LOL – maybe I’ll get back to the normal length blog tomorrow. Back to reality tomorrow.
There were a handful of “And” moments today, finding ways to do multiple things at once while still doing them each well. A little work, a lot of friend time, and some time with the boys. All blended together into one hell of a day!
At Gavin’s track meet there was a moment that had me smiling even bigger than after either of his wins… a moment when his brother came out to congratulate Gavin. Talk about awesome to see!
Dominic cleaned the kitchen tonight without being asked. So happy he pitched in to help like that, always appreciated!
More tour guide time today, this time on the pontoon. Always happy to have an extra reason to get on the water!
Another short one tonight, maxing out the time with friends while we have it.
My buddy Kevin had not been to La Crosse until today and I had an opportunity I always enjoy, being an occasional tour guide of the city. We hit a couple of the key locations like the overlook on Grandad Bluff. It’s always fun sharing someone’s first experience of the Mississippi River Valley.
These moments remind me to look at this majestic area through the eyes of someone who’s never seen the bluffs before.
Short but sweet tonight so I can maximize time with friends.
Hanging out with awesome friends in a backyard during the summertime is amazing. The biggest concern in life at the moment is making sure I play the right cards in our game. Great times with great friends… perfect!
This year’s version of Sales Summit was another huge success. I’m wrapping up a bit early to catch my flight tomorrow morning and I’m laying in bed digesting the past 40-ish hours… and an insanely delicious meal 😉
I’ve taken so many pages of notes at Summit. Many of the classes I took were focused on leadership and strengths, all very much in line with where my personal focus has been directed recently. As such, there were so many nuggets of insight to process. The task of reviewing it all tomorrow and then parsing it down to a reasonable Top 10 list is going to be wildly difficult. By the end of my last session today my brain was completely and totally full. It was uncomfortable, but in a very good way.
After class the team and I went out for what has become our traditional Sales Summit supper – Brazillian barbeque. I ate way more than I should have and am definitely feeling stuffed now. While it feels a bit uncomfortable it reminds me of how much fun we had as a team. The entire experience seemed to have a sitcom laugh track playing behind it, we were constantly laughing! Talk about an awesome night with my work family! So many fun conversations, jokes, and whatnot. I love my team to death and I overjoyed to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with them joking and laughing like that. So blessed to have each of them around.
Time to lay in bed and digest… or fall right asleep, we’ll see which comes first.
As I prep for bed and conduct my daily ritual of blogging my mind is going in a couple of different directions for my blog. There are a few distinct appreciations which all seem to flow into a common theme. Just a heads up, this is all going to sound familiar as the path is one I’ve traveled recently.
Starting my morning yesterday with an early morning hike with Becky was outstanding. To share time in the woods with her while we both take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors is something I enjoy immensely. Amongst all I do in life this type of activity hovers continually near the top. Not only does it provide moments of awe and wonder leading to extreme presence, but I get to share it with my best friend and soulmate. Doing what we love while sharing in that love together is something I do not take for granted. We are so fortunate to have the common love and appreciation of nature. Those times together hiking the trails, whether exploring a new to us National Park or wandering the same old trail for the ten thousandth time, are one of the ways I re-charge, refresh, and refill my reservoir of energy. By taking that time to the two of us I have the strength and energy to live into my sense of purpose and am much more likely to live more closely into the person I am called to be – it helps me work on the gap. All the while my heart is filled with tremendous joy.
This morning I spent a lot of time with a teammate I haven’t had a ton of one on one time with. The entire experience was incredibly enlightening as well as a ton of fun. I was able to learn so much about her, hear about her motivations, her dreams, and her story. Throughout I kept thinking about how this was exactly where I was supposed to be at that time. Hearing her share her experiences helped me see how we’ve made progress towards living into our purpose while simultaneously providing an opportunity to dream a bigger and better vision of what living that purpose could look like. It was a conversation which will leave lasting fingerprints on our future.
During the day there was a moment in which I took a couple of actions which I would have most likely skipped in the past. Before I could help myself I was leaping into action and unaware of moving myself outside of my comfort zone. The action itself was taken because it was necessary based on purpose, on our why. So many times in the past I’ve taken action more for ego’s sake, if I’m completely honest with myself. This time was 100% for the cause, to protect the purpose. I was reminded afterwards of a comment from Tribal Leadership: the right purpose, the right reason, they work through us. This was a moment in which the purpose warranted action and action was taken immediately. Afterwards a passing conversation in an elevator showed me the importance of the action. Purpose caused necessary action which wouldn’t have otherwise happened.
Purpose, such a powerful thing. It is truly humbling, each time I feel like I’m understanding the power of purpose more I quickly realize how little about the power of purpose I truly know. Each time I start to get a glimpse I quickly see there is so much more than what I am getting a glimpse of. What a beautiful journey this has been and will continue to be!
