We all have rough days.  We all struggle through tough stretches.  All of our challenges and obstacles are unique and very similar all at the same time.  Throughout our life we never know when we’ll face a trying moment.  One morning we might wake up and BAM! there it is.  Sometimes we’ll see the struggle coming a long ways away and we feel like the Titanic slowly cruising towards the iceberg pulled by our own inertia.  Times will be tough for us.  That’s part of life.

Throughout these past dozen days or so it seems like there are more and more of those moments.  Often they appear to be worse as they are magnified by all of the constant change and seemingly unending state of uncertainty.  In facing these moments today I caught myself being very grateful for something specific.

When the going gets tough, which has been often as of late, my mind automatically goes back to the base of gratitude I’ve slowly been building over the past four plus years.

“How can I be grateful for this?”

“Why should I be thankful this has happened?”

“What can I learn from this?”

“When will this experience come in handy in the future?”

As I ask myself these questions seemingly automatically I am always surprised by the answers.  Each obstacle and challenge I face is something to be thankful for.  The specifics might be negative or very unpleasant, but there’s always something to learn from the experience.  When I view it through the eyes of gratitude I find my mindset much more upbeat, optimistic, and hopeful.  If I view the frustration of the event I become angry, sad, and frustrated.  Gratitude has the ability to lift the heart through any situation, no matter how difficult.

Thank you to myself from over four years ago.  Little did you know then just how many challenges you would face.  Through each you’ve pushed on.  In many you even found a way to smile through it and become better as a result of the experience.  Gratitude, such an incredible gift we all have access to.  I’m so thankful for it!

Thanks!!!

Okay, I kind of feel obligated to start with this…  It’s a bluff, not a mountain.  Just for clarity in case someone isn’t quite sure of the geography in this area.  Just sayin’… 😉

Somehow we’ve never really gone to spend any time at Wildcat Mountain State Park.  It’s about an hour or so away and very scenic, but for whatever reason we’ve just never gotten there until today.  We’ve driven past it a few times but have never actually pulled in.  With a little cabin fever setting in Becky had the great idea to head over and go for a hike.  It was a great opportunity to enjoy being outside while staying well over 6 feet away from anyone (there was only a small handful of other people there and all small groups were spread out by at least a 10th of a mile).

We had a pretty excellent family hike up and down a few of the trails in the area.  The drift less area is so beautiful, this park showed off that beauty around each and every bend in the trail.  I can only imagine how awesome it must look in the fall.  There is no question we’ll be back again at least a few times in the future.

Both of the boys were using it as an opportunity to help them advance in Scouts.  Gavin is working on his Hiking merit badge so this was the first long-dish hike.  Next comes a 10 miler, another 10 miler, and a 15 miler to close it up.  Dominic has a few things left on his Cooking merit badge so he made, packed, and carried our lunches and trail mix.  How cool to be able to mix some family time in with physical activity and work towards their Scouting goals?

Yeah, there’s some very heavy stuff going on in the world right now.  It’s amazing how all of that stress and fear can melt away while spending time with family and enjoying the beauty of nature.  Throw in some pretty solid physical activity and it’s pretty much exactly what the doctor ordered.  Having the sun pop out often while hiking was an incredible bonus.  I am excited for life to get back to normal, but I’m also thankful for the opportunity to pause and enjoy some of my favorite things in life.

Thanks!!!

Hello to the new normal! Whoever would’ve guessed a couple of weeks ago that we would be in a situation like this?

This morning the weather was pretty gross so we decided to sleep in and catch our run after work. Talk about a crazy change of pace! I never realized a change of approximately half a day would create such a different experience. Running in full daylight felt wonderful, getting some exercise in after work was relaxing, and getting some seemingly extra time talking with Becky was awesome. All in all I’m thankful for our post work run.

