “I’ll get started next week.” The difference was made when I just started.

*I stopped worry about what others think. The purpose of a gym is to get in shape. Even though the favorite pastime in gyms seems to be gawking/judging others around you, at the end of the day you are there for you, not what others think of you.

*I found motivation. Shows like Biggest Loser, Heavy, and I Used to be Fat are shows of amazing transformations that involve people that make the exact same excuses that I do. If a woman can lose 200lbs and get her life back, why couldn’t I? If a man can lose the same and run a marathon, why can’t I?

I Got Mad

*Talking with a friend, I discovered one big truth. My weight isn’t offensive to me. I don’t really have to see myself all that much when you think about it. I found a picture of myself that showed just how big I was. I was offended! I got mad. How could I have let myself look like this?

*I realized my life and my goals didn’t match. As a Pastor and more importantly a Christian, my goal in life is to lead others to Christ. What I found was I didn’t look like a person that I would want to follow anywhere. As my cousin pointed out, if they did follow me, they would catch me pretty easily.

*I got embarrassed. I will be heading to Monroe, GA for a vbs/sports camp soon. The last time I was there, two years ago, I was politely asked to sleep in a different room. My snoring was so loud, no one could sleep. My choice for gluttony had sentenced me in a very public way.

I Changed My Lifestyle

*I stopped treating myself like a dog. When a dog does well, he gets a treat. Americans are much the same. When we celebrate, we eat- a lot.

*I practiced self control. I’m blessed enough to know where my next meal is coming from. There is no need to shove the entire buffet table down my throat. I don’t need seconds, thirds or fourths.

*I was wise with my calories. If I'm going to eat a desert, it has to be worth it. Just because food is present doesn't mean it needs to be digested.

I Refused to be “Skinny Fat”

*I didn’t want to just lose weight. Being a smaller pants size and still breathing hard on a walk to my car was not the life I wanted. I pushed myself to not just be smaller, but to be better and healthier.

I Set Goals

*I didn’t get fat overnight, so I certainly wasn’t going to be skinny overnight. Countless studies tell us that we will be more successful if we set goals. If I was in it for the long haul, a goal was a must.

*Adjust your goals. As I lost more, I got more ambitious. As I looked in the mirror more, I changed my barometer for success. Your original goal might seem like settling once you get there. Don't be afraid to get ambitious.

*I set public goals. It started with a 5K. Then I registered for a half marathon. In October, I will be running the full out marathon. Public goals go hand in hand with accountability. When October comes, people will ask me about the race. If I haven’t trained, if I haven’t run, then I’m going to be called out.

                If you were looking for exact science, I’m sorry to disappoint. There are a lot of people a lot smarter than I am that can tell you all of that. At its simplest, eat less and exercise more. But I guess we all know life is often more complicated than that.  Maybe these will help.

Next time: Part Two, Why Losing Weight Matters

10 Things I would Want Some People to Know

A little while back, a few friends of mine blogged respectively on 10 Things Every Teenager Girl/Guy Should Know. One even went viral as a result of being tweeted by Alyssa Milano (If you don’t remember her, it’s time to Google). If you are looking for a much better (if not much more consistent) blog than this one you can check it out here:

http://kateelizabethconner.com/ten-things-i-want-to-tell-teenage-girls/

                Those blogs got me thinking. First, how can I go viral? Second, is my envy of those that do go viral Biblical? Just kidding…maybe. Really, my thoughts went to this- if I could have changed the trajectory of my own life, what would I have needed to know? Also, what has carried me furthest in life. Thus, the quest at hand.  And since David Letterman and now the Conner family have made the Top 10 list a norm in our society, I thought I would stick with the same format. In no particular order, here are 10 things I would want some people to know.

*Disclaimer: I used some vs. the word all because I am aware this list will not solve all of your problems, get stains out of you laundry, or help you buy beach front property.

1) Be a gentleman. Yes, it is old-fashioned to open doors for people or to say “Yes sir” and “No ma’am.” Still, I would say those things have taken me further in life than most others. In a world where new is always considered better, there are reasons why certain things stay with us for a long time. Manners help and politeness will get you further in life. You will be different from others and stand out from the crowd. That’s not a bad thing.

