Due to high waters blocking off the main entrance, a secondary entrance which is only open during the weekdays, and an almost two mile walk to get to the main trail from the only entrance you can walk into and it felt like I had the entire wildlife refuge to myself. It was AWESOME!!! I spent the next almost four hours hiking with my 45# training backpack on – completely solo. The only time I saw another person was in the final of my 13+ miles, and they were about a half mile in front of me.
Throughout the hike I saw a deer (long before she saw me), a turtle, a bunch of frogs, a sandhill crane up close, a pair of swans, so many different types of dragonflies, a huge variety of birds, and so many different species of wildflower. So much relaxation in the woods, so much fresh air, so chill. Miles and miles and miles of serene solitude while hiking.
Rather than my usual routine I am going in a slightly different direction. This evening I am home alone.
Some days are perfect sweatshirt weather, today was one of them. An awesome day in so many ways, but this evening it felt like a perfect night to crawl into my most comfortable and well worn sweatshirt and watch a couple of movies full of thoughtful emotion. A quiet and still night at home, exactly what my soul needed today!
When I was learning to shoot a bow as a kid Dad gave me the advice to breathe in, breathe out, hold steady, and then release. This advice has served me well in so many aspects of life when I remember to heed it. Today was another example of something I almost ran with too early, but thankfully I paused to breathe first. With the clarity of a held breath I saw the target and it hit.
Slow the mind, remove any potential disturbance, focus, and then act.
Appreciation:
For the first few months of the year I was doing an excellent job of ending each night with a quick accounting of my day. It is a very short scorecard I use to grade myself before I go to sleep. After my trip to Patagonia I somehow fell off the habit. I’ve recently started it back up and I am so thankful I did! One of the biggest gifts it offers is the question:
“If I only had 10 years to live, what would I STOP doing today?”
The insights generated by this question, especially after an exceptionally tiring and exhausting day, are profoundly perceptive! My brain lets down its ego, sees that I’m not likely to immediately change, and goes with what was one of the biggest frustrations of the day. Taking the time to do this has really helped me see life so much more clearly this week!
Presence:
This moment right here… sitting on the couch, alone, typing my blog. No one else stirs in the house, there is no music, no television, or distraction. I can hear the sound of the ceiling fans, the light tinkling sound of one blade ever so slightly out of balance. In a sea of busyness of the day my mind is calm. I’m grateful for this quiet.
Nothing like getting the brain power of a couple of strong teams to really help shape a training and presentation for future groups! Over the past few weeks my teammates have all helped out to share ideas to improve a training we will be presenting in the next month. When I go through it live there will be so many slides which have been positively impacted by so many of my teammates. Their shared insights will definitely improve the effectiveness of the presentation!
Appreciation:
One of the things I appreciate most about the Express family is the way we all help each other out and share ideas, advice, and best practices. Today I had the opportunity to learn from one of the best and the insights he shared were awesome. Excellent insights, he really helped me look at my business in a different light.
Presence:
Gotta love when the thumbs are a little too fast for their own good when texting and spell check misses that while you technically spelled a word correctly it was not the word you intended. Who ever would have imagined that a mistaken letter could bring on a case of full belly laughs and crying from laughing so hard???
Life is so much easier when I pause and remember that I do not have the time or capacity needed to tackle all of the crazy ideas and dreams and projects I would like to take on. I will forever have a surplus of goals and plans and a deficit of the time I wish I had to accomplish everything, and that is okay. This makes it all the more important for me to focus on intentionally spending my precious time on those dreams which are of the utmost importance rather than on matters which are not of consequence.
When I am feeling overwhelmed and as if I don’t have enough time I need to remember to pause, review what is truly most important, focus on that in that moment, and be grateful for the opportunity to have that moment of life to use.
Appreciation:
When I wrapped up my day yesterday I had a very clear list of what needed to get done today. I didn’t get it all done, but I didn’t waste any time or energy. My focus was exactly where it needed to be. There were several moments in which my brain started to wander to other things and just as I was about go in a wrong direction I had awareness and went right back to focus mode. The results was an awesomely productive day that I am very pleased with.
As I analyze why it was successful I pinpointed a few notes to save for Future Mike:
Review what is truly important, slice it into what is most important today, and then focus there
Have a very clear list of what needs to get done and in order of how it needs to happen
Maintain awareness of where my mind should be focused and catch myself when it wanders
Give myself grace to take a pause or a break – not unintentionally and time wasting, rather, focused on re-charging my brain
Close the door and turn on the right music when needed
The overwhelming majority of phone calls, emails, and messages can wait until a future time
If the day flew by I am doing it right
Over 25 years of working in the professional world and I’m still reminded of how much there is to learn and how much more discipline there is to build.
