Author: Michael Kreiling

Day 1,823 – Thankful for Balanced Coffee

Let me set the stage for you from yesterday morning. Maybe you’ve been there before.

I’m heading out to my car to go to work. Thinking I can save a trip I load up all my stuff and have my hands full. In one hand is my breakfast. The other I both holding my lunch bag by the strap and my coffee.

The door is closed so I decide to awkwardly balance my coffee halfway on my hand so I can turn the knob. In one slow and gut wrenching second I realize too late what a horrible idea it was. Coffee flies everywhere and now I’ve got a mess.

I know better. I’ve done this before. Why would I try it again?

This happens more often than it should – but four out of five times it works fine. Does that one spill equal the time spent saved by the other four times? Probably not.

From that coffee incident yesterday I was reminded to pause, do it right the first time, and save just as much time in the long run. How many times in life have I rushed something that should have taken a little more time? When have I cut corners that I should have respected?

Slow dow to go fast.

Deep thoughts from a balanced cup of coffee!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,822 – Thankful for a Quiet Night at Home and Being Reminded to Relax

The past week and a half have been crazy busy. All good stuff, just a lot of it. Tonight we have exactly nothing going on. Gavin has church but it’s our week off from driving. No soccer game for Dominic tonight. Supper and dishes were finished by 6:15. Everything that I intended to do today has been done.

Nights at home like this with nothing going on are a beautiful thing in moderation.

What’s funny is that my brain still has a difficult time turning itself down into relaxation mode. Even tonight when there’s nothing going on and I know I should breathe and relax I struggle to stop doing something.

Becky had to remind me earlier to relax and I’m glad she did! After that gentle reminder I still ended up pacing for a good fifteen plus minutes before I finally got horizontal to type my blog. After this I might just lay here and fall asleep or read a book until I fall asleep. Either way I’ll be surprised to see 8pm and I’m totally fine with that 😉

Ahh…. It took a while to get here, but now that I’m in the relaxed state of mind I feel much better already.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,821 – Thankful for an Excellent Question Causing Increased Gratitude

Hmm… several different ways to go tonight but none of them quite hit the spot. Maybe if I type enough I’ll start to pull myself into the right lane.

For an upcoming meeting I put together some thought provoking questions to help us get into the right frame of mind. As I’ve spent time thinking through my answers I can’t help be thankful for the thought processes my brain has been going through.

One of the questions is, essentially, what would you do if you couldn’t do what you’re doing now?

The reason I love this question so much is that it reminds me that there is always a choice. There’s always an option or an alternative. While it is easy to feel trapped in the routine that is only a construct of my own mind. I am more than my profession. I can choose a different profession.

The next level of appreciation for this question comes when I realize I’m doing what I would really like to be doing and choose to do it. Not only am I then doing what I love, but I am reminding myself that I am choosing it freely amongst other potential options.

That question really has my brain and soul going into overdrive and I’m grateful for it!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,820 – Thankful for Learning from Past Blogs, Zooming Out

Hmm… sometimes I find it interesting how I might be thankful for something I saw a little differently or for a lesson I learned only to find it out into action shortly after the post. There is definitely a magic to this whole journaling thing! 😁👍

Today I took my own advice from a little while back about remembering to zoom out to gain a better perspective. I’ve been looking at something very close up. Rather than using my own myopic viewpoint I reached out to a mentor and got their advice.

As it turned out it was about the best decision I’ve made in a while! Reaching out to ask their advice and to listen to their past experiences was solid gold. They helped me shift my thinking to a much better place and I’ve been able to chart a much better course.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,819 – Thankful for Sports as a Tool for Growth

This last week included a grand total of seven soccer games for the Kreiling family. Dominic had three varsity games and Gavin had four games in Madison. All soccer, all weekend.

For sure, I had a great time watching them both play. It’s always fun watching my boys doing something they are passionate about.

What I’m specifically grateful for today is the way sports helps them learn to be better leaders and adults. Throughout both of their games they did some things with extreme excellence and they both made mistakes. Regardless of the action, they learned and grew from the experience.

Both learned some priceless and timeless leadership lessons I hope they draw from throughout their lives.

For sure, sports won’t be their careers. That said, their sports experiences are helping them grow and mature into the leaders they can be. Seeing glimpses of that growth over the past week have been awesome!!

Thanks!!

Day 1,818 – Thankful for a Surprise Early Bed Time

This morning saw me waking up and getting ready to head out of town for soccer with Gavin. We were picking up some folks along the way and then heading off to Madison. Early-ish start, hit the gas, and off to the races.

