Day 3,864

Two dozen years ago Becky and I exchanged “I Do’s” during the middle of a late Spring snowstorm. The power to our wedding reception was taken out due to the heavy snow taking out the power lines in Medford, WI causing the reception to end early by the light of a zamboni. For clarity, I’m not even joking a little, that all actually happened! The day before was sunny and hot, then the snow started falling before the ceremony and refused to let up until the next morning.

In the two dozen years since we’ve had adventures, excitement, challenges, frustrations, celebrations, highs, lows, added family members, lost family members, made so many memories, traveled all over together, raised two sons, worked through all type of craziness or all flavors – for better and for worse. So fortunate and grateful to have been able to spent these years with someone who encourages me to be the best me possible, pushes me to dream big, and is always willing to head outside for a hike.

So much of what I appreciate can be summarized in the way we celebrated today – waking up early for a run in the rain, joking around as we got ready for work, caught up after work as we ate dinner, started planning a future adventure (Patagonia Pt II), and then off to our weekly Monday Yoga Date Night. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,863

Growth:

Fun fact – I wrote my entries in reverse today and realized I had a theme going – Time! Not the song, the concept of time.

In this case I’m grateful for the second time reading each of my two dozen top books of the year. As I read each for the second time in less than four months I am finding new details, concepts, and connections than I caught in the first round. The additional layers from the recent reading and the inputs of the entire first round of books have shifted my perspective enough to allow a different view. While this was somewhat my goal in reading more deeply, this is already far more insightful than I’d expected!

Appreciation:

So nice having the boys around on and off throughout the weekend! Yesterday was Dominic at the track meet, and all four of us home for dinner and the evening. Today was the four of us for church, off in our separate directions for the afternoon, and then some time all together as a family later in the evening. So much time with the entire family, always feels so awesome having us all together (and with Caitlyn joining us as well)!

Presence:

Having lunch with Becky outside on the deck, relaxing and talking about how crazy it is that we are almost empty nesters. Going for a walk together in the near perfect weather, talking about so many things in life, especially parenting related. So grateful for the quiet time for the two of us to chill and talk, seems like we’ll have more of that in the future as well!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,862

Pretty much a perfect Saturday! Started the day with coffee and chill, a walk with Becky & Leia, and then off to Gavin’s track meet. Hanging out in the perfect weather with Dominic and Caitlyn watching Gavin compete in pole vaulting and the 4x100m relay (their best time of the year). After the meet we hit the grocery store, got some time on the phone with Mom, both boys got home and we all cooked dinner together. Relaxing meal on the deck, board games on the kitchen table, Gavin and I wrapping up the evening with an awful and entertaining movie. Now a few moments of quiet time as I blog and then off to bed.

Doesn’t get much better than this!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,861

Growth:

A concept that really caught my attention today was the “Threshold of Abstraction,” a concept focused on paying attention to that which is most relatable to us based on scale / size. For instance, for us humans, if we shake hands atop a mountain and a couple of our skin cells die in the process we don’t worry about them, they are below our threshold of abstraction. For the skin cells the action is disastrous and means everything to them – specifically their death. For the mountain the humans are irrelevant and unnoticed.

While that example is in the extreme, this hits us in daily life, the choices we make, the things we find to be of interest, the things we never notice. They are all based on what is most important to us, what is within and outside our threshold of abstraction.

Appreciation:

Getting a walk as a family after doing dinner as a family – perfect! Dominic is home from school for the weekend and the four of us had the opportunity to spend most of the evening together. Relaxing on the deck, eating dinner outside, getting a couple of miles of walking in, and then relaxing and joking. Just like old times!

Presence:

For Christmas Becky got me a gift card for a massage, today I cashed it in and had the best massage of my entire life! The entire hour was an exercise in presence, deep breaths, letting go, and allowing the body to get worked and kneaded. So relaxing, so peaceful, so invigorating! Thanks again Becky!!!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,860

Growth:

There’s a quote from Spin by Robert Charles Wilson that really resonates each time I read it:

“the question… as always, the question is how to look at the sun without being blinded.” – Spin, Robert Charles Wilson

Every time through this book I see it slightly differently.

