When we went to Hawaii with friends several years ago there was a moment that I’ll never forget. Everyone was basically just chilling on the porch. They were all in a state of perfect relaxation. I got scolded, albeit in a very nice way, by one of my friends. “Mike, quit pacing, you’re killing me!!! I can’t relax with you constantly moving.”

That, in a nutshell, is how my brain typically operates. If I’m not in a state of constant action please check my pulse and quickly determine if CPR is needed. I don’t know who or where it comes from (although I’d be pretty quick to point out my mom, my dad, a grandparent or two, and several others I’m genetically linked to!). This is just how my brain operates. I’m a person of action and movement. My idea of relaxing and chilling is usually doing something.

Case in point; this morning I had no reason to wake up at any specific time. I shot out of bed at 5:30am and was waking up the boys to see if they wanted to walk along the beach to see the sunrise with me. Off we went! That wasn’t quite enough so I headed out for a run on the beach afterwards. Need more evidence? A couple of nights ago I cleaned the vacuum cleaner of the AirBNB we stayed at to help me relax on our last night there. Yes, I know I have issues and for the most part I’m okay with them.

Today I’ve been working on remembering to actually take time to relax. Becky’s PhD is certainly the top reason for the trip, but relaxation and sight seeing with the boys are the second reasons. The graduation is still a ways away and we’ve spent a ton of time showing the boys around, but I haven’t spent very much time focusing on relaxing (see the two stories above).

With that in mind this morning when we went to the beach I had one goal in mind… Relax. To help me do that I left my phone on Sleep mode and in a closed bag and brought a book to read. While it wasn’t perfect, I did make some headway. A funny thing started too happen after a while… I started to relax. I didn’t feel the urge to go in too many directions at once. I took a deep breath and chilled and it was amazing!

Don’t worry, I’m not thinking this whole experience is going to totally change how I roll, but reminding myself to relax definitely feels pretty awesome! I am so thankful with how little stress I’ve felt all day and how I’ve been able to spend time in thought. This relaxing thing is pretty, well, relaxing! I kinda like it 😀

Thanks!!!

Today was the longest driving day of our trip. It was also the first time I took the wheel on this vacation. For those who don’t know, in Australia the driver’s side is the right side and you drive on the left. It is about as backwards as it gets for those of us who’ve grown up driving in the US. In both Uber rides I meant to sit shotgun but inadvertently almost got behind the wheel and left both drivers very confused.

The first time we came here I still remember writing my blog post about driving on the wrong side of the road. Over three and a half years later I still remember how sore my shoulders and neck were from the stress of driving in a hyper state of focus and fear.

This go round was significantly more pleasant. I’ve had the opportunity to drive on “the other side” of the road a few times and this time it was even easier to get back into the feel of it. Within a few minutes my stress level was down and I was able to enjoy a peaceful drive up north.

Sensing this difference was a very positive and uplifting experience as it helped me see how much I’ve grown in the past three plus years. Sure, it’s no major accomplishment, but I appreciated the sense of growth I felt.

During the drive Becky and I fired up some Bruce Springsteen to help set the true road trip feel of the day. One of the tunes caused me to pause and rewind to over a decade ago.

Way back I was in a pretty awful funk and needed to get out of it. Becky suggested taking a road trip up to the UP of Michigan by myself so I did. During that time alone with myself, my thoughts, and the beauty of Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula I came to grips with the fact that the gap between who I was and who I should be had grown wider than I’d ever dreamt. As I was struggling with resetting my brain during that time the song One Step Up popped into my mind and I got stuck on one specific line that hit too close to home:

When I look at myself I don’t see

The man I wanted to be

Somewhere along the line I slipped off track

Hearing those lyrics and singing them quietly to myself caused me to pause and dive deep for a moment. I was able to remember how lost I felt, how offtrack I seemed to be, and how I was drifting directionless. It was one of the low points in my life and I felt so depressed.

From that moment way back I made the decision to change my path. In that weekend I wrote out my first true dream list and a handful of small goals I had for myself. When I came back I made some tough decisions and started to get my act together. So many positive things have come from that proverbial “walk in the desert.”

After taking time today to think back to where I was I was so appreciative of the opportunity to quickly view how far I’ve come in that past decade and change. The gap to cross felt like miles, now it seems I’ve closed at least half of it. The toughest parts are sure to still be up ahead, but that’s okay and that’s not the focus today. Today I was able to pause and be thankful for the progress I’ve made and the growth I’ve had.

Two separate events, two wonderful ways to see growth firsthand. I am so thankful for those reminders of growth on my journey, they encourage me to to continue closing the gap.

Thanks!!!

