Day 3,628

Growth:

How much fun to share your passions for outdoor activities with others? Whether sharing outdoor stories, trading ideas on potential adventures, or plotting future get aways to the wilderness it seems to be a conversation always leaving me full of joy. Sharing the outdoors with others is one of my favs for sure!

Appreciation:

Early bed for this guy last night, was horizontal and ready for sleep by 8pm. Well over eight hours of sleep later I awoke feeling so much better! After my blog I’ll be off to bed for more of the same tonight!

Busy weeks and weekends are amazing and rewarding, taking the time to sleep and recharge is divine. Definitely more early bed times in store for me for the week.

Presence:

Walking out of the house while it was dark into a wall of fog visible thanks to the beam of light blasting forth from the kitchen window. What an eerie experience walking through the thick fog in the dark. The random person standing in a yard wearing only sweat pants and practicing some weird form of karate made it all the more surreal. Honest to God, not a fever dream or anything, one hundred percent real and crazy as all get out. I said “good morning,” they responded in kind, and Leia just kept looking back and keeping an eye on them after we passed. That woke me up!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,627

Growth:

Awareness, awareness, awareness.

Life is so much more joyful when we are in a state of awareness, knowing what is truly important, and helping us live more closely into who we were called to be.

Realizing what is really important, seeing through the illusions of what society incorrectly deems as important.

Finding joy in wanting what we have rather than having what we want.

Realizing we have no right to have expectations of the actions of others, rather, we see people as they are and choose our mindsets and actions accordingly.

Awareness, awareness, awareness.

Appreciation:

From an early wake up for a holiday morning to knock out our run to driving five hours to drop Dominic off at school to going on a nice chill bike ride to now relaxing and reading on the deck it has been a rather epic bonus day off of work. It was a day full of purpose, of helping (in both expected and unexpected ways), of remembering what is really important in life. Much time in thought, much time considering choices we all make and which I’ve made correctly and which I have learned from. All in all, a very chill be introspective day of living towards purpose.

Presence:

Riding bikes with Becky on French Island today was pretty chill! There’s nothing quite like the relaxation and childlike sense of play one feels when pedaling for fun with no goal in mind other than enjoying the ride. Getting bonus active outside time with the two of us was outstanding!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,626

Growth:

In so many different faiths, groups, and theories there is a faith in something greater than oneself. So often it is easy to not think about and to not consider. This morning was a perfect opportunity to pause and put that back into the forefront my thoughts. Our priest’s sermon included a wonderful thought and presence exercise to put The Big Dude Upstairs back to the front and center. Life is so much more fulfilling and joyful with the right perspective.

Appreciation:

Gotta love the days that seem like they are going to be very chill, but then suddenly the day is full throttle! From grocery shopping to cleaning up a rough spot on the car to cooking supper to helping Gavin research colleges to finishing the last details of the deck to helping Dominic pack up for moving tomorrow and all with a dash of sorting through old electronics. A nonstop thrill ride of fun and excitement – but all in a sublimely productive way. Not what was expected or planned, but so grateful for the way it all turned out!

Presence:

An early morning walk with Becky to start the day was exactly what I needed to get the day off to the right foot. The weather was perfect, the dog was smiling, and we had quiet time to just the two of us without screens or interruptions. Time to chill, connect, unwind, and enjoy some fresh air.

Thanks!!

Day 3,625

What an epic Saturday it has been! Becky’s birthday was a huge success, so perfect of s day together.

From watching old home movies to hitting the trail for a hike to paddle boarding with Dominic and Caitlyn to dinner as a family and then finally wrapping up watching more old home movies was awesome. From start to finish it was a family filled celebration of Becky.

Off to bed, I’ll definitely need some rest after this one!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,624

List time for today’s blog!

• Laughs with my family to wrap up the night
• Spending time with one of our favorite Australians over dinner on our deck
• Sitting outside on the deck shooting the bull
• An awesomely productive day full of twists and turns
• Being surrounded by overachievers who’s assign and drive are palpable
• Coffee!!!
• Remembering that challenges are opportunities for growth

A full day!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,623

Always fun watching Gavin play football, even more fun watching him play while Dominic is there hanging out with us! Thanks to the game being up in Northern Wisconsin we also had some bonus family members hanging out and watching the game with us, also an extra treat.

We had a long drive with Becky, Dominic, & I on the way there – extra conversation time. Now Dominic is driving us home and we got some additional bonus time for conversation on the way home.

Dominic goes back to school on Monday, a pretty sweet way wrap up our time together, and was a tasty appetizer to start a weekend together as a family (after one more work day).