Presence:
Lifting today was pretty brutal. I wasn’t even close to lifting the weights I should be lifting. It was all aboard the struggle bus time. By the last reps of the last set of each exercise my muscles were shaking. I didn’t even get to the number of reps I was shooting for in each set. t hurt. It was mentally taxing. My ego got the shit kicked out of it. In so many ways I could look at today’s lifting as a complete failure and disappointment…
…but I experienced and view it as an overwhelming SUCCESS.
This was my first time lifting in about four weeks due to travel and crazy pre-travel schedule. I was going in completely rusty and rather than not showing up or quitting early I chose to finish the workout. I struggled but I pushed. I gave myself the grace to drop the weight in-between sets so I could keep the right form. I didn’t stop until my muscles did. I took the step of re-starting, I took action.
The next round will be similar, but each subsequent session will feel better and better. Today I took the first step. It hurt, but I felt great.
Yesterday I wrote about the power of writing everything down in order to get a sense of sanity. Today I’m grateful for the advice I received from a friend suggesting I re-write the list and be sure to point out what needs to happen today, tomorrow, & next week. That advice helped save me from taking on too much. Instead I put all the focus exactly where it needed to be.
Appreciation:
My Notes app is quickly becoming filled with so many inspiring and useful quotes and ideas! Over the past six months I’ve made an intentional effort to pause when I hear or read an excellent nugget of information and enter it into my Notes app for future reference.
Here are a few examples:
It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong.
Yvon Chouinard
There was loneliness, too, as the sun set, but only rarely now did doubts return. Then I felt sinkingly as if my whole life lay behind me. Once on the mountain I knew (or trusted) that this would give way to total absorption with the task at hand. But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.
Thomas F. Hornbein Everest: The West Ridge
Presence:
On my drive home I spent some time listening to the audiobook Life Lived Wild by Rick Ridgeway. The story has been an emotional roller coaster, the drive today contained a story that brought me to tears. The author’s voice cracked and I could hear the tears as he shared the story of taking the daughter of an old climbing friend up to see her father’s body. His friend had died while with him in an avalanche and the emotion he felt returning was palpable. So much respect to Rick for having the courage to share that specific story.
When stressed remember to pause and make a list of everything you have to get done. By the time it is done your brain has the space to process and prioritize. I needed that today!
Appreciation:
As much as I know I’m more of an introvert there’s still a huge opportunity for joy by being in the presence of others. As a greeter at church today my role was to smile and welcome everyone with peace and joy. The act of greeting so many smiling faces was awesome and brought a huge smile to my heart!
Presence:
On my ride back from dropping off Gavin I took advantage of the alone time and did a full brain dump. I busted out my audio recording app and made a list of all the projects I have going on or that I would like you to do. Spending time in thought like this putting it all together for future review was very therapeutic!
When the question is asked, “Do you want to go to yoga?” the answer should always be yes. I have yet to regret a single instance of going though I often wonder if I would be better off sleeping in or relaxing at home instead. When in doubt, go stretch out!
Appreciation:
Wowza, it has been a ridiculously busy day, but all in very good ways! From waking up to hit an early morning yoga date with Becky at Root Down to knocking out about a dozen and a half tasks and errands AND spending quite a bit of quality time with each of my family members the day has been a nonstop thrill ride of fun and excitement. What’s even better is that by getting almost everything done today my day tomorrow will be almost on easy mode.
Another aspect of this that I can’t understate is how great it feels to be back in the normal home weekend routine. I love my vacations and travels, but being at home is wonderful sensation after being gone for a little over two straight weeks.
Throw in the bonus time with Becky at yoga and walking Leia (more on that in a minute or two), a nice long phone conversation with Mom, fixing a canopy with Gavin using some inventive solutions, a Menards run with the boys, dinner as a family, and watching the movie Prometheus with boys on the couch and I was busy but in heaven all day long!
Presence:
Getting a walk in with Becky and Leia on a wooded road that is currently closed to cars and had more turtles (a little over half a dozen) than people (zero) led to quality time together in the perfect environment. This coming not too long after yoga added even more chill. I always appreciate time walking in the woods with Becky, one of my favorite activities of all time.
