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!
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!
Truth be told, I’m a Green Bay Packers fan. It’s best to start there as you may question that by the title of today’s post.
Sports can be a very public microcosm of real life and there’ve been several wonderful anti-leadership lessons taught by Aaron Rodgers. My boys and I talk of them often and I’m finding that they are learning much of what to do as a leader simply by seeing Aaron do the exact opposite.
Here are a few anti-leadership lessons we’ve had:
If you’re frustrated, blame everyone else.
Rather than attack a problem head on be passive aggressive.
Why practice after you’ve already proven that you’re the greatest?
There’s no reason to thank any member of the medical team, they should be thanking you for the opportunity to work on you.
After being given grace the best thing I can do is rip them apart publicly immediately afterwards.
When I’m benched and have put my team behind the best thing I can do is sit on the bench and laugh.
If someone questions why we lost the appropriate answer is to blame my teammates.
I’m each of these moments, and so many others, are mini lessons in leadership to be seated into my brain.
Yesterday’s game was ugly, almost as ugly as Rodgers’ leadership style is toxic. Thanks for reminding me why strong and right leadership is always the right answer Aaron!
The next step in working on Gavin’s loft was to cut out the homes for the rungs of the ladders. Pretty simple task – measure, mark, cut, and then chisel. Simple… unless I somehow use the wrong marks and cut out way more than I was supposed to.
I didn’t measure a second time to be safe. I didn’t mark the cut lines as well as I should have. I took action instead of pausing to think.
Talk about frustrating!!! All so easily preventable.
Pause, deep breaths, find a solution.
Once the fix was created I paused to consider the steps that had gotten me to this point. So much learning and growth from one simple mistake.
Over the course of the day I was reminded of the importance of taking time to plan rather than taking immediate action. There were two very specific moments in which I was rewarded for pausing to think.
For example, I decide to build a loft for Gavin so he has more usable space in his bedroom. I’ve only assembled a loft once and that was in college and was an epic disaster. This time around I’m designing, creating, and assembling the entire project. To get started I looked up several different designs online and started to find both the commonalities and the interesting differences. I took the time to draw the entire thing out, complete with exact measurements. Once my blueprint was complete I then picked up materials.
After work and supper today went out to the garage and got at it. Everything went way more smoothly than expected and I got significantly more done today than planned. Thanks to thinking through all the details in advance I was able to cruise and get into a state of flow while letting my hands do the work. It was awesome!
One other note that had me smiling. There was one flaw in my design, I needed exactly fourteen construction screws that were three inches in length – screws I neglected to buy. I stood there for a moment before lightning struck. When we took down the old tree house there screws that were exactly what I was looking for. I grabbed the bucket and pulled out all the right screws. As luck would have it there were exactly fourteen screws. It felt like Dad was giving me a little nudge, a wink, and smile from up above. Pretty awesome.
Always great soaking new ideas into the brain sponge! This morning’s drive to Eau Claire was full of some serious brain processing as I tried to keep up with the firehose of ideas pouring forth from my car.
Antifragile: Things that again from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb provided a wildly cognitive trip, and I’m only a third of the way through. All day long my thoughts keep drifting back to the concepts from the book.
More to follow on the book itself on a future day. I definitely need more time to process in order to do justice to the core of the book.
Nothing like getting my brain blown right away in the morning!
I’ve often talked about how thankful I am for living in The Driftless. This region has so many pockets of natural beauty seemingly around each corner. The bluffs, the valleys, the rivers, the woods, and the rocks – all so stunning!
This morning Becky took us on a hike into a Minnesota State Park we’d never been to – Beaver Creak Valley just outside of Caledonia. This place was truly a gem! The hiking was quiet, peaceful, and full of wonderful vistas. The specific trail we took also brought us to “Hole in the Rock,” the place we took this pic.
Our bonus day of the long weekend began in typical Kreiling fashion. This park is one we’ll certainly be back to several more times as we explore the entire area.
When left to my own devices I’m not always as disciplined as I know I should and could be. The idea of going for a run, hopping on my bike, practicing yoga, or hiking are easy for me to come up with. Sometimes there are so many options that I end up wasting my time on deciding which one to do! Regardless, I’ll start off with the best of intentions and then end up either getting myself distracted or coming up with an excuse to not do the action.
Today was a perfect example of what I am thankful for. Last night Becky asked if I’d like to go for a bike ride this morning. It sounded like a perfect idea and I was in. The weather was perfect, we got a nice 20+ mile ride in, and had time for the two of us to talk. It was an awesome combination of exercise and a date! Rather than sitting around and not really doing anything we were up and moving AND having active conversation. What a great way to start the day!
If Becky weren’t physically active like she is the odds are that we wouldn’t be doing things like this together. Not only does it motivate me to stay in better shape so I can keep up, it provides us so many opportunities to spend time together without phones, screens, kids, or anything else getting in the way of our time together. She pushes me to be healthy specifically by her actions. When we go on vacation there are no worries about what we’re going to do, we both enjoy hiking and being active on vacation. It’s pretty awesome!
My morning started out in wonderful fashion thanks to getting some exercise and fresh air in right off the bat. Becky made that all possible and I’m grateful for her all the more today.
Sometimes the simplicity of family time is so easily overlooked. At times during 2020 it felt as if all we did was spend time together as a family. Over the past month or two we’ve seemingly all been everywhere except with each other and without an agenda.
Tonight was the first time in a while that we all spent time together. We scattered a bit during the day as we all had stuff going on, but then rallied to head off to church early to be greeters. This gave us time in the car, time in the entrance of church – the low side without many people, and then on the way home. The boys did dishes on and off while I made pizzas and Becky took care of other stuff around the house. We ate as a family. We chilled on the couch and watched a movie and a half. We talked, joked around, and had a rest time together.
Pizza and movie night – such a common weekend activity last year, an awesome and appreciated treat now.
Tonight held a surprise I was hoping to see at least once, even if it were for the briefest of moments. The funny thing is that I thought the soonest it could possibly happen would be a year from now.
Becky and I were helping with the concession stand during the JV game tonight. Gavin and his buddy didn’t have practice so we brought them both along to the game. They’d both practiced with the high school team over the summer and wanted to watch their older soccer friends and future teammates play a rare Friday night game.
Once we got there the boys asked Coach if they could be ball boys during the games. The entirety of both games was spent with them running incessantly up and down the sidelines retrieving wayward balls while throwing the new one into the game. They put on quite aces miles.
While they had fun Dominic and his teammates played a tough game and did much running as well.
Something I’ve wanted to see ever since I realized it could be a possibility? Both my boys on the field at the same time. Not quite the way I envisioned, but awesome nonetheless and greatly appreciated!
Thankful for Forty 