Day 3,765

Growth:

Only two and a half weeks into the year and I’m already seeing huge benefits to my 2026 plan. My actions have shifted, my thoughts have shifted, my intentions have shifted. Nothing crazy, no wild 180 degree change or anything, just incremental growth, a focus on one percent better each day.

While digging a little deeper into The Alchemist this morning I came across this gem:

“It’s a book that says the same thing almost all the other books in the world say,” continued the old man. “It describes people’s inability to choose their own Personal Legends. And it ends up saying that everyone believes the world’s greatest lie.”

“What’s the world’s greatest lie?” the boy asked, completely surprised.

“It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

Here’s to remembering that we always have a choice to make, action we can take of our own volition – even if, or especially if – it is only within our own mind and heart.

Appreciation:

Dominic headed back up to college today, my initial emotion was sadness at his leaving. I had to pause, catch, and redirect myself – how grateful I was for the time we had together this past few weeks! It was wonderful having him home throughout these past weeks, we got so much bonus time with him. I’m very thankful for all of the experiences he has been having at school and for the future he is building for himself, I’m also more and more grateful for the relationship we built while he lived at home – it keeps us close even when the distance is far. So appreciative for the time we’ve had with Dominic, for the relationship we’ve built with him, and for the fact that I love him so much I always feel a bit of sadness when he leaves.

Presence:

Working through difficult topics as a family today, figuring out college tuition budgeting now that Gavin’s selected where he’s going to school. We all had to pause, get all the details on a spreadsheet, figure things out, and then spend time showing how and why each potential level to pull is important. For sure, showing Gavin the benefits of paying more sooner on his after school monthly loan payments, working through the reasons behind interest rates, and showing how pulling money from one location versus another leads to a larger deficit in the future was not my idea of Sunday family fun, BUT it was exactly what we all needed to do in order to see a more clear path of what we need to work through. Not the most exciting family time, but family time that was very well spent and led to growth for Gavin.

Thanks!!!