My initial thought was that I would be putting in my ear plugs, putting on my sleep mask, and hitting the hay while the boys played board games in the hotel suite. I’d be up later than I’d like and then up earlier than expected.

Imagine my surprise as I type this and we’re all in bed already! The Brewers game is on and once it’s over it’ll be lights out. In bed and out before 10pm – that’s crazy!!!

The weather was perfect, the company was excellent, the games were great, the burgers were delicious, and the day has been awesome. Now that I have even more time to sleep – outstanding! Extra ZZZ’s for me!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,817 – Thankful for the Warm Blanket of Memories and a Difficult Question

The temperature is dropping a bit tonight. Sweatshirt weather is just about upon us. Tonight I was warmed by the blanket of memories.

Many conversations about Dad. So many memories of Dad. Remembrances of times as a child, times as an adult, and everything in between. Largely wonderful memories. This evening they all wrapped around me and wove themselves together into blanket which warmed my soul. So comforting and soothing.

During a conversation I was asked a question that I’ve been asked before. Each time I pause and attempt to figure out the answer. The response is initially difficult to answer as I grasp for words.

Imagine you were asked “how do you remember to breathe several times each minute?” How do you answer that? It isn’t something easy to describe yet it is something which has become automatic. To explain it causes you to pause, swallow the question, think deeply, and then respond.

“How do you find something different to blog about each day?”

The short answer is so simple that it is embarrassing… It is like breathing. It is a part of who I am, how I exist. I do it out of muscle memory now as it is a part of what makes me who I am.

The more formal answer as I attempt to put it into a more clear answer is that each day starts with me waking up. Before I close my eyes and go to sleep I am promising myself I will find something to be thankful for, something different than I’ve blogged about before. All day long I’m making mental notes of what I’m thankful for and starting to compose the blog in my brain. By the end of each day I’m left with so many options that I find it difficult to narrow it down.

The question always make me smile and reminds me how far I’ve grown in my gratitude journey… and of how far I still have to go!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,816 – Thankful for Sunny Walks to Sort Out Thoughts

A little before noon today my mind was going a million miles a minute. I had an excellent conversation with another franchisee and there were so many thoughts rushing through my brain. Couple them with the insights and ideas from the last week and my brain was positively spinning.

I paused. I set my pen down and closed my laptop. I took a slow and deep breath… and then I went for a walk.

No music, no podcast, no audio book. Just me walking on a perfectly sunny day with no sense of direction or purpose other than letting my brain work everything out with no distractions.

Forty five minutes later I got back home, jotted down my notes, and was ready to start taking action.

What wonders a walk can do for the thought process!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,815 – Thankful for Remembering that I Do Have Time and I Must Choose How I Use It

Simple concept, deep gratitude, and years of future practice before I master it.

Several events reminded me today that I have time. Until I’m dead I will have time. At the time of my death time won’t matter to me anyways. I know my time is limited, but I have time until I no longer have use for it.

How often do I tell myself, “I don’t have time for that”? What a lie I tell myself. Yes, I do in fact have time. What I also have are other options of how to spend my time. What’s really happening is that I am choosing how to spend my time and I am deeming that task not worthy.

I am not unable to do something, I am making a choice.

Today I’m grateful for the piece of mind and enlightenment that come with realizing each moment, each second, is a choice I must make. Am I choosing well? How can I choose better more frequently? Until I am aware of the choice to be made I am unable to grow and close the gap between who I am and who I am called to be.

Today I’ve seen the choices.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,814 – Thankful for a Scene in Men in Black

There’s a scene in Men in Black burned into my brain that surfaces every so often. Near the beginning of movie Will Smith and a few other candidates are given a battery of tests. One of those challenges is taking a test in an ornately awkward room.

The chairs are too small and uncomfortable. There are no good writing surfaces for each person. The paper for the test is flimsy and easily penetrated by the pencil. The pencils break. It is one of the worst test taking environments ever.

After suffering a few seconds Will Smith’s character notices a table in the room away from everyone. He casually stands up and slides it across the room to his chair and proceeds to take the test in relative comfort while everyone else squirms.

Often times in life I find myself being held hostage by my own learned helplessness. I am the elephant tied to a stake I could easily rip out if it weren’t for memories of it holding me back when I was an infant. There is nothing getting in my way but my own dogmatic mental constructs.

When I remember to take a step back, to pause, to zoom out, the conclusion is so easy to see. It is so simple once I see it that I laugh out loud at myself afterwards.

Today I remembered to step back. I saw the table and moved it. Problem solved.

Thanks!!!