Today was a work day, right? How in the world did I pack so much in? Wowza!
The day started with an awesome early morning bike with Becky before work – which could, should, and probably will be it’s own blog post in the near future.
My work day was jammed with a couple of planned meetings and an outstanding bonus one. Throw in more than a few times when I felt I was living into my “why” and it was fantastic.
After supper we got the pontoon out on the water for the summer, always one of the best nights of the summer. The entire family took part and enjoyed more outdoors time.
Finishing wrapping up the prep for the next few days of work, play a game with Gavin, and now crash in bed exhausted.
I’m still not quite sure I packed in this much life today, it was amazing! Still a ton to get done over the next few days and a handful of follow ups, but definitely a successful day by any measure.
Type a long blog? Not tonight, I’m exhausted from living – in a very positive way!
It also reminded me of the intent behind my blog, to help me live a more joyful life. Throughout the day I was constantly present and appreciative of so many of these moments. That’s what this was all intended to be about, living a more joyful life and closing the gap.
Last night there was alone of storms north and west of us. They were throwing off more lightning than I’ve ever seen at once. The sky seemed to never go fully dark, there was burst after burst after burst of lighting. After consulting the radar the boys and I loaded up into the car and headed out to Nelson Park, a park at the end of the island from which you can see across Lake Onalaska to the Minnesota bluffs. The light show was amazing!!!
When the storm line was threatening to come closer than we were comfortable with we loaded back up and went home. The boys went inside and I sat out on the deck and soaked it all in. The changing pressure, the wind switching directions, the drop in temperature, and, of course, the lightning. When the rain finally started to fall I went back inside and of of to bed.
What I appreciated the most I was the presence centering focus brought about by the senses of awe and wonder. There was no stress, no desire, no thoughts of the past or present. There was only the focus on being in that moment and soaking up all of the awesomeness around me. The boys were equally as enthralled which only added to my joy. Such a spectacular showing of the power of nature and a profound reminder that presence and joy can be found so much more easily in moments of awe and wonder.
My legs were exceedingly stiff this morning when I rolled out of bed. Running the half had taken a bit of a toll, getting older definitely messes with recovery. What to do with stiff and tired legs? I opted for the nontraditional therapy, I got moving and got in a nice little trail run / hike combo early in the morning.
The first mile was pretty brutal and resulted in some extra stretching on the trail as well as a little bit of swearing. By the second mile the rust had started to break loose and it felt good on the downhills. My third mile found me feeling good enough to run up most of the uphills. The pace was fairly horrific, but it still felt good to get the miles in. One of those feeling the gains through the discomfort type of runs (and when I say “run” this was truly a mash up of jogging and fast hiking).
As was the case last week I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the woods to kick off the morning. Life is so much more calm and easy to manage after getting some time in the forest. Throw in a cacophony of birds and spotting over half a dozen deer and it was pretty amazing. The scents of spring were really kicking in and my nose enjoyed each breath. Ahh…
While I’m going to take the morning off tomorrow to hit the road to work early, I’m certainly looking forward to getting back out for another run on Wednesday morning. Starting off the day with motion always feels fantastic.
What a busy weekend it has been! Yesterday I shared much of the busyness of Saturday, today was almost as busy as yesterday. Thankfully there was still plenty of time to celebrate Mother’s Day too.
This weekend was wild, but there are so many moments of it we’ll remember for years to come. Dominic’s first prom. Gavin’s first day of reffing. Becky’s “Screw You Autoimmune Disease” half marathon. There’s been a lot. Today picked right up where yesterday left off. We had a fun impromptu conversation with friends while grocery shopping. We got home and had time to hear about Dominic’s fun night at prom. After packing lunches we headed to Madison for Gavin’s soccer match and made a pitstop at Natural Bridge State Park. Catch the game, grab ice cream for supper, drive home a couple of hours, wrap up a few things at home, and head off to bed. Busy but a blast.
Throughout the day we celebrated Mother’s Day. Becky’s an awesome mom and the boys always appreciate her, but today they appreciated her a little extra. Seeing them take great care of her makes me smile, seeing her get the appreciation she deserves warms my heart. The boys know how fortunate they are to have a mom who loves and supports the so much.
So many different directions I could have blogged about tonight. Gavin’s first games as a soccer referee and Dominic’s prom both really stick out. I got bonus time with both boys and Becky individually throughout the day.
What I’m most thankful for today was the sense of a mission accomplished. Three years ago Becky had to drop out of running a half marathon as she was feeling the traumatic impact of an autoimmune disease which hadn’t been diagnosed at that time. She wanted to run the half marathon today – the same race she wasn’t able to do three years ago – to prove that her disease couldn’t stop her. She crushed all 13.1 miles of it and crossing the finish line with her was nothing short of awesome. Pure awesomeness, mission accomplished!
Thankful for Forty 