Ahh… Everything at work has been wrapped up. All our stuff has been packed. We’ve got everything covered for watching our pets and house. The travel plans are all booked and prepped. Time to hit the road!

At one point on our drive Becky was driving so I could get some additional stuff done. When everyone fell quiet doing their own things Gavin piped up, “Can you please play The Strumbellas Concert list?” Heck yeah I can!

As we’ve both been known to occasionally do, Becky and I were both quietly singing along to the songs. At this point I’d jumped back behind the wheel. From behind me I heard a third voice join the mix in the car. It turns out Gavin has been listening more intently than I’d expected, now knows many of the lyrics, and decided to jump right in.

It was pretty wild to spend over an hour listening and singing along with the songs from that concert with the family. Talk about a totally relaxing way to kick off vacation!

I have to laugh because we just watched Step Brothers this weekend… for clarity, it was nothing like Derek’s family’s version of a road trip concert 😉 There were no singing lessons involved, no one was flat, and I didn’t save it with a solo. Our’s was a totally judgment free road trip concert with several off key notes and mistaken lyrics – all coming from me – and it was AWESOME!

Thanks!!!

One of my favorite parts of every church service with Father Mark was the way it always started.  After the initial song and a welcome he asked us to pause, bow our heads, and call to mind the gap between who we are and who we are called to be.  That moment of reflection helped to set the tone for the rest of the service as it was truly humbling to see that gap.  The realization that there was much work to do helped me to open up learning how I could better live the life The Big Dude Upstairs wants me to lead.  Through the readings and the sermon I’d often catch a nugget or two of how I could live differently that would lead me to living more into that image.

As I listened to my book, Love Does, on my drive to work early in the morning I couldn’t help but hear those words of Father Mark ringing in my ears…  “Let’s call to mind the gap between who we are and who we are called to be.”  The author, Bob Goff, shared several incredible stories of just trusting the pull of the Universe towards directions we may not have initially wanted to go.

There are often many times when I get the sense I’m meant to do something other than what I want, but I sometimes resist and push back.  Case in point is a conversation I had with another pastor that hit home and got something stirring within me but I’m just not willing to let go yet.  Without even going grand there are so many little moments when I have a choice to make.  I usually know the right choice, but I often make the wrong choice.  Nothing illegal or crazy or anything, but those little decisions that can add up and make a real difference.  Should I listen to a book that will help me grow or a podcast that purely fills my time?  I’m thankful I at least chose this right this morning as it led to more moments of insight for me!

While listening to his stories I heard Bob talk about situations in which I would love to think that I would have done the same thing, but in many cases I have not.  In my heart I knew they were the right things, but something within me (usually ego driven) got in the way.  Sometimes it was a realization of just how focused on a couple of small goals Bob must’ve been in order to accomplish them… a stark contrast to my going in many (too many?) directions sometimes.  All of these moments made me feel like I was tripping on that gap the Father Mark talked about.

In some ways that brutal realization of the gap was a bit painful.  That said, I found it oddly peaceful and hopeful as well.  In knowing and realizing the gap I can find ways to focus on it and close it.  By tripping on it I was reminded of it and the work I need to do to shrink it.  As I was seeing the gap, having it put directly in my line of sight, I was able to start working on it.  What a beautiful gift!

I find it’s usually uncomfortable to see just how much I’m letting others and The Big Dude Upstairs down at times.  While there is discomfort there such a beautiful gift in seeing how to become better and live more into the person I am meant to be.  That is well worth the discomfort any day in my book.

Thanks!!!

When you’ve known and been friends with someone for a little over or under 35 years there’s a level of comfort that is mind blowingly amazing.  Throughout that much time we’ve gone to elementary, middle, & high school together, spent time with each other in college, and been through so many life events at each other’s side.  We’ve been through ups, downs, and sideways together and helped each other through all of those times.  Our sentences could be finished by each other.  The stories we share have become “our” stories and not just our own.  We are not just good friends, we are brothers.

The times we get together like this are such special moments.  It’s like time has been folded so that the gap between this and the last time we got together still happened, but in a flash as it also feels as if no time has passed between our visits.  From the first seconds we meet up we go right into our same routines.  Even the greeting from each person is the same as we pull each other in for huge bear hugs!  Once the greetings are complete we dive right back into our normal routine together, one that we’ve been developing for so many years.

As we pack up and prepare to leave from each visit there’s a sadness that our time together is wrapping up but also the joy of gratitude for the time we’ve had together.  There’s another big round of hugs as we’re all amazed at just how quickly the time we’ve had together has flown by (as it always seems to do).  As we all part ways my brain starts to quickly catalog all of the new memories and stories we’ve created together.  They are stories we’ll weave into conversation over the future visits we have together.

I am so thankful for my brothers from other mothers, the lifelong friendships we’ve built together are truly special and bring so much joy to my heart.

Thanks!!!

