Earlier this evening I went to fire up our grill. Chicken on the grill was going to be supper. Then we ran into a little issue. Turns out propane grills don’t work out so well when the gas tank is empty.

Of course I was frustrated for a moment. This was not what I’d had planned. Very quickly I realized that we’d run out of gas at some point while grilling earlier in the week. There had been just enough gas and residual heat to keep the food cooking until it reached its required temperature. How lucky is that? I’d much rather to run to the store before cooking than get about mid-way through the grilling process and then realize that the gas was out. I also realized that we’ve run out of propane more in the past few months than we have over the past couple of years. The grill is running great, there’s no leaks. What made me pause and smile was the realization that we’ve been grilling more than ever over these past months. We are huge fans of grilling in our house and with the extra time we’ve had we’ve been able to fire up our meals outside more often than normal. In an instant I started thinking back to so many of the meals we’ve made on the grill this year. No longer was I frustrated, I was smiling.

While I drove to the store I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I realized yet again how much of an impact perspective is. The same event caused both frustration and chuckles of gratitude. How crazy is that? The only thing that changed to move from one emotion to the other was my perspective. Another great reminder for myself to pause and remember to choose my perspective, especially when I am frustrated.

Thanks!!!

What an incredible and fulfilling day it has been. Throughout the day my mind has caught itself thinking of so many things I’ve been grateful for. I’m skipping the title of tonight’s post as it seems to shift from one topic to another in my head, I’m going to give it the air it needs to breathe tonight and see where it leads. Quite honestly, that’s probably what I should be blogging about; the nights when I use my blog as a way to let my soul wander a bit as it reflects on portions of the day and my life. Hmm… I might have to save that one for another day.

Becky and I went out to Stand Up Paddle Board yoga tonight. Everything in the world seems to move a little slower and appears a little more clear when practicing yoga, especially on the water. While holding various poses my eyes kept drifting to the beauty of the water around me. There was just enough wind to keep the water from being still and yet not enough to cause any sharp edges to the little waves. It was that perfect point when the water shimmers like quicksilver. The clouds covered most of the sky but not all and let just enough light through to add even more of a mystical quality to the glimmer of the ripples.

All my life my eyes have been drawn to waves, ripples, and other surface water patterns. There’s a peace to be found in them, not too different than staring into a campfire at night. Watching the way they move seemingly randomly and yet with a pattern that seems like you can almost see quiets my mind in a very unique way.

The vacations I enjoy most often involve mountains, rocky formations, and so on. Why would they not be amongst the favorites? They’re towering behemoths that dominate the surrounding landscape. What’s interesting though is when I really stop to think about it the areas that are really my “happy places” are where there’s a combination those magnificent rocky structures AND water. The combination of both elements makes all the difference. It could be a waterfall, a glacial lake, a peaceful stream, or an endless ocean, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is just how driven to the water I am.

But I digress. In our yoga class my brain was torn between thinking of the other places I’ve seen waters like this and being in the moment and enjoying the beauty of the water around me. It was so calming once I focused on the present. In that moment I knew I was going to write my blog about being thankful for water, specifically rippling water.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a 30 day “digital declutter.” This is when I would take out all unnecessary electronics out of my life for 30 days in order to determine which ones I truly miss and which ones have become unnecessary habits. To start warming myself up to the idea I’ve largely stayed off my phone for fun today. Becky said I should really break from the “phone fast” in order to check out a post our wonderful friend Kelsey tagged me in. Boy am I glad I did!

The video is a touchingly beautiful reminder to all of us to LIVE while we’re alive and to be thankful for every moment of our lives, even the ones in which we suffer. We only have so much life to live, why would we ever waste it and not appreciate each and every precious second of it? The video left my eyes a little misty and my heart full. It also reminded me of a beautiful story about Dad that I learned the morning of his funeral. For the sake of time and emotion I’ll save that for another day.

What caught my attention was how similar our lives are to the water I was enjoying so much. We are all one people and we all have the ability to have a positive impact on others. When we act with kindness, love, positivity, joy, and gratitude we cause ripples in the lives of others. I was the beneficiary of several many of those ripples today. The positivity, kindness, and joy of others made profound ripples in my life today in many ways. They motivate me to pause and consider if I am creating similar positive ripples. Am I living my life in a way that it will ripple with positivity, love, and gratitude for others? The ripples of others brought me so much joy today. How can I better live my life to move their ripples forward for others, to honor what they’ve given me by giving it to others? This is something my mind will focus on often over the next few days.

Our priest shared a beautiful story a few weeks ago about sharing positivity with others. He told of someone giving water from a tap to someone who was thirsty. To the person offering up the water it was no big deal. To the person dying of thirst it meant life or death. When we live a joyous life we spread ripples of love and joy to others. While sometimes we may think nothing of it we also must keep the mindset that those ripples may sometimes land upon someone who is dying for the feel of love and joy.

