Day 2,916

Growth:

Gotta love how sometimes divine intervention works out! This morning I got my weekly email from Ryan Holiday (which you can also check out here: https://ryanholiday.net/blog/) and there was a specific paragraph I sent to Becky and the boys.

Everything is an opportunity for excellence. The now famous passage from Marcus Aurelius is that the impediment to action advances action, that what stands in the way becomes the way. But do you know what he was talking about specifically? He was talking about difficult people! He was saying that difficult people are an opportunity to practice excellence and virtue–be it forgiveness or patience or cheerfulness. And so it goes for all the things that are not in our control in life. So when I find myself in situations big and small, positive or negative, I try to see each of them as an opportunity for me to be the best I’m capable of being in that moment. It doesn’t matter who we are, where we are, we can always do this.

Ryan Holiday

This evening I had the opportunity to live into this. I’m not sure that I handled it as well as I could have, but this thought kept rolling through my head and helped to point me closer to the right direction. That said, I really would have been fine with not having the opportunity to grow through dealing with this specific issue this evening 😉

Appreciation:

At the soccer game this evening (source of the thought above in the Growth section) I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the entire crowd. Throughout the years both Dominic and Gavin have played on teams with players from the other high school and we’ve gotten to know the parents very well. In many ways it was a lot like a soccer family reunion! I’m pretty sure I spent more time in conversation with parents wearing the opposing team’s colors than our own, definitely not par for the course.

It was a blast to rekindle friendships and catch up on all the life that’s gone on since we last saw each other, so much more than just the game we all came to watch.

Presence:

My ride home from work was full of a solid silence as I shut off both music and audiobooks to think through an immensely frustrating challenge. That quiet time focused in thought helped me work through the initial emotion and then start developing a strategy for resolution. The silence was deafening and helped drown out the entire world aside from my challenge. So thankful for those moments of quiet to help calm my brain and provide clarity towards right action.

Thanks!!!