This afternoon the guys and I headed out to enjoy some chill time together doing something that we haven’t done together in a very long time, hanging out on the water. For almost five hours we had a wonderful time hanging out while enjoying the sun and the river. There’s something so awesome about sharing the activities we love with others, sharing that experience with them brought a ton of joy.

Another thing that warmed my heart throughout the day is the incredible people on my teams. Between moments of time alone with my thoughts and sharing stories with my friends of the great people I work with I was repeatedly reminded of how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life. I’m so fortunate to have such wonderful teammates who are truly teammates, friends, and family to work with in my offices. When thinking about work occasionally today there was no stress or concern, only joy when thinking about how much I appreciate each of them and dreams we’re working to accomplish together. Knowing I’m surrounded by such talented professionals and great people is truly an excellent feeling!

Thanks!!!

Short and sweet tonight so I can stay present in the awesomeness of this moment. With the guys in town it’s felt so much like a time travel trip back to the late 90’s… chilling with the guys, playing games, talking about old memories, relaxing on the deck, and just hanging. Talk about an incredible trip! So thankful for this rare time for all of us to get together and just hang the way we used to back in the day.

It’s crazy, but I’m so many ways it feels like nothing changed… other than maybe a few more snap, crackles, and pops when we get up out of our chairs 😉. Life is pretty awesome!

Thanks!!!

Short but oh so sweet post for today as I’m right in the middle of two Christmases coming on the same day.

This afternoon my Winona team gathered for our annual Halftime planning event and we had an awesome time! With so much time spent with my other offices recently I’ve been looking forward to hanging out with my Winona family. Having an entire afternoon focused exclusively on them was fantastic!!!

Shortly after I get home Christmas number two will be upon me. Some of my best friends are coming to town for a long weekend of bonding. It’s been a while since we last got all of us together – I can’t wait to have us all in one place again. Woo Hoo!!!

Thanks!!!

As luck would have it I ran into an executive I hadn’t talked with in a while today.  He’s a mature business leaders with a great deal of experience.  I look up to him for many reasons, his stoic nature, his logical thinking, his ability to make the difficult decisions, and his calm under pressure.  There’s an old school leadership style to him, in many ways he makes me think of how my dad would have been as a CEO.

We started off a quick conversation as we both had separate directions to head off to within 7 minutes time.  He asked me a question about business and I shared some of the challenges I’ve been taking on.  His face softened, and he proceeded to totally open up in a way I never saw coming.  Within a matter of a couple of minutes he helped me see that I’m not alone.  It sounds hokey and I really don’t want to dive into any more detail than that, but that was really the core of it.  Here was someone with 20+ more years of life and business experience and he helped me quickly see that I am not alone and that I’m on the right track.  I really don’t know a better way to describe it other than I sometimes question myself, my ability, and my strategy.  In a few short sentences he helped me strengthen my resolve in ways that would’ve taken me so long to do.

Today I am so thankful for his extreme openness and willingness to share.  He totally made himself vulnerable and humbled himself and helped me see that I am not alone.  Even as I write this I can tell I’m not doing justice to the feeling of calm and sense of confidence I have from this one quick conversation.  Not only did it help me today, it is a lesson I will carry with me forever and will do my best to show him thanks for it the best way I can, by emulating his behavior when someone else could use a little nudge.

This evening Becky took me on a yoga date, but not our normal yoga date.  Tonight we headed to West Salem and did yoga atop stand up paddle boards.  It was incredible!!!  The feeling of being out in nature on the water was awesome in of itself, throwing yoga on top of it was icing on the cake.

Throughout the practice I was 100% focused on balance (and even that didn’t prevent me from falling in once!), breathing, and the sensation os nature around me.  By the time it was over I could feel just how much my shoulders had relaxed.  All the stress I’d been carrying had melted away and it felt like I’d gotten a stress cleanse.  Ahhh…  Exactly what the doctor ordered!  Thanks for taking me to SUP Yoga Becky!

Thanks!!!

Thinking back over the past 1,381 days I sometimes forget if I’ve blogged about something in the past.  Often when I have that feeling I go back and search my old blogs to see if it was already in there.  Tonight I’m going to listen to the advice of what I am thankful for and I’m just going to go with it.

There have been several guideposts over the past six months or so that have really led up to today’s gratitude.  Some of the memorable ones include a sermon talking about how we feel drawn to do something good that we really don’t want to do, a change in work, and getting my butt into gear and starting to run regularly again.  Between these moments and so many others I’ve found myself being drawn to something outside of my comfort zone.

Over the past 24 hours I’ve had several experiences that have really helped to pound this thought into my head, the concept of saying “yes” and leaning into the discomfort.  The one that seems to really roll it up in a nutshell involves our dogs.

Between my work schedule, Becky’s joint stuff, and a pulled dog leg the girls really haven’t had a ton of exercise lately.  As of today it’s been over a week since they’ve been able to do any type of walk or run like they so love.