2) Live like there is a tomorrow.

“My parents live in Ohio. I, live in the Moment.” –Ted/HIMYM

Tomorrow, your body will hurt. Tomorrow, that person whose trust you betrayed will still be devastated. Tomorrow, you will need money to pay the power bill. Fun today never erases the regrets of tomorrow.

3) Its okay to NOT be cool. I know what you’re thinking. You’re just saying this because you’re not cool. That would certainly be a true statement. Still, “cool” is a continually moving target. As soon as you get the new clothes, others will take their place. The “must have’s” of today will be the jokes of future generations. By the way, skinny jeans are one of the many regrets of the 80’s (as are leg warmers). Skip the cool and go for original.

4) Don’t get jaded.

“Nice guys finish last.” –Leo Durocher   

  Well, he really didn’t say last for you baseball purists, but that is beside the point. As has been well documented by countless number of teen movies from the 80’s to the present, the jerks get all the ladies, popularity, blah, blah, blah. I don’t know if it’s true, but it is our perception. Possible responses to this perception in society: A) Put on flannel, move to Seattle and brood or B) Make you sure you live a life that you can be proud of. In reality, you can be a nice person and not finish last.

5) Don’t let your highs be too high or your lows too low. Stitch it on a pillow or put in on a bumper sticker, it’s a mantra that makes a difference. If the only two choices you face are, “Best Day Ever” or “Worst Day Ever,” life is going to be a constant roller coaster. Life isn’t meant to be lived in extremes, no matter what Mountain Dew commercials might say.

6) Enjoy the journey. It will make the destination that much better. So many memories are made on the way to somewhere. Speed limits are higher, planes are faster, and the world is now smaller. On your journey to graduation, marriage, or even vacation is where much of life is lived. Relationships are developed. Lessons are learned. Beauty is shown.  The destination means so much more if you enjoy the time and distance you have to cover to get there.

7) Start saving money now. All jokes aside about your wife or girlfriend costing a lot of money, this is advice that will make a difference. Don’t buy on impulse today so that you will be able to make a quality buy tomorrow. There are more rainy days that you need to save for than you could ever imagine.

8) Don’t make up lists for your ideal spouse. It is not a job application. You don’t need to see a resume’. So often I hear things like, “the woman I’m going to marry will go hunting with me, watch sports with me, roots for (fill in the blank) college football team.” You will know your future wife/husband when you meet them. A laundry list of qualities that someone could never possibly live up to, are unfair to the people you meet and will leave you lonely for a lot longer than you would like.

9) Tell people how you feel. You might not be that kind of guy. Get over yourself. Other people need to know that you care about them. It makes a difference in other people’s lives to hear phrases like: thank you, I love you, you make a difference. There will come a time when it is too late. All the words that you thought but didn’t express won’t make a difference because you held them to yourself.

10) Stop feeling sorry for yourself. While you are hosting “pity parties,” the world continues to turn. You will burn more bridges than you ever build by looking for others to validate your existence. Share what you want on Facebook or Twitter. That will forever be the snapshot of your life that you provide to others. Most people have a ready excuse for their driver’s license photo. They say things like, “It was a bad hair day,” or “I wasn’t ready.” As you troll through your choice of social media, are you proud of the portrait you have painted?

The Golden Rule

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The Golden Rule

              I hear the phrase Jesus and the Golden Rule linked together more and more often as I view my facebook news feed, listen to fellow Christians and as I watch the news. To put the issue bluntly, I use the words of legendary swordsman Inigo Montoya-

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

As Christians, we hold a responsibility to not just quote a few verses for our own gain, but to use it as it was meant. Even further, I think that understanding said rule will take us all a lot further than where we are now.

I always have despised that term, golden rule. I remember in school being taught the rule, made to recite it from a poster above the chalk board. It was just another rule that we as human beings have felt that we need to dress up to sound better than its original source. It really became kind of like the Ten Commandments, something that many will protest for, but far fewer know or practice them. In a world of sound bites and protests, I would like to take a look back to the original source.