I’m not really a believer of past lives and reincarnation, but if I did I can almost guarantee that those past lives would include living on the ocean (most likely in Polynesia) and a life lived in the mountains (Glacier NP area or Canadian Rockies?). Either of those two types of areas just feel like home.

Today I was blessed to be on the ocean. It was one of the first times when I wasn’t nervous about our boys and could take a deep breath and truly relax. Instead of reading or swimming I laid on my back, looked up at the clouds, and just listened to the beautifully rhythmic crashing of the surf.

After a while I went into the water. It took a little while to get used to the cold water, but once I did I again completely relaxed. As Dominic rode his boogie board I just floated in the ocean.

My gaze was fixed on the never ending horizon, my thoughts were only on the beauty of the crystal blue water, and I was as immersed in the present moment as I was in the ocean. As the waves came in I bobbed up with them. When the past wave was being drawn back into the sea I floated back with it. I was cradled by the cool water around me and moved by it. To be honest, I couldn’t even begin to guess how long I was floating there like that. My head, heart, and soul were totally at peace and full of joy as the sun warmed my face.

There’s such power within water – physically and spiritually. Today I am so grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by it and moved by it.

Thanks!!!

Sometimes it’s easy to look past some simple yet crazily complex things that lead to great memories and experiences. One of those came in the form of our flight.

As I was in between cat naps I paused for a moment and considered just how ridiculous the whole thing was. Think about it…

A machine weighing 127 tons loads up with almost 300 people and then flies almost 9,000 miles (over a third of the way around the Earth) in about 17 hours. Oh yeah, we also travelled so far across the globe chasing the sun that from sunset to the sunrise we saw this morning was about 18+ hours and we never really experienced Black Friday.

How ridiculous is that??? When I stop and think about it my mind is blown. I’m so thankful for a long distance flights – had it not been for that modern miracle it would’ve been almost impossible to get this pic of Becky and the boys.

Thanks!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Nothing quite screams Thanksgiving dinner like a traditional meal of ramen, pot stickers, wontons, and egg rolls, right?

With dinner on the road today we opted for something a little out of the ordinary. As a kid I still remember pretzels at Epcot on Thanksgiving. When we were younger I remember watching fireworks in the horizon as we drove on the 4th of July. Last year we travelled on Christmas Day. There’ve been several vacations in that either started on or continued during a holiday.

I’m not committed to most standard traditions, things outside the norm usually end up being my favorite and sometimes become my own weird little tradition.

Just a hunch, but I’m thinking that the Thanksgiving dinner at Dumping Den is one we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

Thanks!!!

Yoga felt awesome tonight, but it was sneakily strenuous!  Beth did an awesome job of getting us thinking it’d be a little more chill before she quickly dialed up the intensity.  While I was initially most interested in the mentally chill piece of yoga today the strength work she put us through was exactly what the doctor ordered.  What a neat surprise!

To counter balance the healthy impact of yoga we finished up our pumpkin cheesecake from Grant.  For the second year in a row he created an incredibly tasty treat for our family.  That dude is one tremendous cook!  Thanks again for making our Thanksgiving a little extra special Grant!!!

I had some important stuff to take care of up in Eau Claire today.  As we all know the weather forecast from last night for today was pretty sketchy.  With that in mind I started prepping myself last night for a slow and snowy ride up north.  I fired up a great audiobook, had my coffee, and turned on the seat heater while taking my sweet time driving today.  Had I not paused to get my head in the right place I surely would’ve been frustrated when I got stuck behind slow moving traffic.  Thanks to the peace of mind I’d already created I was sure to stay a long ways back and didn’t get frustrated in the least.  I need to remember to do that more often when I’m prepping for something difficult.

On my way out of the office today I turned on the “Out of Office” feature in my email.  What a great way to mentally flip the switch to vacation mode.  I might even end up shutting down email on my phone while I’m out!  My blood pressure has already dipped knowing everyone will get that wonderful auto-reply for now.

Thanks!!!

Yeah, I’m even questioning my blog title on this one. I’m going to stick with a writing lesson from Stephen King (not even close to a direct quote, but my best recollection of it)… when writing use the first phrasing that comes to mind. You could always change it to be better but the first version is usually the truest.  In my head I can see what I’m thankful for and stubbing my toe was the first thing that came to mind.

Imagine me walking in the dark of the night. Not too closely, no one needs that horribly scarring imagine in their head! Just minding my own business as I shamble into the kitchen for a glass of water.

