Listen intently, think clearly, and speak intentionally. Such better results than listening to respond and speaking without consideration.
Unfortunately I was on both sides of the equation today, but fortunately I was able to learn from my mistakes and successes.
Appreciation:
Funny how different people know us in different ways and view us through different lenses. Spending time with one group leads to one set of memories and experiences while time with another leads in a completely different direction. This evening it was fun spending time in a slightly different light. So many memories and so many new perspectives based on recent experiences blending with those memories.
Presence:
The sunset over the lake this evening was breathtaking. While I was largely engaged in conversation there were a handful of moments in which I withdrew from the discussion and soaked in the spectacular sky painted with clouds.
So much of how a run feels comes down to attitude. Talk myself into it, tell myself I’m feeling especially loose, and don’t let my pace drop. Glad I chose to have a great run!
Appreciation:
Pretty solid day all around today! Great run, got to spend time with Becky. Had breakfast and made eggs for LuLu before driving Gavin to wrestling on my way to work. Productive work day, knocked out my task list, got good news, had some interesting ideas, and everything seems to be progressing well. Nice conversation with Mom on the way home. Dinner on the deck with Becky and then snuggle with LuLu. Pick up Gavin from soccer, watch some soccer with him, and hang out with Dominic when he gets home from reffing. Now blog and bed. Nice, fulfilling day!
Presence:
I may love the sounds of nature, but I’m order to get myself in the zone I need some loud music thumping. This afternoon Eminem helped take my brain where it needed to go for a specific project. Throw in standing and jamming on a balance board while I worked and it was pretty sweet!
Questions always lead to better places than answers. Conversations are so much more fun when I ask more questions to learn more rather than when I talk to be heard. My natural tendency is still to talk, I need to keep working on leading with questions rather than talking. There were a few examples of each today, excellent reminders for Future Mike!
Appreciation:
I’ve written about this over and over again, but I am so appreciative for all the outside time I create in my life. This morning I really didn’t want to get out of bed at 4:15am, but I knew I wanted to get outside. I was on the trail and hiking by 4:45am and had about as awesome start to the day as one could ask for. The weather was an almost perfect 58f, it was dark in the woods but just starting to lighten in the sky, and the birds started singing within about five minutes of delving into the forest. Everything was so quiet and still, I was awake and alive while the rest of the world slept. By the time I was out of the woods I had just enough time to get showered up and head off to Eau Claire for work for the day.
Throughout the day I kept going back to the memories created this morning, to enjoying the stillness, to the calm which can only seem to be found in nature (this is something for me to work to grow into, I should be able to find that calm by diving within myself rather than relying on an external factor like the woods). Each decision I made seemed to be guided more closely towards the right direction thanks to the calm and clarity my morning hike provided.
Presence:
Soooo many moments of presence in the woods this morning! There was the first deer I saw hidden in the darkness until my headlamp caught his eyes…
There was the sound of birds singing all around me in one spot on my way up the bluff…
…the deer who stood atop the bluff and watched as I walked to the edge of the bluff and stayed in the same spot until I walked back past her and descended…
…the view through the entire bluff with the clouds settled upon the sleeping city…
…the Disney-esque moment in which the indigo bunting flew in and sat atop a rock to make sure I saw him.
…the deer who also must have enjoyed the birdsong and let me walk past as he watched me…
…and his buddy who walked up the trail and right near me as I was taking the previous picture.
So many wonderful moments starting off my morning in a serene sense of calm. What a gift!
This picture says it all. Becky got home from yoga and found LuLu and I snuggled on the deck taking a little snooze together. LuLu had her head resting in the crook of my elbow while her front paws laid atop my shoulder and chest.
That capped off quite a stretch of a perfect evening with LuLu.
Reminders of the temporary nature of life are difficult. When we are brought face to face with the impermanence of all that exists it is quite usually in a feeling of loss. My mind often initially thinks of something being taken away, but when I pause to choose my mindset I remember that I have a choice to make. While the loss of a loved one hurts, there is not a loss of the memories which have been made, the love that has been shared, or the moments spent together. In many ways it brings them all into wonderfully clear perspective of how much those moments meant and how thankful I am for the opportunity to share them with that loved one.
Appreciation:
To tie this in with the previous section I’m also very appreciative for the clarity brought to our lives when we face the impermanence of life. I know I will miss LuLu tremendously and nothing will prevent that hurt. That said, facing her fate in the near future puts so much of life into such clear perspective and helps me live life a little more fully and vividly.
We all have an expiration date, we just don’t know when it is. With the unknown date and time it seems so incredibly impossible and intangible. Death becomes a concept that is out there, but it happens to other people, certainly not ourselves or our precious loved ones. We know the specter of it lingers somewhere in the horizon, but it feels as if we’ll never actually meet if we keep the blankets over our heads or keep the lights on.
When we actually come to face death and it is truly palpable we have a unique opportunity to shift our mindset and have actual clarity and awareness of what awaits every single one of us. We’re reminded to be grateful for each moment we have, to appreciate each moment we enjoy with our loved ones, and to savor each breath which are blessed to pass through our system. Some of our deep feelings are brought up to the surface, we can feel so much so much more deeply, and can take action on these sensations in positive ways.