If you want a tag line, my BIBLE, not poster says “The Great Commandment.” Nobody walks around saying, “Commandments were made to be broken.” On the other hand, we do say that in reference to rules. Our language does make a difference. Here is the passage in question that many paraphrase but have simply not read. Further, they haven’t thought about it much either.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

                                                Matthew 22:34-40 (ESV)

It fascinates me how we are so often like hound dogs. We sniff around until we find the passage that proves our point. In this particular portion of scripture, society skips the beginning, reads the middle and doesn’t even bother to finish the end. If we would just read the beginning, we could identify two groups that made the same mistake in the Pharisees and the Sadducees. In case you don’t know, they weren’t Jesus’ friend. It was the reason the lawyer arrived on the scene to “test him.” The test was to see what he could get out of the conversation. This test could yield two primary results. It could result in a legal case mounted against Christ. Or it could result in an excuse for the lawyer to continue living the way he was living. What the entire group walked away with was a different result all together.

Start at the end.

“On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Right there, I realize that everything that had been preached, everything that had been written, every message that God had sent to mankind to that point in history could be put into two concise commandments. This tells me that Jesus doesn’t require me to be a walking encyclopedia of scripture. If I can’t list off every miracle He performed, that is okay. Jesus made it easy. For some reason, we have a desire to make it much easier. So often the impulse is to lead with one, almost apologizing for the fact that Jesus said it.

I suppose we could blame the media, facebook, congress, etc. The blame rests squarely with…Me. That’s right, it starts with me, you, your neighbor and anyone else that fits the bill of being a human. Take a closer look at the portion of scripture we label as the “Golden Rule.”

“Your shall love your neighbor as yourself.”         Matthew 22:39 ESV

The Golden Rule and the original Commandment are certainly similar. The foundational problem is we look at the most important person in the equation as us (i.e. yourself or you). In a therapeutic world, we start with the premise that it all runs through us. We run yelling, “See, I have to love myself! Jesus said so!” Here is the response. Slow down, you already suffer from that issue. You already love yourself.

“As long as I’ve known myself, and that is pretty much all my life, I have done whatever was in my own best self interest.”                -Me

The second problem comes in the form of permissibility. When we "love others" by a live and let live philosophy, that still comes down to our own personal self interest. Bottom line, we want leave others alone so that we will be left alone. While much more could be said about this, it would defeat the point. Here you go...

                The words that Jesus speaks in this passage serve not just to summarize the commandments but to provide a foundation so that the second command is even possible. Try as I might, I can never truly love my neighbor or others more than myself. It is too much to ask. It is the reason Christians cite such sayings as, “God doesn’t help those who don’t help themselves.” Those lines become our mantra simply we do not have it in us to love others as much as we love ourselves (by the way, God didn’t say that, Benjamin Franklin did).

                When we use just this one line to summarize all of Christianity, we in fact DO NOT summarize Christianity. This begs the question, why give this second command at all? What a waste of space. It all sounds pretty hopeless. And I would say that it is, if we were really honest with ourselves.

                But…there is something else that provides us hope. There is a command that is so powerful that not only does it form a basis for the second command, not only does it make the second command possible, but it forms foundation for existence. It forms a foundation for joy. It lays the groundwork for ME to move beyond ME.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

What should blow us away is that he is our God. He is Lord. So I start by loving MY God with every fiber of my being! In loving him with all my heart, mind and soul I am being obedient. I’m not sniffing for what I can get out of scripture, relationships or life. Those things open themselves in a meaningful way when I start by loving God.

                Pick a sin, any sin. There are plenty to choose from. My view of sin will be based upon who I love first. If it is me that I love the most, I will start there and work my way forward on any social issues, denominational issues or personal ones.

But, if I love God first, then I will align with Him. I will view sin in the way that He views sin. I will realize I am not Him. In that realization, I will realize I am sinful myself. This will guide to how I respond to sin in my life, in others lives, in our state, in our country and in our world. I will remember that God did not just say words, but lived them. In the face of those that persecuted Him he stayed silent. When they mocked Him, He invited a thief to Heaven. He loved the world to the literal point of death.