For quite some time one of my groups of friends has suggested that I do some online gaming with them. Usually after a long week of work and the boys’ activities I’m usually ready to crash early on the weekend nights. With the sudden change in our evening schedule it seems like there may be a little more time available.

Tonight was the first time I spent time hanging out with a group of friends online. It wasn’t quite the same as hanging out with them in real life (IRL from what my boys have told me). Seeing as it will be quite some time before we hang out in person it was great spending time hanging out with my friends. I’m so thankful we live in the times in which we live to have opportunities like this. What a gift to be able to hang out when we’re not able to hang out.

Thanks!!!

Due to the rain yesterday morning Becky and I didn’t do our normal run.  She hit the treadmill and I slept a little longer than normal.  This morning I decided to catch up and go for a run.  The dogs have been getting a lot more exercise than normal with the boys being home and LuLu has been showing her age a bit.  With that in mind I decided to take a very happy dog with me on the run.

As luck would have it I forgot to bring my headlamp so Skywalker and I had a beautifully peaceful, serene, and dark morning run.  As we pounded the pavement we ran along the river and enjoyed virtual quiet.

With as fast as the world has been changing our run was a beautiful reminder that everything doesn’t have to change.  The outside world didn’t matter.  All that there was in that moment was a dog, a dude, and nature.  Between the calm and the physical activity I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to completely and fully lose myself in the present moment.  It was so wonderful to feel the weight of the past week lift off my shoulders as I ran.  Seeing the smile on Skywalker’s face the whole time made it all the better.

Thanks!!!

During the course of the day I was contacted by a local television station for a quick interview.  Based on advice from our HQ I immediately called for advice before talking with the reporter.  Before I knew it I was having a conversation with one of the most positive, upbeat, and friendly people I’ve spoken with since the world has been tilted.  When I wrote about being the light a few days back she was exactly what I was talking about.  Afterwards I sent an email thanking her for her upbeat attitude and energy.  I also mentioned that it felt like we’d been separated at birth.  Her response?  “I feel this is a ‘Step Brothers’ moment… ‘Did we just become best friends?!?!?  YUP!”  Dang, we must be related!

I’m thankful for the smile she provided me today.  Her energy was contagious and I was able to use that to keep me going at several moments throughout the day.  There’s a sales rep from another business that should be thanking her today.  When he called me and sounded all nervous I remembered how much better I felt after my conversation with her and did my best to provide the same positive and upbeat energy.

It was an incredible reminder to me of the power of a positive interaction.  Reality is pretty wild right now.  People need a source of joy.  Be the light.

Throughout the week I’ve had several calls to our Express HQ asking for help and advice.  With 800+ franchises in the Express system I can only imagine how crazy busy they’ve been over these past few days.  Each and every time I’ve talked with them they’ve been upbeat, positive, helpful, and patient.  I am so thankful for all of the stressful work they are dealing with daily to keep all of our teams running as effectively as possible.

We had a few things to grab at the grocery store tonight and Gavin decided to come along with me.  There was a definite observance of social distancing and we only touched what we had to and only after sanitizing our hands before walking into the store.  While I could almost write a complete book about the trip together let’s just say it was an eventful one!  Long story short, it was so awesome to spend time alone with Gavin.  During our time together there was no stress, no issues in the world, or anything like that.  There was only a dad and his son, two friends, hanging out and getting something accomplished while laughing constantly and doing our best to help others smile.  It was awesome and I’m so thankful for that time together.

Thanks!!!

Two of the three are very simple and straightforward today.  The third one is all about my history lesson this morning…  from just last week!

Last night I went to bed early, slept in (until 5:40am).  It felt amazing!!!  Nine great hours of sleep was close to what I really needed.  In times of stress it is so important to keep myself healthy and sleep is one of the best ways to accomplish that.  For reals…  what an excellent reminder for me to get enough sleep!