This afternoon I had an awesomely in depth conversation with my friend, Brian, on the topics of leadership and life. Initially he had reached out with a question, but I quickly found he was helping me find answers to questions and feelings I’ve had over the past year. What was especially insightful to me was his willingness to open up and share so much, he just shared where he was at. His openness was truly inspiring. As I reflect on the conversation I can’t help but realize he summed up my awe in a follow up text.
Life feels different when you bring others in!
Brian B
How often do I carry the burden myself rather than sharing it? When am I too nervous about how others may view me to share how I am really doing and thinking? Why do I sometimes struggle to ask for help when I am in need of it? One would think I would know better by age 47, heck, I even wrote about this very topic in my book about losing Dad!
Today I’m very grateful for the reminder to open up, to share my heart openly, and to bring others in. We all have so much in common and we can all help lighten each other’s loads. Thank you for a conversation I needed more than I imagined today Brian!
Appreciation:
Due to our vacation my sons held back on giving me a Father’s Day gift until this evening. There is no question it was well worth the wait! Not gonna lie, there may have been a little bit of awesome leaking out of my eyes as I took it in and read the quote they added.
It was a map of the world, complete with pins of all the places I’ve been – and color coded based on who was with on the trip. In the bottom left corner was one of my all time favorite quotes by Jim Valvano, one I used in my blog the Father’s Day less than a week after Dad passed away.
My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.
Jim Valvano
Throw in some very heartfelt and handcrafted Father’s Day cards from the boys and I was definitely feeling the love. Between the boys and Becky it was quite the way to lead into the weekend!
In addition to the initial fun of the gift we all got an epic bonus present… time to dream as a family as we looked at all the spaces without pins and started dreaming up some additional crazy ideas and plans for the future. Just a hunch, but I’d bet on a trip to a little place called Mount Kilimanjaro at some point in the not too distant future 😉
Thank you Becky and the boys for making me extra loved for a belated Father’s Day, I’m beyond blessed to ahve you each in my life!!!
Presence:
There’s a moment, maybe better put as a series of moments, from our time in Sequoia National Park which has been with me often in the past week. As we walked the trail amongst the massive sequoias I wandered in awe of the enormity of the titans towering over me. My mind and soul struggled to comprehend all they had experienced in the two to three THOUSAND years of life on earth.
The lyrics which have resonated the most are these:
Somewhere down the road is a place that we can go where everyone And everything is divine And when we’re all awake, we can finally make and end of these Divisions in our minds
Far beyond those walls, gleaming black and white Further than our false schemes of wrong and right Is a field where we can walk Leaving all our names behind
I will meet you there, beyond the pines
Thrice, Beyond the Pines
The feeling of hiking in the giant sequoias felt like I was walking in heaven, in paradise. There was zero stress or need or frustration, only awe and peace and gratitude and joy and love. How much more joyful and full of love would our world be if we all took time to go “beyond the pines” once in a while? To pause, breathe in the fresh pine scented air, feel the cool breeze on our face, and look in awe at the wondrous gifts the world has been given?
This is the specific tree I would like to have some of my ashes scattered at when my time is complete, it is marked in my Garmin Earthmate GPS as “Perfect Seq-MK ash” It was the most perfect and beautiful sequoia I saw on our trip to Sequoia National Park, and it was just far enough off the busiest paths to have the eternal quiet I would liek to enjoy.
The first step can be amongst the most difficult. Take it, trust your gut, create. Don’t overthink it, don’t overanalyze, just get to work. Start with the minimum viable product and slowly build up from there. One small step, adjust, learn, and then take the next.
Appreciation:
So many nuggets from the Universe today! A little nudge over here, a little push this direction, a slight shift towards something else. Maybe it is the calm and peace in my mind and soul as a result of vacation hearing things more clearly. Maybe it is the tiredness I’ll talk about next that is putting down my guard to allow me to see clearly.
Whatever the reason I am grateful for the little comments, texts, emails, and conversations today which all helped me look at the world in a slightly different way today! Thank you for all the positivity!
Presence:
Sometimes we really benefit from leaning into exhaustion. I don’t want to live in a perpetual state of fatigue, but once in a while a heavy dose of exhaustion strips away all the window dressing and helps us see reality more clearly. Today was one of those days, totally exhausted, but ready to see the world through a different perspective. The reality of life is brought more clearly into focus when deeply tired in a positive way. The ego struggles to put up its defenses, life is more clearly seen.
Thankful for Forty 