This passage is like most in the Bible. We can use it as Christ intended. It can be used as a base for our lives. Or, we can use it to further personal agendas. Where we go in life will be dictated by which Commandment we begin with.

Sorry Virginia, there is no laser show

What you see here is a fake.  Yes, a fraud perpetrated upon the unsuspecting public.  Doctored photos that have been posted online... stories from loved ones, the ones we are supposed to trust...a sham perpetrated by the granite- obsessed public spread far and wide across the state of Georgia.

You might be confused, so let me start at the beginning...

          Let's start at the very beginning
         A very good place to start
         When you read you begin with A-B-C
         When you sing you begin with do-re-mi
                           --The Sound of Music

It all started as an impressionable and fun-loving youth.  The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and I was apparently remembering song lyrics to random musicals that would stay with me for the rest of my life (thank you Julie Andrews). There was a game my brother and I played.  A game that somewhere went horribly wrong.  What happens when mere tomfoolery becomes the bedrock in which one must believe?

The game was quite simple.  Certain things did not exist...
Here are the rules:
     Things do not exist if...
                  #1 We have never seen/experienced them ourselves
                  #2 We had never met anyone that had been there/experienced them themselves

Armed with these two simple rules, the world became a much more fun albeit smaller place.  We quickly decided that Montana and Wyoming did not exist...there are probably only 30 or so states anyways.  Why would people make up the existence of states?  Simple power play, plus everyone likes round numbers.  Fifty states sounds like way better than thirty-one (don't believe me, why do you buy more Subway foot longs at $5 than at $4.95).  This game received much validation when on a road trip, I fell asleep and awoke in Houston County and passed by Houston County High School in "Alabama." The exact places I had left hours before in a state that did exist-Georgia. Still, all that said, it was just a game.

Fast forward to last Friday. I had long heard the tale of the Stone Mountain "Laser Show."  Notice the quotes...My debate partner spoke passionately about the splendor of this supposed show and the "emotions" it evoked. My own wife had long talked about the many wonders of the "laser show."  Finally, last Friday I made my way, a pilgrimage if you will, to THE Stone Mountain Laser Show.  We packed blankets to sit on, bottles of water in the (overly stocked cooler in my opinion, I had to carry it), and found chairs to carry because we apparently needed multiple options for seating.




Stone Mountain-Opiate of the masses

In good faith I made the trek to this overgrown boulder in the hopes to view lights in all of their laser-like glory. But alas, the laser show never occurred. In retrospect, I am not surprised.  For years, conversations went like this:

     Me: I've never seen the laser show.
     Laser show enthusiast:  What?!!!! You've NEVER SEEN the laser show!!!!

My message to you...Neither have you my friend.  Neither have you. True, those at the park all seemed surprised and disappointed by the absence of lights directed at said mountain.  And rain, thunder and lightning seem on their face to be reasonable enough reasons to cancel a "laser show."  I still say it was a trick.

                         I don't appreciate your ruse ma'am.
                  I beg your pardon?
                 Your ruse. Your cunning attempt to trick me.
                                        --Clerks

Here was my laser show...

Notice if you will the specks on the lens.  No, they are NOT lasers!  That is water aka rain aka pouring rain accompanied by electricity that flies through the air with intent to harm your person (that just sounds bad, there ought to be a law).

You know, its not really me that I'm worried about.  I always knew this was a possibility.  The laser show a gigantic laser con, passed on to unsuspecting tourists around the greater Atlanta area.  A wild, desperate attempt to drive tourism; taking money for parking and providing no artistically driven laser entertainment for the masses.

"You grow up the way I did, you gosta undastand Trick love the kids."
                     --Trick Daddy







As we all know its the kids that pay the price.  Unsuspecting, with a child-like naivete they stood so proudly in anticipation of the lights that would not come.  Who would perpetrate such a thing upon the children?  Who would stand up and say...Sorry Virginia, there is no laser show *sniff*

Green V. Yellow

Superheroes movies are a dime a dozen these days. Due to the dramatic leap in movie making, CGI, talents of Hollywood and a genuine lack of imagination we will see heroes whether you know them or not. Apparently, they will make the movies whether you like them or not as well.


