Being in a state of awe is amazing. Helping others be in a similar state fills the heart even more.
Appreciation:
What a reminder of how little we really need today has been. The experience of the real Belize reminds me of how little is needed to live a joyful life.
Presence:
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities to learn so much from different cultures. Each travel experience brings new awareness of so many different ways of viewing the world, so many new viewpoints, and the opportunity to see how similar we all are as a people in spite of all of our differences.
Being outside in the sun is amazing anytime, but even more so when it is in the middle of winter. Driving down the road in a golf cart feeling extra hot and sweaty in the sun and humidity today was borderline glorious!
Sometimes exhaustion is the muse I must listen to. After getting two hours of sleep and getting on the road at 1:30am today I was already zonked before we boarded our 6am flight out of Minneapolis. Sleep sounded amazing, but I felt like I had an itch I just needed to scratch. Next thing I knew there was only a half hour left of our three hour flight and I’d put together an entire outline of a what’s likely to be my next book, social media posts for the next week, and a bunch of other ideas all sketched out!
I was exhausted, but that may have been exactly what I needed today.
Appreciation:
Our second flight provided an opportunity to test myself and my personal growth from the past year. I would give myself s passing grade, but I’ve got a long way to go to get on the dean’s list 😉
I can choose to see frustration or an opportunity to test myself and grow. Today I chose growth.
Presence:
Last night Gavin reminded me of an extended moment of presence from our November trip to Iceland – the beauty of a six hour sunset on the flight home. We chased the sun and it finally lost us just before we landed. Six hours of beautiful orange sunset hanging for almost an eternity. What a memory!
Remember that this blog is an active action and not a compulsion. I do not have to it, each day I have the choice to make. Even on days like this when I’m going nonstop and need to go to bed I still choose the joy of gratitude.
Appreciation:
This blog is a tool to help me enjoy more of life by remembering to pause and appreciate all the blessings around me.
I’m thankful for all of the thousands of ways this practice has improved my life over the past seven plus years. Today was full of reminders of those blessings.
Presence:
This moment right here:
Both sons playing together at the same concert… awesome.
Funny how there are a handful of moments which can really define the day. Depending on which moment we choose to focus on our lens to view the day changes tremendously.
Choose to focus on the positive, be present and acknowledge the negative, but choose Growth, Appreciation, and Presence.
Appreciation:
I’m so thankful for a nudge I felt yesterday in a conversation. As I written about before, intentions are empty, actions are fulfilling. The conversation led me to take action and I’m thankful I did. The result was so much more positive than I’d expected.
Someone once taught me that God works through people. When we feel a nudge to do something kind we really should trust it and follow through.
Presence:
Yoga tonight was AWESOME!!! For real, one of the best practices I’ve ever experienced. The movement was steady and constant and required 100% presence. The actions were beautifully woven to breathing. The poses and movements between were a challenge but possible. Long story short- it was an ideal flow experience.
This was the lens I’ve chosen to view my day through. In 60 minutes everything became right in the world and my soul feels so much lighter. Ahh..,
Take a deep breath, pause, think, plan, and respond. When life gets crazy the best way to succeed is to take a deep breath and pause. Once the first wave of stress induced “time claustrophobia” passes take a moment to think. Build a plan and respond.
Today was bonkers, like taking batting practice with three pitching machines going at once with a combo of fastballs, curveballs, and change ups kind of bonkers. I lived, I laughed, I got it all done, and I may have even enjoyed myself.
Had I let emotions get the best of me I would’ve imploded. For sure, there was at least one moment in which a maniacal laugh erupted, but only for one soothing moment.
Appreciation:
Bliss can be found even in the midst of the storm, one must only choose to watch for it. Moments of talking with Becky. Moments of jokes with Dominic. Finding a way to sneak in a game or two with Gavin. A sense of purpose and accomplishment. Time to think about an upcoming project. Creating quiet space alone. Even in a whirlwind of chaos beauty and stillness can be found.
Presence:
After a challenging Dad moment today I voiced my frustration to Becky.
“It is a miracle Dad didn’t kick my butt when I was 17.”
This was overheard by Gavin. His immediate response was spot on.
Preparing for something before it is needed is priceless. Too often I prepare after I should have been ready. What a difference it makes to train before we need to.
Appreciation:
It’s been a while since I’ve given myself an easy out by going with a list, but it really seems appropriate today. Here’s a snapshot of the gratitude:
The most quiet wrestling tournament ever
Learning through failure
Losing tight matches that leave us more hungry
Breathing and rolling with life
Family going out of their way to watch other family’s events
Choosing perspective
Growth through adversity
Remembering we always have a choice to make
More game time with Becky & Dominic
Going to bed exhausted
Presence:
Sometimes being present involves pausing for moments of introspection. I took a couple of those at opportune times and it made a positive impact.
Huge kudos to my good friend Joy for some excellent words of advice I really needed to hear…. “Trust your gut.” Thanks Joy!
Appreciation:
Tonight’s blog is crazy short due to the way the night ended as you’ll see in the next section. Honestly, I’m grateful for remembering to honor the intent of my blogging rather than succumb to a compulsion. It would have been easy to go to bed early and blog, but instead I lived the intent and appreciated the moment.
Presence:
When I got home from a work celebration Dominic was just firing up a movie. I was exhausted and ready for bed but I knew we’d have fun. We laughed, we joked, we talked, and we enjoyed time together. I’ll sleep when I’m dead, I’ll enjoy live while I’m breathing. Do appreciative for our moments together like this!
