Day 2,904 – Short and sweet tonight, been a long day with plenty of social time and a movie running late with Gavin, this is the short version before bed because I’m exhausted 😉
Growth:
Pouring gasoline on a fire is never the solution for putting the fire out. Pause, breathe, let level heads win out over emotion.
Appreciation:
This morning I had an awesome conversation with Mom and it was a blast catching up and spending time laughing with each other. Having that time to connect was a wonderful start to my day!
Presence:
Spending time watching Gavin play his butt off after putting in a ton of time in the off-season was priceless. Super proud of you bud!
No one steps in the same river twice. It’s no secret that there are a handful of books I’ve read and reread several times. The one I’ve been reading recently is Great by Choice by Jim Collins. This has to be at least the sixth time I’ve read it and I am still learning so much from it! The benefit of additional life experiences have helped more of it sink in at different levels than in the past. Read, reread, and repeat.
Appreciation:
Today I was gifted additional time in the form of a project a teammate had already completed without my knowledge. Funny how quickly the newly discovered time dissipated. I made a lot of progress on another couple of fronts but realized I still have much more to get done. This has helped me see I have been scheduling myself too tightly and need to give myself more slack time and stay more focused on the most critical. What a gift to learn that this way rather than falling disastrously behind! Uncomfortable learning, but in a very positive way.
Presence:
There were a couple of moments today in which I paused, took a deep breath, and reminded myself to focus on what I can control and not what I cannot. Nothing bad or anything, but just moments when I needed a deep breath to bring awareness to my mind so I would focus. Those moments of calm and stillness helped tremendously!
Writing thoughts and experiences and ideas on paper can really have a big positive impact on our future. The amount of learning I’ve pulled from going through one single business journal from a five month period of time really showed through today. There were a handful of times in which something I’d written to myself back then helped me be a better me today.
In addition to utilizing that information today I also was more intentional in writing down the nuggets that would possibly help future me.
Appreciation:
So much fun hearing about Dominic really spreading his wings and flourishing in his first few weeks of college! Yesterday was his first day of classes and his first rowing practice, today was his first rugby practice. Spending time on FaceTime seeing and hearing his excitement was amazing and joyful. I miss having him at home but I’m so incredibly happy for how he’s growing so rapidly in a new environment.
Presence:
Dominic is at college. Becky is at yoga. Gavin is in the driving school taking his driving temps test. I am sitting in the car, blogging, and about to relax and enjoy the moment of stillness. The breeze blowing in the windows feels like fall, the gray clouds are adding a nice overcast view, and I’m enjoying it all.
When someone asks if you’re okay and says that you seem a little off in a respectful way – listen! They are watching out for you, helping you see something you may have otherwise missed, or are helping you see that you aren’t as good at hiding the stress or scattered feeling you already have. Thank them, listen to them, breathe, and then adapt.
In some ways I leaned back on the advice from yoga on Saturday. Their comment helped me see that my thoughts were feeling panicked, I then chose to have stronger thoughts. That made all the difference today and helped me get my head back in the right space!
Appreciation:
Wowza, I don’t even know how to put this one into words today. Honestly, I think I’m going to leave it a little more vague on purpose until I have time to fully absorb it. I received an incredibly powerful thank you today, technically it was pointed towards my boys, in the form of a letter and a meaningful gift that already means the world to me. The letter was shared with my sons and I’m so grateful for the message it contained. The gift was so perfect in so many ways. One of the ways was more fitting than I could imagine as it totally fit a lesson Dad taught me long ago. Knowing that the boys will now have a gift of their own along those same lines fills my heart with joy. I’m still smiling and will be for quite some time. Honestly, the letter was humbling, heartwarming, and inspiring all rolled into one. What a gift we can weave for others through taking the time to put our thoughts and emotions into physical being to be held onto forever. I am beyond grateful for the gift of this letter to my sons today.
Presence:
There were many moments tonight that were full of presence and joy. A humorous “invite” from a friend for a meeting we have scheduled for Friday, sharing a gift with the boys, spending time in the car with Becky in between work and soccer, excellent conversations at work with teammates, laughter with business partners, and even this moment of quiet reflection while I blog. That said, watching the sun turn a deep red and slowly descend into a pink and purple and orange sky above the bluffs on the drive home. We all paused the conversation to enjoy the beautiful sight. What a wonderful moment!