Cue my pity party… I had a very long and stress filled day at work.  I have another one coming up tomorrow, and all I wanted to do when I got home was complain.  The rain really fit my attitude as I was flat out pissy and I wanted to world to be pissy with me.  I wanted to have a drink, sit on the couch, go brain dead, and go to bed early.  My thought was that I’d feel bad for myself tonight and then start fresh in the morning.  It really sounds stupid and petty as I write, but that’s pretty much where my brain was.

The entire time the dogs keep looking at me with their sad eyes, hoping for something wonderful to happen.  Unfortunately for them my new early start time tomorrow meant no walk for them in the morning.  More than once Becky talked about how each time LuLu comes in the house she looks at her leash and then sighs as she walks past in disappointment.  As if I still wasn’t taking the hint the rain stopped and the sun came out.

At some point that sermon popped back into my head.  I was feeling the pull towards taking the dogs for a walk.  It would have been very easy to ignore and move past, but that sermon reminded me that often the things that we should do are the ones we feel compelled to do, but don’t want to do.  In those moments our best course of action is quite often to lean into the discomfort and go where we feel pulled.  I took a deep breath and decided to just say yes.

Once the dogs realized what was about to happen their joy was so obvious that I couldn’t help but smile with them.  As we walked I fired up my audiobook (Love Does) and, by some cosmic coincidence, started with a chapter about when the author learned the power of just saying yes!  I couldn’t believe it, it was awesome!

As we walked I could feel my attitude improving so much so quickly.  All I’d needed to do was lean into a little discomfort and say yes to it.  Once I did that everything fell right into place.  It was almost as if the universe knew exactly what I needed and did what it could to provide me an opportunity to have it.

And that’s what I’m thankful for today.  Over the past months some of the happiest and best moments and experiences have come as a result of leaning into the discomfort.  By saying yes instead of fighting and pushing back I’ve been able to accomplish more and have the opportunity to be in the right situation more often than not.

I certainly have not been perfect on this and have much to work on, but days like today are a great reminder for me in the future when I just want to fight that path that I know is correct.

Thanks!!!

At one of our Express Employment Professionals trainings over the past few years we had a wonderful speaker by the name of Bob Goff.  He was an excellent speaker with an incredible message.  As with many of the other great speakers we’ve had parts of his story stuck with me and have helped to put a smile on my face. 

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when one of my teammates in Winona suggested I read Love Does by Bob Goff.  I sat there for a moment as the name resonated in my head.  It took a moment but when Mike started to explain him I was quickly reminded his presentation.  I hopped online and downloaded it right away and jumped it ahead in my “To Read” list.  This morning was a perfect transition to it as I left the house way too early to talk on the phone with anyone.  

I’m only a little ways in but it’s already hitting me right between the eyes in couple of different ways.  If the best way to judge a book is to see if action was immediately taken this book is a winner!  Based on a couple of stories I’ve already jumped into action on something that’s been brewing in my head for quite some time.  The story gave me the boot in the butt I needed to get moving on it.

There’s still a whole lot of book to read, but I’m already enjoying it thoroughly.  Mike D – thanks again for the excellent recommendation!

Thanks!!!

This may sound a little crazy to many of you who know me well…  I absolutely despise clutter.  It drives me nuts.  Extra “stuff” just gets in the way and can either easily distract me or get in the way of a project that I need to work on.  With that in mind there’s usually a fair amount of clutter (physical and mental) left in my wake.  While I am still working on ways to reduce the creation of additional clutter I’m still not super good and stopping it before it happens.  Once it’s around I’ll often try to work on it, but as I said before, I can get easily distracted by it and next thing I know I’ve just created more stuff.

This morning something just snapped in my brain.  Somehow I flipped my switch to full on “Purge and Produce” mode.  I was consumed by the desire to get rid of all the stuff that was in my way or could get in my way over the next few weeks.  Between work and home I’ve got a lot going on over these next few weeks and the way that I’ll enjoy them most and do my best work through them is to stay focused and on point.  My subconscious obviously got the memo and was going full speed ahead.

It started with taking out the recycling and moved on to cleaning out a specific cabinet that hasn’t been touched in a long while.  From there I took on the overflowing pile of stuff that was once my dresser surface.  Throw in a few other random areas and I was going constantly.  Anything not critical or used recently was tossed, everything else was completely put away.

It wasn’t just the purging and cleaning that was going, it was all a part of my plan to focus on being productive and getting everything done.  This included some tasks that have been put on the back burner for a while, grocery shopping and prepping lunches for the week and so on.  I kept looking ahead through my task list for the week and decided to make as much headway as I could and it’s felt great!

This picture of the boys is from a couple of years ago and it just seemed to fit the mood today.  I’m feeling great and that I’ve accomplished what I needed to and then some.  At one point I even caught myself almost falling into the trap of being distracted and making more clutter, but thankfully my purging and productive mindset won out and stayed the course.  I’m really thinking I need to tap into this mindset more often.  Today is a day I’ll be peeling apart to see how I got myself into this type of mood, it would be very beneficial in the future.

Whew, it’s almost time for bed…  after I get one or two more things done…

Thanks!!!