Out of nowhere and completely unexpectedly a bolt of lighting explodes from the ground straight up my big toe! Bang!!! Only the practice of doing this in the past helps me swallow the screaming of expletives that are about to erupt just split seconds after the pain hits.  I take a deep breath, clench my fists, and hold still for a moment.  Whew…  the pain subsides and I walk towards the kitchen again for my water.  A few steps and BANG!!!  Found the other leg of the couch.  The process repeats…

How’s that for a strange comparison to something awesome that I’m thankful for?  Like I said, I’m just rolling with how I saw it in my head 😉

Today I was wandering through the day and BANG!!!  I drilled my toe on a seemingly random vacation memory.  After taking a moment to savor the memory I did my best to keep a straight face and get back to the task at hand.  Shortly afterwards BANG!!! I’d run smack dab into another vacation memory.  The process repeated over and over throughout the day.  Instead of extreme pain each stubbing on a toe was followed by an extreme amount of joy.

My thoughts today went to a Thanksgiving meal of pretzels in Germany at the Epcot Center as a kid.  There were several memories of New Zealand, specifically touring the Maori cultural center.  Remembrances of our trip to Australia were frequent as was time in Hawaii.  Memories of trips to Belize were also very clear and common.  Seemingly around every corner I stubbed my toe on a past vacation memory and each one was amazing!

It’s no secret, taking trips to experience and see new things is a passion of mine.  All of the times I stubbed my toes today reminded me of how thankful I am to focus on creating so many awesome memories in following my passion.

Thanks!!!

When we remodeled our kitchen I clearly remember taking out the old cabinets with Dad.  They were pretty old school and fastened way more tightly than they needed to be. Had I realized it sooner we could’ve just hidden in the cabinets in case of a tornado!

I remember working myself into a lather twisting and pulling and wrenching and prying with my crowbar to remove them.  At times I swung it like a hammer and then proceeded to use a sledgehammer when the frame refused to move.  All the while I was sweating like a dog and out of breath…  and Dad just sat there and smiled while watching me, even chuckling sometimes.

After a while Dad stepped in and asked for the crowbar.  The specific piece wasn’t coming out and my temper was flaring.  I handed to him and smiled.  There was no way he was going to get it out.  He flashed me an even bigger smile and calm walked up to the cabinet.  He positioned his crowbar and gave it a little nudge.  He moved it about an inch and applied a slight amount of pressure.  Dad then looked at me, smiled, and, with almost no effort, popped the cabinet right out of place.  Then his smile got even bigger.

“Mikey, while you’re young and strong you think you can power your way through anything.  When you get older and your strength fades a little you have to learn to use your head more than your muscle.”

He then proceeded to share the lessons he’d learned from an old timer while working demolition in Milwaukee.  He’d shared with Dad the secret to being able to stay healthy and sane while doing demolition…  never waste a movement and work as little as you have to.  This didn’t mean sloughing off or anything.  If you pause for a moment to consider the best way to do something you can accomplish much more with less effort.  Apply the pressure in the right place and work is minimal.  Don’t think and just use brute force and you’ll wear yourself out in no time.

The lesson in a nutshell?  Think twice, act once, complete more.  Take time to think and work with your brain and you’ll save your physical strength to accomplish more.  I’ll never forget that lesson – thanks Dad!

Today I’m also thankful for the implementation of that lesson.  As I prep for heading out on vacation soon time is definitely not my ally in one manner, but is the most motivating of companions in the other.  With less than a few days to work with I am working on creating space to accomplish about two weeks of work (both work work and personal work).  Time is not on my side, but the lack of time is helping me get into that hyper focus that seems to always precede vacation.

With limited time I don’t have the luxury of missing any of it.  This means I must think, plan, and act quickly on each task.  The more I pause to quickly plan the more I can quickly accomplish.  Just like in using the crowbar I have to think twice (quickly) and act once in order to get everything done.  Throughout the day I’ve thought of Dad with the crowbar and have been doing my best to see how I can save a little time by thinking through the right action so there’s no wasted thought.

Thanks!!!

There is something so magically familiar and comfortable about sleeping in my own bed. I sleep just fine in all sorts of beds, chairs, futons, cots, hammocks, air mattresses, pads, and floors. Laying down on my own bed just feels like all is right in the world. The bed itself isn’t anything too crazy or anything, but it’s what I’m used to and it pretty much feels like home.

My mother in law, Mary, came down to take care of the boys while Becky and I were in Belize. I’m so grateful for her willingness to pretty much move into our house for the week and make sure the boys were all good. As I take time to think about it I’m even more thankful for her willingness to do this. It means a week away from the comforts of her home, a week away from her normal routine, and a week away from Ken. I’ve said it before, I’m thankful for winning the in law lottery. Thanks for helping us out this week Mary!

This afternoon I headed up to pick the boys up from hunting. On the way home we spent pretty much the entire three plus hours talking. Nothing too crazy or serious or anything, just shooting the bull. After a week away from the boys it was even more enjoyable to spend all that time in conversation with them. Thanks for making it an awesome and memorable ride home boys!

Thanks!!!