I spent some time going through an old business journal of mine thinking it would be a simple review of old notes. Next thing I knew I was getting ideas, seeing how much I’ve grown, seeing how little I’ve changed, and pretty much everything in between. Honestly, it was so overwhelming by the end that I had to set it down to let it sink in a bit. What I’m most grateful for is seeing how much I can learn from those little notes I write in the margins, the scribbles, the ideas for myself. So many of those little comments were useful and brought back excellent reminders today.
Appreciation:
Becky and I spent a few minutes walking through everything we did this weekend and I’m now even more exhausted – in a good way! Time with family (in person, on the phone, and texting/messaging), mini golf, eating out, getting on the boat, biking, spending time outside, walking, joking, watching movies, playing games, cleaning, planning future vacations, and spending time solo relaxing / reading / reflecting. So much fit into a long weekend I’m grateful for all that we did AND an early bed time tonight to recover before we start the next week!
Presence:
This morning we woke up a little earlier than normal for a holiday and took off for a bike ride while the temperature was still low-ish. While we were biking there were some excellent views of wildlife when we left the road. One spot in particular had a neat surprise – four green herons in one little area! They are a little difficult to see and a lot smaller than their Great Blue cousins, but they’re still very cool birds when the sun lights up their feathers.
So much good stuff all day long! Laughs. Time as a family. Sharing memories. Knocking out a round of mini golf. Cooking for others. Playing games. Relaxing. Watching a movie with Gavin. What a positively wonderful day!
Presence:
Touching a ship which was present in the heat of WWII was wildly surreal. At one point I laid my palm across the metal railing and paused to think of all who’d touched that same spot and what they were facing in those moments. History made reality.
Awesome deep thought from Nick at yoga today that’s been in my brain all day.
“If your breath feels panicked make your next breath stronger.”
Nick @ Root Down Yoga
My gut feel is to make a subtle change and exchange “thought” for “breath.”
What a wonderful combination of presence and intentionality.
Appreciation:
This afternoon Becky, Gavin, and I all split up some of the weekly chores and quietly went about our work. We each had a podcast or audiobook on and each went to town on our task. Something about all three of us splitting up and working on a specific task seemed oddly peaceful and rewarding.
Presence:
One of the moments of presence that stuck out that was outside of the norm was enjoying the delicious supper we had after church. The hummus, the pork belly, and the pork chop were each to tasty, I enjoyed every single bite!
From The Creative Act by Rick Rubin came a few ideas which were timely, but one in particular sticks out. If stuck choosing between two options and you’re not sure which one is right flip a coin. While the coin is in the air notice which option you’re rooting for. Don’t look at the coin, put it back in your pocket, you now know the right choice without leaving it to reason.
Appreciation:
This book, right here:
I am a little over halfway and have been totally in awe. If you have a passion for Springsteen music or the creative process this is a mind blowing read. More details in a future blog post for sure, so many excellent lessons and thoughts!
Presence:
Spending time on the phone with Dominic and Becky while driving back from Gavin’s soccer game was a treat and greatly appreciated! So much fun hearing about the fun he is having and having a conversation with him put a huge smile on my face.
One step at a time, slow but steady is better than everything everywhere all at once. As I’ve been reflecting on past successes and failures the patterns are there to remind me of how much better piece by piece is in most, but not all, cases. I’ve been working on keeping it small and bite sized and it seems to be working well.
Appreciation:
A handful of years ago I switched from keeping notes on legal pads which I would then throw away one sheet at a time to keeping a journal and then storing it on the shelf when it was full and I needed to start a new one. Now I’ve got a pretty sizable pile of them and they’re quite the treasure trove!
There are notes about ideas I’ve had in the past. There are quotes and lessons I wanted to remember. There are next steps and strategies that I tried that I can now apply to different situations. So many memories of the teammates I’ve worked with, the challenges and successes I’ve had, and little tidbits I would have normally forgotten. Each page offers up a little gift even if I am not extracting anything truly meaningful from that page.
Long story short, those journals are the business version of my daily blog. Each is a memory cue, a way to recall things I’d likely forget. So much history to go back and draw from, so much I can learn from the thought processes I had, and all in my own writing… if I can read it 😉
Presence:
This weather!!! What a perfect weather day it was! There are two moments that really stick out to me today. The first was sitting in the shade on the bleachers at Gavin’s soccer game and enjoying the wonderful breeze and perfect temperature. The second was siting outside on the deck with Becky having supper. Very similar to the game except I was in the sun this time and soaked it all in. While I can usually find a reason to be grateful for almost any weather this was simply perfect.
Thankful for Forty 