Still, above the fray stands one hero that I have never cared about but have recently found intriguing. For one, he is the most powerful. He doesn't just care for truth, justice and the American way. He cares for all of those things plus the rest of the universe. This hero is none other than...

You guessed it, Ryan Reynolds. Much in the same vein as Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Reynolds carries a healthy dose of arrogance that not only permeates through every character that he plays but seems to fit the motif of many superhero universe characters. I think it stems from having your abs be the center of too many photo ops, personally. No, I'm not jealous. I even supported him when the show was called Two Guys, a Girl AND a Pizza Place (still wondering why you write a pizza place out of a sitcom, it kept me watching).

There is only one thing that can take down Ryan Reynolds aka Hal Jordan aka The Green Lantern. It is...wait for it...wait for it...the color yellow? That's right! The only thing that can demoralize this intergalactic hero is yellow. For we all know, yellow is the color of cowardice (and generic baby gifts for those too stubborn to find out the sex of the child ahead of time). This color yellow would bring him down and put a stop to his green glowing shenanigans. His imagination would be harmed and thus there would be no wonderful weapons to demoralize those that would harm sector number...well, I don't know THAT much about the universe. I did see it in 3D though. That must give me some qualifications.

If you have not seen the movie, I'm sure that you have figured out who the enemy is...I suppose this is time for a spoiler alert. Sorry, but here it goes, GL versus...

That's right, all hopped up on HGH or blood or whatever the kids use these days there is a yellow terror that comes in the form of Lance Armstrong. Given power from his yellow jersey and equally photographed abs of steel, the Strong attacks not only the streets of Paris and the mountain stages of France- but he intends to attack the universe!

I know this is all disconcerting to many of you. Right now, palms sweaty and visibly shaken you can only hope to contain the terror that dwells inside of you. Well, I might be getting a little overly dramatic here. OR AM I?!?

This couldn't have come as a shock. Teammates accusing him of (not sure what, I should probably research better next time) THINGS. As most Americans (and Charlie Sheen, of course) you probably let WINNING be your aphrodisiac. Do not be lulled by this cycling guru. Look only to his past associate/girlfriend, the one and only Sheryl Crow.

"My friend the communist, holds meetings in his RV."
--Sheryl Crow/Soak up the Sun

Need I say more...the yellow has turned RED! Devastating I know, but you must be warned. I would bother to prepare more logical points but that is NOT the American way. You will have to see the movie for yourself...that IS the American way.

Note: All parts of this blog are fictional except the parts that are true. Good luck finding out which is which.

I want my TweetTV

I have come to both love and hate social media. I love Facebook. I even love the movie "The Social Network." If you haven't seen it yet, I find it mesmerizing and hilarious. My favorite scene of the movie...

"Eighteen thousand dollars. In addition to the one thousand dollars you already put up? A total of nineteen thousand dollars now?"

"Hang on. I'm just checking your match on that. Yes, I got the same thing."

You can sense the sarcastic place this film holds in my heart. The idea is so simple. Everyone wants there to be a party. Everyone wants to be invited to that party. That is why I enjoy the 500 "close" friends I have on my Facebook page (sarcasm again...). Still, I get to have a strange but small interaction with those that I have crossed paths with at the various intersections of life.

Mocking and taunting both me and those who are simply computer illiterate is one outlet that I have come to despise. I have a name for my pain and thy name is Twitter. I truly don't really understand the appeal of twitter. Perhaps one would understand this more if I were to say: #nogettweets. Did I do that right...not sure? I've always been behind the times. By the time I was given an atari 2600 nintendo had hit the shelves. Then nintendo was mine, only to be slapped in the face with SNES and Sega hitting the market. Still life wasn't that bad...dad did choose VCR over Beta max. Score one for the good guys.

You might think that my problems stems from my tweeting inadequacy. There is a chance this is just sour grapes. You might have a point, but I think it runs deeper. Lets say that Cody Lundin (from Dual Survival fame of course) were out in some strange wilderness location. Encountering a source of water we couldn't just simply stoop and drink. We would need a filter. That filter could mean the difference between a cool, satisfying drink or vile sickness and vomiting.