Thanks!!!

Day 3,622

Going a little off the normal script tonight… sometimes it’s helpful to change this up to keep it fresh in my brain.

First off is a quote from Awareness by Anthony de Mello. I know, bit of an ongoing topic recently, but there is so much wisdom to be found in that insightful book.

It will help, too, if you return to nature. Send the crowds away, go up to the mountains, and silently commune with trees and flowers and animals and birds, with sea and clouds and sky and stars. I’ve told you what a spiritual exercise it is to gaze at things, to be aware of things around you. Hopefully, the words will drop, the concepts will drop, and you will see, you will make contact with reality. That is the cure for loneliness.

Generally, we seek to cure our loneliness through emotional dependence on people, through gregariousness and noise. That is no cure. Get back to things, get back to na-ture, go up in the mountains. Then you will know that your heart has brought you to the vast desert of solitude, there is no one there at your side, absolutely no one.

At first this will seem unbearable. But it is only because you are unaccustomed to aloneness. If you manage to stay there for a while, the desert will suddenly blossom into love. Your heart will burst into song.

And it will be springtime forever; the drug will be out; you’re free. Then you will understand what freedom is, what love is, what happiness is, what reality is, what truth is, what God is. You will see, you will know beyond concepts and condition-ing, addictions and attachments.

Anthony de Mello

Today was the second day of training and it was EPIC!!! Nothing like having very engaged participants who ask a lot of insightful questions and dive deep into the topic. We got into some very deep topics and they soaked it all right up and showed how they can grow and implement the concepts. Such an awesome investment of time.

After lunch we all went up to Garvin Heights to look out over Winona, took a short hike to a cliff; and then got a walk in my favorite cemetery, the beautiful and scenic Woodlawn Cemetery. So much fun exploring areas you live with people who have never been there!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,621

Growth:

A wonderful quote hitting humility, awe, & wonder in one fell swoop:

“God does not die on the day we cease to believe in a personal deity. But we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance of wonder renewed daily, the source of which is beyond all reason.”

Dag Hammarskjöld

Appreciation:

Over preparation takes a large amount of time, but the results are well worth the investment even if they are not used. Flexibility in learning is difficult to create space for, but it makes all the difference in long term success. The right combination of brutal honesty and overwhelming optimism help work through the most challenging of situations. Working alongside people you respect and admire makes a huge difference.

Here’s to a day that helped remind me of all of these!

Presence:

Excellent day and evening of bonding with teammates today! Nonstop focus on work, very much present in very positive ways, so energizing!

Thanks!

Day 3,620

Growth:

Interesting quote created in my brain while reading Awareness by Anthony de Mello this morning through connecting several dots and bread crumbs from throughout the past couple of years.

Much of our stress comes from the friction of our desired freedoms rubbing against the grain of the prisons we have created for ourselves. 

Mike Kreiling

Appreciation:

I usually read Awareness by Anthony de Mello once every three to six months. The book reads like a perfectly snug sweatshirt that is perfectly formed for my body after years of wear, only in this case I am the sweatshirt shaping around the book. Slowly but surely I find more and more understanding within its words. The more I take apart the concepts and test them the more they seem to play out true.

“What you need is to be free. What you need is to love. That’s it; that’s your nature. But what you’re really telling me is that you want to be desired.

You want to be applauded, to be attractive, to have all the little monkeys running after you. You’re wasting your life. Wake up! You don’t need this. You can be blissfully happy without it.

Your society is not going to be happy to hear this, because you become terrifying when you open your eyes and understand this. How do you control a person like this?

He doesn’t need you; he’s not threatened by your criticism; he doesn’t care what you think of him or what you say about him.

He’s cut all those strings; he’s not a puppet any longer. It’s terrifying. “So we’ve got to get rid of him. He tells the truth; he has become fearless; he has stopped being human.” 

Human! Behold! A human being at last! He broke out of his slavery, broke out of their prison.”

Anthony de Mello, Awareness

Presence:

Running in cool fall feeling weather! Stepping out of the car at work into a cool morning. Walking out from yoga into the perfectly chill air. Perfect weather day for sure!!!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,619

Throughout the past couple of weeks I’ve been wildly busy, but there’s also been quite a bit of room for introspection. Self-observation has been very enlightening as of late, seeing more and more of why I feel and do what I do when I do based on where my brain is at. The more I take that outside approach to seeing things as if they were happening in the third person the more and more I continue to learn about myself.

The more I recognize patterns and work to change my behaviors the more I can live into a better version of myself. These past weeks have been tiring, but so wonderfully eye opening!

Thanks!!!