To everyone who let their positive, kind, loving ripples wash over me today, thank you from the bottom of my heart. My day was more joyful and full of love thanks to you. Some of the ripples we kind words. Others were laughs, smiles, jokes, or attention. Thank you all so much for filling my day, I will do my best to pass your ripples on to others.

Thanks!!!

Chorizo and almond crusted halibut.

Grilled taco salad with roasted onions, red peppers, and hearts of romaine.

Tomato basil turkey burgers with pistachio pesto.

Not too shabby of eating since the boys have been gone! Becky and I went back to an old cookbook I’d picked up a few years ago for some recipes. The more we cruised through it the more ideas we came up with for future meals. The cookbook has many paleo recipes that work very well with helping to cut back on the gluten / sugar consumed in our house. Do we follow it perfectly? Oh no, I love my cheese way too much to consider giving it up. That said, there are some tasty dishes in this book!

What I’m most thankful for today isn’t the book or the recipes itself, rather the enjoyment we’ve had cooking, eating, and cleaning together. I’m so thankful for this extra time to have more opportunity to cook a meal like this than to slap something together for the sake of having it ready to eat in two minutes before we head out to take someone to soccer and then head home to clean up quick before heading out on the next errand. These past couple of days have been just Becky and I cooking together, but the past weeks have included the boys in many of the meals as well.

We have more time to enjoy making delicious (& often but not always healthy) meals together. We have more time to enjoy eating together as a family. Heck, we’ve even all cleaned together in various combinations and have had fun doing it! I’m so thankful for taking advantage of this opportunity to cook and create together.

Thanks!!!

Nothing quite like doing some mental calisthenics early in the work morning on Monday is there? This morning my brain was twisted, turned, stretched, and exercised hard. Just when I thought I was grasping a new concept the Tilt-a-Whirl hit the hill and went spinning again. It was wild!

So here’s the deal. As we had this conversation one of my mentors explained that what he was about to say next might break my brain. About half a year ago that’s totally what would have happened. There would have been the stretching sound like Wile E. Coyote’s rocket hitting the rubber band at full speed. Instead of the comical site of the antihero flying backwards there would have been an instantaneous explosion, not too dissimilar to the sound of his Acme dynamite exploding. That would have been my brain. Stretch, stretch, stretch, BANG!!!

Between COVID and a handful of other life lessons beforehand my brain was already starting to work on its plasticity. There’s still a very long way to go, but today it had just enough give to look at the world a little differently. I’m in that quasi “I’ve got it, but I don’t totally grasp how to utilize it” mindset. Regardless, I’m so thankful for the mental calisthenics this morning, the workout will help my Brian keep growing.

So much to learn constantly in life isn’t there? One of my old coaches used to say when we weren’t comfortable we were learning and growing. Seems like there’s been a lot of that lately! The more I can help my brain stretch and grow the more prepared I’ll be for whatever lay ahead.

Something else that really helped today was intentional breathing. I know, it’s something we all do all day until we finally stop, but I mean the breathing when we’re actually focused on our breathing. The slow and intentional drawing in of breath. Taking our time, feeling our lungs completely expand, hold, completely release, and then hold again before repeating. Is there anything quite so calming in any situation in life? Interesting, it’s something we almost always have the ability to do, but it’s rare how often I practice this form of relaxation.

Today I used it on a few occasions and it was borderline mind blowing. Funny how even a few minutes of closing my eyes and focusing on my breath can calm and quiet my mind so quickly. With that level of serenity I’m able to jump back int what I was doing with an increased focus I didn’t possess beforehand. I’m so grateful for learning and utilizing this practice, now to remember to use it more often.

Last, Becky and I watched the movie The Circle last night. What an excellent (and entertaining / horrifying) reminder of the dangers of connectivity. I couldn’t help myself and picked up Digital Minimalism again. What an awesome book focused on being intentional with our usage of the gifts technology provides us. Funny how after reading only a small portion my screen time outside of computer work has been reduced already today. How awesome is that – it gives me the one resource I can’t create more of… time.

Thanks!!!

What a difference a day can make! Like I wrote twenty four hours ago, I felt like everything was just a little off yesterday. Not bad, just a little disjointed or off kilter. Today has gone back to a very chill state of flow even though there were some hiccups and changes throughout.

So what was the difference? Why was today so much more smooth?

One of the biggest game changers today was starting the morning off in nature doing physical activity and then spending even more time in nature doing physical activity in the afternoon. I’ve read much research on the impacts of being outdoors and on exercise on positivity and joy. When taken together I am pretty sure there’s an argument I could make that the impact triples or quadruples instead of simply doubling up. Our quiet bike ride this morning was so peaceful and allowed me time to get my head screwed on straight. Our hike this afternoon reminded me to stay in that right perspective. Physical activity and the outdoors? Yes please!!! Quick side note, I’m going to keep an eye on my down days and the amount of activity and outdoors time to see if there’s a stronger correlation than I thought.