When life hands you lemons, take advantage of the unexpected bonus time with friends. 😉 Just as we’d completed the 40 minute drive to Tomah we got a text from Gavin that he didn’t have a match this evening. Becky, Kathy, Steve, & I turned and headed back to La Crosse and proceeded to have a blast hanging out. Not what we’d planned but tons of fun!
Appreciation:
So proud of all of my teams today. Over the past weeks they’ve fought through a ton of adversity and challenges. They’ve had to adjust, be nimble, work out of position, adapt to new situations, and learn new skill sets on the fly. Each and every teammate has risen to the challenge and shown how incredibly well they live into our values daily.
Did I mention that through it all they’ve been smiling, staying positive, and focused on taking care of each other? Amazing in so many ways. So thankful for and proud of my work family!
Presence:
The stillness of shoveling early in the morning while the world slept was so chill. I shoveled wearing shorts and enjoyed the feeling of physical activity coupled with the cool air. Magic for the soul!
While on a Zoom call today the trainer made the comment, “and remember, watch for the positive stuff. It is always so easy to see the problems, remember that those are few and far between while successes and positives are all over the place if we watch for them.”
I almost laughed out loud at this statement. For a variety of reasons this very thought topic had already come up multiple times over the past 48 hours. I’ve been on all sides of it, from needing to remember to focus on the positives to coaching others to watch for the positives. It was almost like The Big Dude Upstairs really wanted to accent the point one more time just to make sure I got it. Loud and clear Dude, loud and clear!
Honestly, this is something we should almost all reminder ourselves of as soon as we wake up. There is going to be frustration, pain, challenges, and the like. There is also going to be significantly more joy, happiness, wins, and success. Which will we choose to watch for each day? Which one will we be keeping an eye out for? Which one will dictate our day?
We do not choose what happens to us, but we do choose how we respond to it. Choose to see the positive, choose growth, choose appreciation, and choose presence.
Appreciation:
Quick side note for everyone reading this – I don’t always write these in a linear order. Tonight this is actually the last one I’m writing as the other two were pretty straightforward and almost wrote themselves throughout the day. I’m struggling a bit on which gratitude to focus on as there are several. Maybe the best bet for tonight is to go with a theme and then I can start to peel it all apart over the next few days.
I’m thankful for my journey. The past seven plus years have been a period of profound learning and introspection. I’m grateful for the struggles and challenges I’ve faced as they’ve all led me to this point. They’ve helped shaped me into me. In so many ways I feel more at peace with so many things than I possibly ever have been in my life.
The gap between who I am and who I am called to be is still an enormous chasm, but I’m okay with slowly working towards the other side. Small steps of progress each day may not be enough to get me there before my time is up and that’s totally okay. The true success is in working towards progress.
I am thankful for the lessons I’ve learned which have helped me remember to give myself grace when I slip. They help me remember that what is done is done, move forward and work to be a better version of myself today than I was yesterday.
I’m thankful for the ongoing reminders to control what I can control, to work towards eliminating unnecessary anxiety and worry, and for the reminders of their negative impact when I don’t end my own advice.
I’m thankful for my journey, all the bumps and bruises, the twists and turns, and everything in between. Without them I would not be me.
Presence:
Throughout last year I worked on my goal of reading 100 books. This meant listening to Audible almost all the time I was driving. This year I’ve been listening to a lot of audible, but I’ve given myself more grace to enjoy both quiet and music.
This morning I caught myself flipping through some tunes and happened upon a song that really hits me in the feels every single time I listen to it – The ‘59 Sound by The Gaslight Anthem.
The song always brings to mind a couple of people in particular and calls their memories close to my heart. This morning I played the song, sang along with it, let out some emotion, and felt so much lighter afterwards.
Well I wonder which song they’re gonna play when we go I hope it’s something quiet and minor and peaceful and slow
When we float out into the ether into the everlasting arms I hope we don’t hear Marley’s chains we forged in life
‘Cause the chains I’ve been hearin’ now for most of my life And the chains I’ve been hearin’ now for most of my life
Did you hear the ’59 sound Coming through on Grandmama’s radio? Did you hear the rattlin’ chains In the hospital walls?
Did you hear the old gospel choir When they came to carry you over? Did you hear your favorite song One last time?
This has been a difficult one to write this evening. I’ve already gone back and forth and deleted a few times to start over. Rather than try to get it perfect here’s the gist of it. When I remember to ask questions my mindset makes all the difference. If I ask to prove myself right I’ll only listen for the answers which prove me right. If I ask a question with the purpose of learning I’ll listen much more deeply. While it seems so easy on the surface it can be much more difficult to do if I don’t pause and think about it in advance. The struggle with ego continues, so much more progress needed to close the gap.
Appreciation:
One of the projects I’m working on is focused on helping people reach their dreams. As I’ve been putting some ideas together I had to find a test audience to reality test it. As luck would have it I’ve got a family who each have dream lists started! Some of the mundane work I put in today was going through each of their lists and adding them to an electronic version. It was truly inspiring to see what they all had on their lists! So many awesome ideas and adventures ahead of each of them. What was also fun was seeing the level of overlap between each and seeing how we can knock out a handful relatively easy in the not too distant future. What an awesome source of motivation today.
Presence:
Couch time with the family is always welcomed. We fired up a family game of Exploding Kittens while on the couches so LuLu could snuggle up with me. After a couple of games Dominic and I played a game of cribbage and had a lot of fun talking about the future. Gavin came out after he finished studying for his test tomorrow and the three of us spent some time talking about some of the major issues facing our society – like which are better – Macs or PCs? What a perfectly chill way to spend time together tonight!
Thankful for Forty 