Over time as we distance ourselves from Death the sensation slowly fades into the background and dissipates back into the ether from which it lived before it was conjured up, reappearing when least expected and quickly reminding us of the lessons we learned when we’d last met.
Facing the impermanence of all life can either be difficult or life enriching, it is our choice to decide which it will be.
Presence:
Snuggling with LuLu on the couch this afternoon was perfect. She was smiling away as I pet her, as was I. The moments we’ve shared like this so many times over the past decade are ones I’ll always treasure. I will enjoy as many more of them as possible and savor them all the more deeply.
“Don’t be sad wishing for more, be thankful for what you’ve had.”
What wonderful words to live by.
Appreciation:
Time spent laughing together, crying together, and enjoying life together. While there are magical moments alone, the best moments in life are most often shared. Today I’m grateful for sharing so many of those moments.
Presence:
The moments of extreme clarity when I am tested, how present I am. When facing something outside my control do I fixate on it or do I choose to be in the moment I should be in? The moments of being tested are opportunities for presence and awareness.
Fiction creates space for us to process and explore new ideas and concepts in a safety buffer from our personal biases.
When considering a true story it is so easy to be distracted by the details bumping into our biases. Fiction offers the opportunity to walk safely while leaving with a more clear understanding of the big picture.
Appreciation:
Remember my blog post about “sweatshirt books” yesterday? My mind is even more blown today as I finally caught on to one of the major sub themes which had eluded me during my first few reads. Today the concept kept coming back across my brain like waves against the shore. The similar yet different paths of learning “the truth” through faith and science – which is more important, the search for truth or the living of a good life? Maybe a balance of both? Does knowing the truth, the reason, the why matter more than living as fulfilling life?
Presence:
Spending time on the deck listening to Dominic’s tales of his recent canoeing adventure in the Boundary Waters was so much fun tonight! So glad he had such a great time making some epic memories with his buddies in the their first “no adults” wilderness adventure.
Taking a few minutes to pause and rest is okay and usually leads to positive things afterwards. Like anything it’s about discipline and moderation. Done the right way at the right times a break can be exactly what’s needed to kickstart a productive day. What really helped today was setting a 10 minute timer to pause and let my brain drift.
Appreciation:
I know I have some definite idiosyncrasies when it comes to my reading habits. One in particular is the habit of re-reading the same handful of books over and over again. This sometimes seems especially interesting when I share that this includes fiction as well as nonfiction. Yup, I know exactly what’s going to happen, I know the plot, and there aren’t many surprises when I read it. And there is the allure to re-reading those books.
One in particular is a wonderful “sweatshirt book.” Who doesn’t love the feeling of putting on an old comfy sweatshirt on a cool fall night while we snuggle in and get comfortable? Reading the book Spin by Robert Charles Wilson feels just like that. As soon as I pick it up there is a state of calm that comes over me and an instant hunger to consume the entire thing.
Each time I read it I immediately connect with each of the character in all of their glorious faults as they live a human life. The story is thick in metaphor with so many deeper meanings and symbolism behind the story and dialogue. When I read it I pick up on nuances missed in the past and connections previously unseen. While the story remains the same, the person reading it is never the same.
Gotta love “sweatshirt books!”
Presence:
During a video meeting today there was a short pause in the conversation, just long enough to hear a sound. I’d opened my office windows right away this morning and the sound coming in was rain pattering on the pavement in our parking lot. The quiet sound was so soothing and relaxing, a welcome sound to the day. Fortunately I was able to keep an ear to that sound while I was in the meeting and it helped me stay even more chill. So grateful for the incredible soundtrack to the meeting!
Another reason to appreciate journaling. This memory from three years ago today is one I’d forgotten about until I found it on my blog again. What a gift to myself journaling has been!
Throughout the day I’ve had a couple of reminders of spending time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a week in the summer. When Nick and I were kids we’d spend a couple of weeks in the Milwaukee area, one at Grandma and Grandpa’s and the other at a couple of Aunt’s and Uncle’s houses. Those weeks were always such a blast! Spending time with family, having our own mini vacation each year, and creating so many memories. There are certain parts of the summer that always remind me of those trips. In the past twenty four hours I’ve:
Saw fireflies in the backyard
The smell of our basement in the summer (I know, sounds weird, but a couple of times each year our basement totally smells like their basement)
Remembered that the baseball all star game is on tonight, something we watched more than a few times down there
Sat on the deck while relaxing in perfect summer weather
More memories will surely keep trickling in throughout the rest of the evening, so grateful for those weeks with Grandma and Grandpa for so many summers of my childhood.
Presence:
This morning I woke up feeling like I must’ve gotten hit by a bus. I was stiff, sore, and tender all over from my neck down through my toes. In a second or two I realized the bus I had been hit by was yoga. The workout last night helped me beat myself up pretty well in a very positive way. The feeling of completely sore muscles was AMAZING!!! Sure, it was a little rough when I first got out of bed, but it quickly shifted to a feeling of gratitude for the workout. The soreness was only a symptom of weakness leaving the body and it felt rewarding.
Thankful for Forty 