I am a self-diagnosed sufferer of “Shiny Syndrome.” This affliction is closely related to “SQUIRREL!!! Disorder” and can lead me in the wrong direction from time to time. For those of you who are more inclined to stay focused and on one path both of these fun diagnoses mean that when something catches my attention I tend to lose track of what I was focused on then follow the new thing. In the case of “Shiny Syndrome” I’m usually drawn to something shiny, glittering, or bright.

Throughout life I have a tendency to see something shiny and create a big shiny dream to go with it. I’ll focus on it (thank you Gollum for defining it as “my precious”) and latch on to it… until a new shiny thing becomes my new precious.

What’s been interesting to me is the shift in my morning behavior to start my mornings. For almost two months now I’ve kept the same process going. On a daily basis I’m finding I live “into” who I want to be more and more often than at any other point in my life. I’m more focused on my goals and have them in mind as I take action.

There have been many things I’ve been grateful for today and I’m finding that many of them have a common theme… they were inspired, at least in part, by my sticking with the morning routine. By intentionally reminding myself each morning what I want to accomplish and who I am as I live into those goals I’m more naturally living into the person I want to be. Sticking with it certainly seems to be paying off!

Thanks!!!

Everyone has a slightly different taste in music. We each have our favorite types of music, instruments, types of lyrics, and so on. Even if we have best friends who have a lot in common there are apt to be many differences in musical opinion. One person is more a Lord Huron type, another is more of a jazz fan, others are Pearl Jam dudes, and maybe even a Tool fan thrown in for good measure.

My buddy Rick has a knack for noticing and listening for what types of music each of his friends enjoy listening to. When the opportunity is right he’ll spend hours of time building an epic playlist that will scratch the musical itch for all involved. To be honest, it is an art. How he’s able to find ways to take old favorites and combine them with more niche artists and songs that we’ve never heard before to create a unique musical experience. I’d put his brain up against the algorithms of Pandora and I’d bet that Rick would win.

His most recent endeavor has left me listening to music in the periphery of my day. I’ve downloaded more new music in the past 48 hours than I have in the past several months. The music has led to great conversations and has left me smiling throughout much of the day. Heck, did you know that you can play a game called “Guess which of the songs off of the Dixie Chicks album Taking the Long Way were written by Dan Wilson of SemiSonic.” If you’re a fan of Closing Time and Singing In My Sleep you’ll probably pick them out pretty quickly!

For reals, I am also truly thankful for so much and so many deep emotions today I’m sure I’ll write about one day in a future blog. They’re just not quite ready to be written about, they need more time in the cave to age. In the meantime I’ll spend more time listening to great tunes I’d never heard before.

Thanks!!!

Once in a while my blog could get in the way of its own purpose. Crazy, right? How does that work?

The reason I started blogging about my daily gratitude was to be more grateful for the many blessings in my life each day. Essentially it was to live more intentionally in the present through taking time to appreciate it.

If I wrote a crazy long blog today it would get in the way of appreciating the moment as I live it. I’m currently having a blast hanging out with a friend of over four decades. It’s a rarity for us to have time together and I’m going to appreciate each and every minute we get to hang out.

All that said, I’m thankful for remembering to stay focused in the moment and live the intention of my blog by staying in the moment.

Thanks!!!

I find I’m so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at a start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

Ellis “Red” Redding, The Shawshank Redemption

Thanks!!!

When I pause and am intentional in how and where I focus my attention it seems to always pay off handsomely.

To get the blood flowing yesterday during the work day I took a brief pause and hopped on the treadmill. I quieted my mind for a moment and thought about what would be the right thing to watch while I walked. My dream list and goals for 2021 brought a perfect idea to mind.

After some keying in a specific phrase on the remote I found Kilian Jornet’s Impossible Traverse (check it out here: https://youtu.be/i2ZllErtdLE )

Kilian is one of the greatest mountain runners of all time. In this short video he attempts to summit seven peaks around him within 24 hours via running, skiing, and climbing.

I don’t want to spoil it so let me summarize in a rather vague fashion. The messages I took away from it have been resonating in my brain all dat long:

• Humility
• Positivity
• Growth mindset
• Grit
• Finding joy in the suffering

In one video I had additional dreams created, deeper insights into behavior changes I must continue to make, and motivation to live more into who I am called to be.

All that specifically because I took the time to pause and live intentionally. How awesome is that?

Thanks!!!

For the second straight day I want to lead off with this being for reals and not anything tongue in cheek or passive aggressive. Due to an issue with Dominic’s school bus I had an opportunity to test my patience early in the morning. Would I lose my cool or would I stay calm? For sure, I didn’t get an A+, there were a few moments when I could have kept more cool and chill while still getting my point across. Regardless, I didn’t snap, I didn’t get angry, and I got it resolved. Thanks to Becky I was able to gain a little perspective and make sure it was resolved not just for Dominic, but for all the kids on the route.