On my way to work this morning I lucked out and happened to time the drive just right.  The sun was just about to pop up as I crested the bluff heading into Arcadia.  The sky was a beautiful red glow.  With all that is going on in the world I took an extra moment to appreciate it and soak it in.  What a reminder to appreciate the beauty of nature!

Also on my drive I took some time to get caught up on a couple of my favorite podcasts.  Over the past week I’ve had quite a bit going on and had spent more time than usual driving in silence so I could think.  When I listened to the one podcast it was like getting a mini-history lesson.  With it being just about a week old I heard about the process and build up leading to Italy’s lockdown/shelter in place.  Instead of it being news as it was when it first came out a week ago it was now an interesting piece of history.  Within a short period of time it was easy to see many parallels and start to get a better guess on what to expect next.  Whoever would’ve thought we could have a history lesson form only a week ago?

Much sleep, time to appreciate nature, and using history to help predict future events.  Three very different things, but all three that helped me navigate a day with mental stability and mental flexibility.

Thanks!!!

Another day, another round of changes and updates.  At some point it’ll be interesting to look back at this time period and see just how much happened in such a short period of time.  Think about it…  it was only about 100 hours ago that the NCAA Basketball Tournament was cancelled.  In just 100 hours much of life as we know it has been tilted, stretched, flipped, bounced, and altered.

There are two opposing forces that must be very much balanced in these times of uncertainty.  We must have mental flexibility to adjust to the changes and mental stability to keep us living our core values.  They must be working in tandem in order to save our sanity and allow us to keep a positive and optimistic outlook.

Mental flexibility seems very self evident at present.  The flow of information is constantly changing and revising our direction and recommendations.  The ability to stay open minded to the shifts is our way to keep a growth mindset.  If we stay mentally stiff we will break, shatter, and most likely fall victim to anger and depression when things don’t go our way.  Maintaining our agility is the only way to be able to roll with the punches.

Mental stability is also necessary.  We must maintain our values, personalities, and humanity.  It would be so easy to go off the deep end to go off the deep end due to all the changes and be caught up in the chaos and hysteria.  Without mental stability we end up raiding the grocery store for three years worth of supplies.  All this does is continue to validate our own selfish inner demon while causing more issues for everyone else.  By keeping mentally resilient we’re able to ward off the panic and continue being the people we were meant to be.

Today I had moments of doing well in each.  Today I also had moments in which I didn’t do very well.  I will continue to pay attention to the pull between these two forces and do my best to walk the fine line.  Occasionally I’ll need to be more flexible and other times I’ll need to be more stable.  The trick will be to observe, determine which is correct, and choose to be the right one in the moment.

Tomorrow I will continue to view my actions through this lens and do my best to find the balance.  Today wasn’t perfect, but I’m thankful for the awareness of the need to balance mental flexibility and mental stability; it could make a huge difference in helping me be my normal upbeat, optimistic, and positive self.

Thanks!!!

Inside the sanctuary of my workshop there is only peace, serenity, and calm… until something doesn’t go as planned.  If I choose the right mindset I roll with the punches, joke around with Dad (yes, I still talk out loud to him in my workshop), roll up my sleeves and set myself to learning how to correct the issue.  If I’m cognizant of my mindset I can quickly get frustrated and obliterate the serenity of the shop.

Today was a beautiful day full of workshop time.  As I think about it now it may only have been a few hours, but it was exactly what my should needed.  Dominic helped out for a while.  Gavin kept me company for a while.  Becky came up to check on me a couple of times, and I had a ton of alone time as well.  It was my first time really putting the new table saw to the test and I was trying several things I’d never done before.  All of my focus was required to figure out the how and why behind what I was doing.  I was in an insanely peaceful state of flow for much of the day even though almost nothing quite worked out as planned.

By the time I shut off the lights and went in the house for dinner my soul was feeling full.  I am so appreciative of the time I have to create, learn, and work with both body and spirit in my workshop.