Simplicity also had a huge impact. Most of what I did wasn’t crazy or super complex. It was very simple. For clarity, simple doesn’t mean non-productive, it was actually quite the opposite. I focused on taking each task one step at a time and took the simple first steps. There was also significantly less electronic time than in the past few days which also helped.

Flexibility and an open mind set was another helpful part of the day. When something changed I went with it. Gavin forgot his glasses and I have to drive to camp? No worries for this dude, just an unexpected 40 minutes of additional audiobook time. Screwed up when starting to cook supper? No biggie, we’ll eat supper a little before 4pm instead of after 5pm. The line for ice cream at The Pearl was ridiculously long? Thank you drive through at Culvers! Nothing quite went as planned, but instead of seeing it as a problem I saw it as a part of the terrain to work around. Kind of like our hike. The trail wasn’t smooth, some spots were closed. You don’t get frustrated, you just find a way to stay upright and moving forward.

Yeah, yesterday “felt” weird. Today went really well because of yesterday. I had time to reflect on why yesterday was a bit off and had some pretty good ideas. Today I was able to implement them and others and the result was a success. I am even more thankful for the disjointedness of yesterday, it helped create a much better today.

Thanks!!!

Okay, I’ve gotta be 100% honest. My first gratitude today goes out to whoever created air conditioning. Wowza! It got to be quite the hot one today! Just letting the dogs out a little bit ago I felt like I ran into a wall when I went outside. The thickness in the air is incredible! Being able to sit inside and enjoy much cooler temps and less humid air is fantastic and something I’m very thankful for.

Becky and I had yoga outside this morning. When we were driving to the park we watched the dark clouds slowly move towards us across the horizon. We got set up in the park with the rest of the class and were about 5 minutes in when we saw the first flash of lightning. Another 10 minutes later and there was a flash much brighter that was followed by a very loud clap fo thunder. At that point class ended early and we all headed out. In the shortened version of yoga I was really impressed by how cool it was to do yoga outside with a storm rolling in. Normally I close my eyes when I’m in class on my back. This morning I kept my eyes open and it was a very relaxing experience to take in all that was around us. Sure, it was cut off early, but it was well worth it.

I had an awesome sous-chef helping me out with dinner tonight after church. Gavin jumped in to help me make chicken fajita quesadillas for the family. We did the chicken and fajita vegetables on the grill and then turned them into quesadillas in the oven (next time we’ll do the whole operation on the grill for added smoky flavor). Whatever I needed help with he jumped right in. There were a few times we did things together for him to learn them. Other times I let him make the call on how we would do something. All in all it was a lot of fun spending time cooking with him. I’m grateful for that extra time for the two of us to create things together.

Today’s been an interesting day. From start to finish it’s felt kind of disjointed. Not in a bad way or anything but it’s been one of those days when it seems like several days kinda fit into one. I don’t know that I ever really got into a state of flow that continued from one activity to another. Yoga to start the morning. A trip to print some stuff for Scouts next only to be unsuccessful due to a lightning strike. Out on the boat for a few hours and then back home. Run to the grocery store quick for a couple of items for supper. Shower up and start prepping supper. Head to church. Come home and cook supper. Get stuff done around the house. Play a couple of games with the boys. Now I’m blogging on the couch and everyone else is in bed. It’s felt very stop and go all day long.

Most days seems to have a very different feel. They transition more smoothly from one thing to another. Maybe it’s more structured, maybe the pace is faster, maybe there’s less going on. Whatever the case – those days seem to be taken for granted. Days like today when it seems a little out of harmony remind me to be thankful for the 90+% of other days that flow. Again, not a bad day or anything, just one that didn’t quite fit together. It was almost like I took pieces from four different puzzles and jammed them all together into one. As I think about it I’m also wondering what may have been different in my mindset to view the day that way. There’s probably something about the way I was looking at today that caused it to feel a little off. Regardless, it made me thankful for the smooth days.

Bed time for this guy! I’m thankful to be heading to a nice cool bedroom to lay down and get some sleep.

Thanks!!!

I’ve got to start off with something that was a very minimal amount of time in my day but was a moment we’ll remember as a family forever. Comet NEOWISE was supposed to be visible with naked eye for us tonight. The way 2020 has gone I figured it’d be cool to see it as it was probably going to hit Earth 😉 Becky had the awesome idea of staying up late (for us anything past 8:30 is way late) and then heading somewhere to see if we could catch a glimpse of it.

