Day 4,042

Growth:

One of my Start Doing’s for 2026 was to read, re-read, and then re-re-read 25 specific books. Each was selected for a specific reason, largely focused on values I wanted to live into more this year, concepts I wanted fresh in my brain, and stories that have always struck me as interesting on a deeper than surface level. With a little over two months to go I’m on track and only have 10 reads to go, 65 already under my belt.

I’ve learned so many things through this process. There are books I’d like to read more than three times due to how engaging they are. There are also books that I’m going to set aside and not pick back up for at least a year or two. Throughout each I’ve caught myself seeing deeper insights, hearing slightly different themes, and changing my behavior and thoughts as a result. It’s been a positive result for sure!

I miss reading so many different titles, I’ve only read 14 outside of the 25 core curriculum of 2026, but I’ll get back to that next year. This year this level of focus was exactly what my mind needed to help hardwire some of these concepts into my brain. Here’s to the home stretch of 2026 AND to the new books of 2027.

Appreciation:

This was a day! Many reasons for that statement, some positive, some scary, some exciting, some frustrating. As Jim Valvano once said, “if you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day!” In one single sixty minute stretch each of those was knocked off the list! During the entirety of the day there were definitely some repeats of all of them.

What’s interesting is that I could find myself looking only at the positive and trying to forget about the frustrating, keeping an overly optimistic view of all of it, but I’d be getting it wrong.

I could find myself looking only at the negative and getting so frustrated and agitated as I forgot about the positive, keeping an overly negative view of all of it, but I’d be getting it wrong.

As luck would have it, my current book is The Book of Joy in which the Dalai Lama and Bishop Tutu share so much wisdom about framing moments and putting the focus on where it should be. They had a positive impact on me today and helped me choose what feels to be the more correct path.

All of the things today happened. They were each individually good or bad, they were. Each of those moments offered an opportunity to learn, to feel, and to experience life. Each moment gave me an opportunity to be grateful – I was alive for each of those moments, I was able to experience each of those moments. So many of them were out of my control. In most I was grateful for the opportunity to see that I can live my core values and into my purpose in good times and in difficulty. In some I was able to more clearly see the gap between who I am and who I be living into, I was shown an opportunity to grow. Each of those moments was a gift.

Each moment, not good, not bad, always a gift. An opportunity for growth. My mind and soul, both at peace.

Presence:

Today had several conversations that involved some hard core presence. In each there was no room for anything but being right in the moment – to follow along, to dig deeper into a difficult topic, to be sure I was hearing what the person was saying. There were some with high emotions, some more cerebral and logical, and others focused on new ideas and growth.

The consistent detail was keeping the focus on the conversation I was having the with the individual – hearing them, considering their message, and responding accordingly.

Very grateful for each of those conversations today, they were so engaging that they inspired me to work harder on being that engaged in other conversations.

Thanks!!!