Another thing that really filled me up was our family game night.  When no one fired off an idea of which game to play right away I paused and thought.  Within a second I was thinking of the many eagles we saw throughout the day and I immediately said “Scrabble.”

So how the heck do eagles lead to Scrabble?  My Grandma and Grandpa Lamping used to play Scrabble with us when we were younger.  I still remember sitting around the dining room table playing with them and other family members.  My Grandpa Lamping loved eagles and when I see them I think of him.  Put those two together and it was a pretty cool combination.

As a family we busted out the same board we used to play with Grandma and Grandpa on.  There’s something so beautifully nostalgic about seeing the label stickers they’d made with Grandpa’s name on the box.  Fishing tiles out of the bag makes me smile thinking that they were touched by my grandparents so many times as they had fun as a family.

We all did really well even though at times it felt like we weren’t making much progress.  By the time it was done each of the four of us had placed ALL of our tiles, not a single remaining letter was left!  As you can most likely tell from the pictures that followed Dominic may have stolen a very sweet Triple Word Score corner from Gavin 😉  All joking aside, we had an awesome time playing with each other and forgetting about the outside world.

Thanks!!!

Last night we watched a movie Becky recommended, About Time.  If you haven’t seen it, don’t worry, I won’t spoil it.  The overall concept is about someone who learns that they have the ability to go back in time.  I know, it’s an idea that is overdone, but trust me on this one.  This movie takes a very different angle on it that is very meaningful on a few different levels.  All in all it was an excellent way to spend some time as a family and let to some fun conversations afterwards.

The movie left me thinking about Dad a lot.  Over the past 24 hours his memory never has been too far out of my thoughts.  As I was laying in bed last night I took a deep breath and realized that I had the ability to time travel.  Yes, for reals.  Sounds crazy, right?  But it’s actually true (kinda).

When I was missing Dad last night I pulled up my phone and went into my photo app.  In less than 10 seconds I was transported back in time to 7:34pm on May 25, 2016.  At that time I had just about wrapped up a blog about a pocket knife I had gotten from Grandpa Kreiling way back when I was in Scouts.  (You can read it here if you’d like)  I was texting Dad about few things and next thing I knew we’d gotten into a quite deep text chain.  Just as I did when I read one specific text the first time on that night I had tears well up in my eyes.  It was something I’d heard him say many times so not only was I remembering what the text read but times when Dad said those things in real life.  For a moment I felt like I had truly traveled back in time and it was amazing.

From there I opened up a different folder of photos and went back to more and more different dates and times.  So many of those photos caused me to dive right back into each moment.  It was amazing how many details I found I could recall when thinking deeply about each.  When I close my eyes and really focus it almost feels like I’ve found a way to go back in time to spend more time with Dad.

One other moment in time that really feels like I can go back to is the last time I hugged Dad.  That moment will forever be burned in my brain.  When I think about it too much I can feel my eyes start to mist up.  It is a powerful moment that I relive often.

What a beautiful gift, the memory.  I’m so blessed to have created so many moments with Dad.  There are so many places in time I can go back to with him.  Sure, it’s not exactly the same as time travel and it’s not the same as spending time with him in real life, but I’ll take it regardless.

I can’t help but wonder if part of the reason for the memories is something Dad used to tell Nick and I often.  “I wish I could have five more minutes with Dad.”  He’d say this and we could hear the emotion in voice and see it on his face.  I’m not sure if he then went out of his way to create a memory or if I was just practicing what he’d shared.  I always knew there’d be a day when I’d wish for five more minutes with him.  Knowing there’s not a way to accomplish that I could at least pack my brain full of so many memories that I could go back to.

My blogs and frequent picture taking have greatly enhanced that memory and have enabled me to be able to quasi-time travel.  All it seems to take is seeing a picture or the title of an old blog post and I can go back to that moment.  I’m so thankful for being able to re-live so many wonderful moments and for finding a way to get an extra five minutes with Dad.

Thanks!!!