We drove out to Nelson Park and were quickly able to see it a ways below the Big Dipper. How crazy to see something that is 70 million miles away and is only about 5km big in the sky lit up like that? Nothing like seeing something so wild in nature like that on a size and scale that is difficult to comprehend to help us see just how small each of us as individuals are. To share that moment of awe with my family was pretty special and something I’m very grateful for.

Earlier today there was an interesting new article in The Wall Street Journal talking about American Airlines. Their CEO made the decision to increase the number of flights dramatically. The theory is that they will gain market share when everyone is willing to fly again. The risk is that they start burning through cash rapidly and run out before everyone starts booking flights again.

In my experience I struggle to look at myself, my team, and my industry from a true third party perspective. I try to view the world from outside of these paradigms, but it is very difficult to take the emotion and passion out of it 100%. Situations like this with American Airlines offer interesting test cases to bend my brain around. Throughout the day and across several conversations I found myself bringing up this story and finding ways to learn from it.

I appreciate the gusto and passion of the CEO to push forward. There’s something to be said about taking action instead of standing back waiting for the dust to settle. He’s making a bold bet in an effort to drive his business forward. In many ways he’s focused on future growth.

I fear that he is oblivious to the market change around him. It seems he’s trying to fight a new battle using old strategy. I’m reminded of someone gripping on too tightly to something obsolete in hopes it will work again. This story reminds me of the times when I’ve bet more than I’ve had to lose, the times when I’ve rushed into action for the sake of action, and the times when I’ve let passion get the best of me.

So many take aways I can pull from this. Are any of the correct or wrong? Maybe, but we’ll never quite know for sure. What I truly appreciate about this is the opportunity to learn vicariously. Where I struggle to remove my personal perspective from a challenge I find it much easier to do the same for something I am not at all related to. As I pull each component apart I can find little nuggets of wisdom to save for the future. Whether this bet by American Airlines works or not (I’d bet on the latter) I’ve found ways to learn and improve my thought processes as a result.

Thanks!!!

I am a little surprised at how nostalgic I’ve been for my summers as a kid. Specifically, the times when I would hang out with my grandparents and cousins in Union Grove. Over the past couple of months I’ve had many reminders of those times. Some reminders were very direct (seeing all of my family in Union Grove) and others were much more indirect. However the memories wash over me I can’t help but smile and remember how much fun those times were.

So what hit me today? First off were the two t-shirts I saw people wearing in the grocery store. He-Man on one, Voltron on the other. What a blast from the past! Those were some of the action figures we’d play with and the cartoons we’d watch at my cousins’ house. Seeing both of them had me chuckling and thinking back to the good old days when we’d all lay out on the living room floor staring at the TV and watch Sven and the team defend the universe from evil. So many fun memories!

Our walk today was dang near perfect summer weather. At times there was a beautiful smell of freshly cut grass. There was a house with an incredible flower bed with a mind glowingly awesome aroma. There was just a touch of humidity, just enough to feel like summer without feeling oppressive. For whatever reason it felt like the exact weather every memory I have of nights in Union Grove felt during the summer. It was a perfect balance of all of the elements that made each of those night feel amazing. Was the weather always perfect like that? Of course not, but in my memories that’s how it remains.

Ahh… Some of my all time favorite summer memories. For whatever reason they really have been hitting me hard in a great way this summer. I am so thankful for that opportunity to spend time with extended family for a couple of weeks each summer. The memories and joy will last my entire lifetime.

Thanks!!!

When I put together a presentation I often pause and smile when I need to add a photo. Sure, I occasionally use a photo from online, but my favorite photos to use are my own. Now I have another reason to tap into my photos; Zoom & Teams video backgrounds. In those moments I’m thankful for my personal stock photos.

Over the past couple of days I’ve had to go to my personal well a handful of times for various reasons. Each time I need to find a photo I end up with a huge smile on my face. By the time I put the pic into the presentation I am usually smiling even bigger.

When I have the first spark of inspiration of what I want the photo to represent my mind races across all the photos I’ve taken. I basically flip through my mental rolodex to find a few potential pics. As I’m doing this I inevitably spend time looking at other old pics and am flooded with awesome memories.

By the time I find the pic there’s usually a 50% chance that it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. When that happens I roll through all those memories again to see what I can find. In doing so I sometimes have to change the idea of the photo a bit. Sometimes I need to take a deeper look at other pictures to see which ones may have the right details that I missed the first time. Regardless, I end up focusing more on the picture and see it in a new way. Once I finally find the right one I’ve probably looked very closely at a minimum of half a dozen others.

When I go back to my personal stock photos I have such a great time rekindling memories of great times, beautiful scenery, and epic trips. Having an excuse to cruise back through those old photos is something I’ll forever be grateful for!

Thanks!!!