Looking at great beauty. Looking in awe at something too large to comprehend. Facing something we must eventually stare down. A challene so profound we can’t look at it all at once, we have to break it up into smaller pieces.

A different facet each time, a visceral reaction each time.

Appreciation:

I was this many days old when I learned to repair a stove top switch! When our front right burner stopped working I dug in, used the good ol’ AI to help me diagnose the issue, ordered the parts, and this evening I got it all fixed up and put back in working order.

Times like this remind me to pause and be grateful for the way Dad taught me to be fearless in taking things apart to fix them. He taught me skills from carpentry to plumbing to electrical to mechanical. So many different different skill sets that I’ve been able to both apply and pass on. I’m very grateful for his influence in my life, including the repair and improvement skills!

Presence:

Walking barefoot on a trail alone in the woods over lunch. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,859

Growth:

How true this line from Anthony de Mello is…

“Every time you are unhappy, you have added something to reality. It is that addition that makes you unhappy. I repeat: You have added something … a negative reaction in you. Reality provides the stimulus, you provide the reaction. You have added something by your reaction. And if you examine what you have added, there is always an illusion there, there’s a demand, an expectation, a craving. Always.”

Each time I come across it my perspective throughout the upcoming days is changed, I am aware of the differences between my thoughts, emotions, and reactions and the response I should have, the responses that lead to true joy.

Appreciation:

Today I was able to work largely within my strengths, focusing on the types of work I enjoy doing, and on my own timetable. With all I’ve had going on over the first months of the year at work it was invigorating to get some time to live into my favorite work related tasks – helping coach and develop my teammates and creating new sales plans and strategies. So easy to get lost in a state of flow when we’re able to create the space to work into what we are encoded to do.

Presence:

For lunch today I loaded up into the car, made a short drive to a trailhead, ate my food super quickly, and then took my time walking in the woods. I brought my headphones but opted to just savor the sounds all around me, the birds singing, the animals scurrying in the undergrowth, the bees buzzing, and the wind blowing. I saw my first butterfly and dragonfly of the year, caught a little show of a bluejay in the thick brush on the ground, and watched as all types of other birds dipped and danced throughout the air. So calming to step aside from the busyness to relax and savor the outdoors.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,858

Growth:

Taking time to read in bed for a few minutes prior to sleep really helps to calm my brain AND helps me keep moving forward on my goal of reading 25 of my favorite books three times each this year. Funny how the reading of a handful of pages each night slowly compounds into chapters over weeks and books over months.

Appreciation:

One of the things I appreciate most about the book Spin by Robert Charles Wilson is the way the story flips time on its head. Without getting into the details one of the major premises of the book is a situation causing the Earth to slow to a very significantly slower pace than the rest of the universe. Each Earth year is the equivalent to approximately 100 million years for the rest of the universe. This allows the story to show time in many different forms, personalizing it while helping us to see how quickly it passes. A couple of the quotes that most impact me are:

“There are so many kinds of time. The time by which we measure our lives. Months and years. Or the big time, the time that raises mountains and makes stars. Or all the things that happen between one heartbeat and the next. Its hard to live in all those kinds of times. Easy to forget that you live in all of them.”

“It’s entirely possible that Martian dynasties rose and fell as I waited for traffic lights to change.”

“When people come to understand how big the universe is and how short a human life is, their hearts cry out. Sometimes it’s a shout of joy: I think that’s what it was for Jason; I think that’s what I didn’t understand about him. He had the gift of awe. But for most of us it’s a cry of terror. The terror of extinction, the terror of meaninglessness. Our hearts cry out. Maybe to God, or maybe just to break the silence.”

The more times I read this book the deeper I enjoy it.