Another great quote from aforementioned movie:

"It didn't stop you from writing it. As if every thought that tumbles through your head was so clever it would be a crime for it not to be shared. The internet's not written in pencil, its written in ink."

ESPN, you are better than this. I don't need tweets from Lebron in the middle of the night giving me the #champsorbust and I certainly don't care if he is taking folks to Benihana. Minnesota punter, don't care if its too cold in the North during January and your tootsies are too cold. 1) Man up 2) You are a punter and get paid a LOT of money to kick a ball 3)Please find others to be a sounding board before you put such stuff into cyberspace. In other words #cyopeeps...

Freedom of speech means freedom to say what you want. It does not mean however freedom from consequences. Random streams of consciousness are only good in blogs certainly not in tweets. Despite my having a twitter account and never checking it, I am still subjected to twitter on a daily Sportscenter basis. I have learned that in life I am only willing to go so far. I will throw out vhs tapes and swap to DVD. I will not go blue ray. I will join social media, but twitter you are the bright line, the line in the sand. All I can say is #enufisenuf...

We are the World...25 years later

Just had the chance to contrast and compare "We are the World" versions today. I would start by saying that I am amazed at the choices they made for musicians in the newest version. Of course, I was taken back by some of the singers in the original. Musicians such as Randy Jackson, Kanye West, Tony Bennett, and Barbara Striesand help to fill the modern roster of talent. Seems like an eclectic group, and I am sure that is what the song is going for-that sense of the variety of the world. Of course, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper, and Tina Turner seemed to me to be strange choices at the time as well (guess this gives away my age a wee bit).
I would think that after 25 years, we might have learned a little more to care for others. Alas, that obviously isn't the case. For example, Bono goes around feeding kids and hanging with the HIV positive and get pulverized for his troubles by any media surrounding him. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt become tabloid fodder as opposed to poster adults for taking care of kids that cannot take care of themselves. Michael Jackson, the only one to appear in both videos, is remembered for the many mistakes he made as opposed to the work that he did. I don't think that I'm going to light candles around any of the "star" pictures that have been mentioned in this paragraph. The point remains that we don't look to the cause but to the short comings. If you don't believe that statement, listen to any sports show talk about Tim Tebow.
My real disappointment lies in the fact that a new song wasn't written. We don't need remakes by modern stars. We need all of those with resources to care, period. For me, the modern version fell short because it wasn't really meant. Of course, they don't want people to die, I concede that fact. Here is the difference, when I heard the original, I really felt that through what choice I made, I would be saving lives. There was a raw emotion and empathy that peppered the entire song. This was that generations cry out to the world that we need to make it a better place.
The cause hasn't changed, but we have. Others suffer but we have become more and more immune to that fact. We have watched dead body after dead body through the nightly news during Vietnam to me watching the Gulf Conflict on the floor of my 8th grade GA History class. Millions infected with HIV/AIDS around the world...do you notice that we rarely speak of the disease anymore. I guess since we have fixed the problem for Magic Johnson, then others will be better off left to their own devices.
We don't talk about the hungry because we are not hungry, we don't speak of the homeless because we have a home, and we don't hear the constant pleas of others because we are too busy screaming socialism, bad health care and me, me, me! The core of this song seemed to means something to the previous artists that sang it.
American Idol always has judges making the comment of whether a contestant makes a song their own or not. To Josh Groban, Pink, Lil' Wayne, Celine Dion, and Miley Cyrus...you are all talented (as much as it pains me to say that to some of you) but bring your own voice. That means bringing your own message in a way that is clearly yours. Until you do that, then our concerns were voided 25 years ago.
There is "a choice we're making, we're saving our own lives..."tell us how its our choice because its a choice you make not copy from others nostalgically. This isn't a misty duet between Nat King Cole and his daughter, this is a call to action. Find a way to convey that and realize that you are in no way as talented as Stevie Wonder (sorry, couldn't resist Beiber).