Two years ago today was quite possibly the longest of my life.  Becky and I were just getting back from our morning run when we got a call that Dad had a stroke and was being rushed to the ER.  That day became a blur and yet has been seared into my brain.  In just over a week my dad would be gone.

In the days and weeks following his stroke there were two things that really helped me through his passing.  One was a statement, the other was a question.  Both have caused me to pause and think when I’m feeling sad about the loss of my dad and both always seem to lift me out of the funk when I take time to truly consider them.

“Remember to be thankful for the time you had with him instead of wanting more.”

This was the advice from Dad’s past pastor while we were in the hospital.  He was reminding me to stay focused on what I have.  One of my favorite concepts is “Happiness is wanting what you have, not having what you want.”  The advice from Pastor Reiff has always helped me back to this concept.  When I think on this I am reminded of moments like the one in the picture below.  I was so fortunate to have so many awesome memories with my dad, in taking time to appreciate them I feel my heart fill with joy.

“What can I learn from this?”

My friend Kelsey gave me The Book of Joy and this was one of the questions asked by the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu to help them through difficult times.  When I find myself focusing on a victim mindset I transition to this question, “what can I learn from this?”  When considering this question I’m moved away from being frustrated that it happened to moving forward with purpose.  If I can find one thing to learn from adversity I can find a way to be stronger in the future and find a purpose in moving forward.  Losing Dad was a terrible thing, but if I focus on what I’ve learned and the ways I’ve changed since I can focus on those as opposed to the feelings of loss.

Life happens, we all face adversity.  When it hits we always have a choice.  We can choose to wallow in the pain and sadness or we can find purpose and ways to find joy.  It is completely up to us.  I’m so thankful for the two thoughts that have helped me through the loss of my dad, I can’t imagine where I would be without them today!

Thanks!!!

Our friends Jeremy and Katie had a very awesome idea…  Starting a rotation of dinners together with our group of friends at their houses.  Each time the hosts cook a favorite meal from back when they were a kid.  Think about it…  If you were going to cook one of your favorite childhood meals for your friends, what would it be?  Talk about a fun walk down memory lane!

Tonight we had pork chops with stuffing and gravy on top, baked potato, and an assortment of Little Debbie treats for dessert.  As we ate the conversation was fantastic.  I learned things about the childhood of friends I’d never known before and it was great sharing some personal memories.  I’m continually amazed at how similar some of our experiences were growing up.

Fantastic food, great conversation, and wonderful friends…  What else could I ask for this evening?  I’m so thankful for this time together to just hang out and get to know each other better (while eating some tasty food!).

Thanks!!!

Yup, today was another day in which there were a handful of things I am thankful for.

First off I’m pretty sure it’s the lead measure of working with great teammates when you catch yourself missing the ones you’re not spending time with throughout the day.  It was pretty wild, throughout the day I caught myself thoroughly enjoying the time with the teammates I was with while at the same time wishing all of my teammates from other offices were in the same office with us.  We’ve got a really special group of people and I love them tremendously!

With the additional driving I’ve been doing lately I’ve been able to read many books (thank you Audible.com!).  Up until this week almost all of them have had a business focus to them.  Today I fired up one of my all time favorite fictions, Good Omens.  Just like when I read it the first time I caught myself literally LOL-ing!

One of the books I read recently had a wonderful concept called “Habit Stacking.”  This is when you take something that you already do or enjoy doing and use it as a way to encourage another habit.  The concept is essentially “if I do this, then I can do that.”

The habits I’ve started stacking are running on the treadmill and watching the new mini-series of the aforementioned book, Good Omens.  Long story short, I really wanted to watch the first episode tonight and one way or another I was planning on doing it.  Instead of sitting on the couch to watch it like I would have defaulted to I opted to only watch it while I was on the treadmill.  It worked like a charm and I got a great run in AND enjoyed watching my show!  That felt way better than just one or the other.

Thanks!!!

As I walked into the office this morning the scent of fresh blooming lilacs stopped me dead in my tracks. I paused, took a step backwards, and then drew in a nice long breath through my nose. What a wonderful smell!

Later in the day I walked past them again and went through the same routine. On the way back in I did it again and then a lightbulb went off in my head. Taking a lesson from my friend Jenn I grabbed a pair of scissors and made a small bouquet to put in my office. Within no time my office had that wonderful smell of spring permeating through it. I could feel my shoulders relax as the scent filled my nose.

Ahh…

Thanks!!!

Sometimes The Big Dude Upstairs leaves all the help we need all around us, right? Today I was driving to work, listening to an audiobook (We Carry Kevan: Six Friends. Three Countries. No Wheelchair.) when out of nowhere a memory of a very useful piece of advice. As I thought through the memory a smile crossed my face as it was exactly what I needed to hear and ponder at that time.

Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford is the stuff of legends. There are so many wonderful nuggets of life advice that are easy to remember and apply to my own life. One of them in particular really hit home today. I listened, took action, and was full of joy. It doesn’t get much better than that!

https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/

Thanks!!!

A little while ago I sat down to start writing my blog when I heard the boys holler for me to join them in the basement.  I wasn’t sure what they had in mind, but Becky’s mom-senses were tingling and she warned me that they might be setting up a Nerf gun ambush.  As is typically the case, she was 100% right.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs there was a line of automatic fire of approximately a dozen Nerf darts flying right past my face.  Within a second there was loud giggling, the sound of a clip being changed quickly, and another barrage of darts flew right at me.  What I wasn’t quite ready for was the approximately 12 pre-loaded clips of 10-12 rubber tipped bullets they had ready for me.  While I can’t get into the full details let’s just say there was an epic, albeit short lived, Nerf gun battle that rocked our house.  By the time the dust settled there was a pile of Nerf bullets, remnants of quickly assembled weapons including brooms and dustpans, and a whole lot of laughter.  Nothing quite like an impromptu Nerf battle to keep us enjoying time together!

What I had initially started to blog about was a concept that Becky’s PhD advisor, Martin, shared over dinner this evening.  In talking about work, people, and communication styles he mentioned the Disney process of going from concept to reality.  It was pretty wild, as he shared the process I was able to quickly recollect several specific moments and projects that either failed or worked in accordance with that model.  The more Martin shared about the process the more the gears in my brain got turning about how to use this mindset in the work environment.  After dinner I pulled up an article about this process and was amazed at it’s simplicity and possibilities.  If you’d like the short version of what Martin shared this website covers it in about a 3-4 page document: https://www.designorate.com/disneys-creative-strategy/  Ever since dinner my mind has been racing on this strategy in how to use and share it with my teams.  How awesome to have dinner conversation that has the ability to have such a positive impact on several aspects of life!  

Thanks!!!