Presence:

Being completely in a state of flow while training a class of professionals – one of my happy places! This morning I had the opportunity to coach a class of young professionals on communication in al levels – up to supervisors, down to direct reports, and across to peers. While the prep for this took up a ton of personal time over the weekend each moment spent prepping was rewarded in the gift of presence this morning.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,857

Growth:

It is okay to say no to a project or specific time. Don’t say yes because it is easy, say yes when it is right to do. Be intentional with our time, it’s all we have.

Life’s like an hourglass glued to the table, no one can find the rewind button.

Anna Nalick

Appreciation:

There are some things in life we almost seem to be unable to stop doing. No matter what we do we are seemingly gravitationally bound to them. Three of those forces were working on me today – creating a training presentation outside of work hours (something I really enjoy), learning about a previously unexplored topic (the differences between Trappist, Franciscan, and Jesuit orders), and re-re-re-re-re-reading Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (one of my all time favorite “sweatshirt” books). My day was made all the better by the existence of all three!

Presence:

Starting the week running with Becky was s highlight again as usual! This morning’s additional moments included a very tiny baby bunny hopping along and a great blue heron silhouetted in the slowly lighting sky as it fished. The moments of nature experienced in the pre-sunrise hours are some of my favorites.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,856

Growth:

Over the past couple of months we’ve attended a different church. The first time was specifically due to timing, the subsequent times have been due to the priests. While there is so much brewing in my soul from the standpoint of faith, my focus this evening is on a specific story that I know I’ve heard dozens of times, but finally heard for the for the first time today.

This morning the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. I know I’ve heard this story so many times before, but it was the first time that the message itself actually connected with me. After pausing to consider why this telling struck me so solidly I realized the differences in how it was told. The teacher today was sharing it so simply, so elegantly, with the inner fire of his heart, and with such a relatable and easy to understand example.

Such an opportunity to grow in multiple directions at once. When speaking, speak slowly. Simply. From the heart. Relatable. No extra words, no focus on “pomp and circumstance,” no speaking out of obligation.

Appreciation:

Taking time to practice Gavin’s scholarship interview for tomorrow was time very much well spent. Regardless of how the scholarship itself turns out it was a perfect opportunity to train him on interviewing skills. We practiced the questions, we talked about why they are asked, how to share the best examples of relevant experiences, and to help him think through the thought process on how to answer the question. This forced him to put more of his thoughts together with clarity and intentionality. Seeing the growth of Gavin’s answers from the start through the hours of work together was epic!

Presence:

Starting the morning with a hike in the woods with Becky, is there a better possible start to a day? Fresh air, calmness and no distraction, and being outside in nature surrounded by all of the sounds and views and smells. The snow flurry at the beginning threw us off a little bit, but made it all the more memorable. All the stillness of that morning hike lingered throughout the entire day.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,855

Growth:

Such a beautiful quote from Awareness:

Do you want to be happy? Uninterrupted happiness is uncaused. True happiness is uncaused. You cannot make me happy. You are not my happiness. You say to the awakened person, “Why are you happy?” and the awakened person replies, “Why not?”

Anthony de Mello

True happiness is already in us, it is already there. Stop pushing it way, stop focusing on that which we don’t have.

Appreciation:

Sometimes we have to learn lessons and grow through subtraction. This is often initially not present and can be rather frustrating. In removing we’ve gotten used to as “normal” we can quickly fixate on what has been removed rather than what is still there.

Personally, I find moments like this to be opportunities to pause and remember to choose gratitude. To be thankful for what I had while I had it, to be thankful for the lesson I learned, to remember that I already have all I need to be happy, losing something isn’t an impediment to joy, rather, it is quite often a pathway to get back to it.

Presence:

There is happiness to be found in presence in the most normal moments of life. In joking with Becky. In enjoying a good song. In repairing a home appliance. In doing some professional work on a Saturday. In engaging in a conversation with someone we don’t know well. In reading a book. In cooking a meal. In playing a game. In writing.

What do these moments all have in common? They were all moments in which I was fully present, fully engaged, all without distraction.

Thanks!!!