Once this event was all done I took a deep breath and even thanked the person helping me for the opportunity to practice my calm early in the morning. I hope they took it the right way, I was genuinely excited for the test this morning.

As if The Big Dude Upstairs wanted to confirm the earlier test I received a phone call from Dominic long after he was supposed to have been home. “Hey Dad, the bus never picked me up today, I’m still at school.” Cue another deep breath and an opportunity to practice.

While grabbing myself tuff to head out the door I sent a text to a teammate I was supposed to be meeting with shortly:

I was on the phone with them working through the solution while simultaneously hopping in the car to pick up Dominic. The funny part was that when I should have been more frustrated – it was almost like I could see this coming this morning – but instead I couldn’t help but smile as I worked through the situation.

The overall good news? The situation should be fixed and won’t happen again. The other good news? I maintained more of my composure than I would have 6 months ago. Still far from perfect, but heading in the right direction. While it may sound pretty wild, I’m truly thankful for the opportunity to test my patience today!

Thanks!!!

For reals, I don’t even mean today’s blog to be tongue in cheek! After work Becky, Gavin, and I took the dogs for a walk around our normal loop. The sun was out and it felt wonderful breathing in fresh air.

The crazy thing is that it was only 7 degrees but it felt almost balmy. Whoever would’ve thought that less than double digits would feel nice and warm?

Between early morning runs between 5 and -6 and the past few days of a ridiculously frigid -35 I’ve spent most of my time indoors. There was a brief two minute period on Sunday when I stood outside in shorts, shoes, and nothing else to experience the feel of -31. That was wild!!!

Based on the weather of the past week our walk today felt like a heat wave! Throw in the sun for good measure and the walk was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Thanks!!!

When the alarm went off this morning I went through my normal morning routine. Once out of bed I did something just a little different. There was a lot on my plate so I wanted to get a jumpstart on the day.

Before I started making the bed I grabbed my phone and fired up a great audiobook I’ve been listening to – Think Again by Adam Grant. Here’s the summary of the book from his website:

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn.

https://www.adamgrant.net/books/

The entire time I was going through my morning routine I listened to the ideas from this book. What caught my attention was how fresh and clear my head was to soak in many of the concepts. As I listened I could see spots where I could have acted differently and had better results. It gave me ideas on how to take on certain tasks throughout the day ahead of me. Throughout the day there were spots in which I was able to work in little nuggets I’d taken away from the book this morning.

What I’m most grateful for is a perfect metaphor for today. I listened to the book when my lint filter was dry. There wasn’t any garbage getting in the way and the ideas were able to flow properly. Even as I type now my brain feels cluttered, keeps going back to things throughout the day, and doesn’t seem to have the processing power it did early in the morning. I’m thankful for taking time to soak in thought provoking ideas when I had a clean lint filter.

Thanks!!!

Thinking back I don’t recall many times when I’ve been grateful for waking up on the couch.

When I woke up this morning I couldn’t help but smile as I got up, shook some life back into the arm that had fallen asleep, and twisted the kinks out of my back. Throughout the night I woke up a few times from laying in positions different than normal. The sleeping bag I was in and out of all night kept alternating my body temperature from too hot to too cold. All in all it wasn’t one of the best nights of sleep ever. Still, I smiled and was grateful for sleeping on the couch.

Last night the boys and I had a great time watching a movie and some TV together. We were talking and joking around throughout and enjoyed the “dude” time. Dominic and I both started to Peter out and decided to head off to bed. Gavin wore his disappointment on his face and helped me see a better solution.

Instead of going to bed I grabbed my sleeping bag and a pillow and the boys did the same. We crashed “sleepover” style through the living room and watched TV until we’d all drifted off. It was pretty awesome!

I’m thankful for waking up on the couch this morning as it reminded me of the awesome time we spent together last night and they way we found a way to stretch it out a little bit longer.

Thanks!!!

I know I’ve blogged about this a bit before, but it’s so awesome as a parent to see your kid really getting into something. Seeing the way Dominic has thrown himself into snowboarding has been fantastic to observe.

Last winter he took snowboarding lessons and fell in love with the activity. He started saving up for a snowboard last year and bought the board, bindings, and boots on his own. Dominic paid for his own ski pass through his refereeing dollars as well as through taking on other odds jobs and selling stuff on eBay.

Once the board arrived he would put it on, go outside in the summer, put it on top a blanket and practice as much as he could. He had different things he wanted to try and practiced them in the heat of summer, the exact opposite of today.

This year Dominic joined the snowboard team and has had a blast learning more about boarding. Watching him grow through each event was been so rewarding. What the the state’s upright or not there was always a smile on his face when he got to the bottom. Each time he’d watch for ways to grow and improve.

Today was State, the last event of the season. Seeing how much fun Dominic had in all three events was pretty awesome! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to experience him living a passion like this.

Thanks!!!