It’s funny how as I think about some of the activities I enjoy most there are some common themes.  Often they are things that I’m not particularly good at off the bat.  They usually involve a certain level of stubbornness and persistence to be successful at.  The activity also has some way of seeing improvement with practice, not crazy quick improvement, but slow and somewhat steady progress towards a goal that will continue to move further out of range with every step I take.

One of the other things I’ve noticed is that many of the activities I enjoy most require 100% of my attention and focus.  For me to be more successful and get the most out of them I have to be 100% present and have nothing else going on in my brain.  That is quite the task for me as I usually have a handful of things going through my head at any given moment.

What got me really thinking about this tonight was how focused I was while logrolling (with the slight exception of when I went off on a tirade about Aaron Rodgers and how badly I missed Brett Favre…  during which I had pretty much my best roll of the night!).  All the rest of the time I shut my brain down and only focused on a couple of thoughts before I started…  Are my knees bent?  Am I reaching back with my left hand?  Are my feet in the right spot?  From there my focus goes to the far end of the log and I’m off.  Each second only thinking about the position of my body and it’s relation to the log and its rotation.  No thoughts about work, responsibility, life, philosophy, no songs running through my head, no random ideas…  just me and the log.  It’s incredibly relaxing!

I find that activities like logrolling and yoga help quiet my mind and leave me feeling so much more calm and focused afterwards.  The sensation of focus continues from those activities into the next and it feels amazing!

If anyone has other ideas of crazy things I might like that require focus like this please let me know, I’d be very interested!

Thanks!!!

Yeah, this title is probably going to leave some folks scratching their heads.  Let’s start this out in the manner I’ve become accustomed to on a blog post like this.  Nope, this isn’t a cry for help, a sign of depression, or a reason to be nervous for my well being.  It’s actually quite the opposite.

Mike and I were talking about many things after our sales coaching call today, and somehow we got on the topic of parents.  He had a very insightful thought that really sparked several others.  The net of the thought was how important it is to appreciate every moment of our life.  We only have a finite time on Earth, instead of spending time wishing for what we could have we should be continually thankful for what we do have and what we have had.  It reminded me greatly of a quote from Brandon Lee in the last interview he did before his accidental death while filming The Crow:

”Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well, and yet everything happens only a certain number of times . How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood that is so deeply a part of your being you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps, twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.” 

How true is that thought?  When I think of life and time it’s easy to be under the illusion that they are both infinite.  Inexhaustible resources that I will own forever, as will all those I love and care about and all those that they love and care for…  until there is the presence of death to remind me that each of those resources truly have limits.  Death reminds me to appreciate life and time.

Death also reminds me that there is no scheduled timeline of life.  I could be gone tomorrow regardless of my desire to persist forever.  While I can have the grandest of plans there is no promise that tomorrow will happen for me, let alone a day for all those plans that are years and years away.  Death keeps me grounded in and appreciating the present.

When there’s a brush with death there’s usually pain.  Heartache is usually death’s companion and visits both when someone dies and when there are memories of someone’s death.  When I peel back the layer of pain I find love and joy.  The reason for the pain is the appreciation of the love I have for that person.  As I pause I remember that I feel the pain because of how much I love that person and how thankful I was to have had the opportunity to know them in life.  The thought of death reminds me to appreciate each chance encounter with those I love as I never know how many more times I’ll see them again.  Death reminds me of the love I have for others.

As I pause and think about all I can learn and remember from death I can’t help but appreciate it.  I dislike it’s icy touch and the result it brings, but I appreciate the concept of death greatly.  Death reminds me to appreciate my life and the time I have.  Death keeps me grounded in and appreciating the present.  Death reminds me of the love I have for others.  Death reminds me to strive to be the best person I can be on a daily basis.  Knowing that one day I will die reminds me to really live every single day.

Thanks!!!

Tonight was our annual Christmas party in Rochester. We totally nailed the right date and picked the first nasty winter storm of the year 😂!

The event itself was awesome as always, a wonderful time with my Express family to celebrate Christmas and another successful year. The only thing that would have made the event itself any better would be for it to be extended by a few hours to spend more time in conversation.

That said, I’m thankful for making it to and from the event without any issues. We took it nice and slow and everything went fine in both directions. Now that we’re home I can relax my white knuckles, take a deep breath, and unwind as I head off to bed.

Thanks!!!

As we ate supper tonight I asked Dominic how his day was.  He said, “pretty good,” and then put his head down.  “Well, it wasn’t all good…  Part of it was pretty bad…”  As he is saying this his shoulders are sagging further and further and his head is lowering.

We asked him what happened, and he said that he had a bad fall on the snow and hurt his leg.  Being the concerned parents we are we asked him if he was okay.  He stood up and said, “it hurts pretty bad and I have a pretty big bruise here” as he moves his hand down his leg.  I follow his hand and when it stops I see this:

My eyes immediately shoot up to see a huge smile on his face.  The little bastard then walks over and punches me in the arm two times and we both laugh.

We’ve got a standing “Circle Game” on in our house, and if you get someone to look at your finger and thumb while it’s in that position somewhere below the waist you get to punch the other person in the arm twice.  Everyday he’s become more and more sneaky about how he’s gotten me.

The feeling of being busted by him, seeing the huge smile on this face, and sharing a big laugh afterwards all still have me chucking!  I love his sense of humor!

Thanks!!!

 

My brain has been running constantly around ideas for my offices in 2019 over the past week and change.  Our planning session over the past couple of days fanned the blaze even more and I’ve struggled to not have work related thoughts throughout most of the day.  As I was wrapping up the work day on a call with Nicole I shared that we were going to yoga tonight.  Even though I can usually count on yoga to calm my brain I shared that I was pretty sure that my work thoughts were going to keep pouring through.

And in a weird way that’s kind of what I was wanting…  A simple, straightforward, standard yoga practice that didn’t require much thought and would totally let me drift in an out of what I’ve been thinking about all day.  Kind of weird, I know, especially seeing as yoga is normally my time to be present and focus.

In actuality it was the complete opposite.  It turned out to be an incredible workout with many different poses and transitions, several of which I’d never done before.  With all the change I had no choice but to focus 100% and be present in the moment.  I had to use all of my concentration on keeping my breathing on track while bending and twisting in new ways.  It was amazing and it turned out to be exactly what I needed.

As we drove home I heard a very specific song playing in my head that shared everything I needed to learn from this experience…

No, you can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need…

How true Mick, how true…

Thanks!!!

LOL – this is definitely one of the titles that’ll I remember as sounding great in my head but then comes across a little different in print!  Regardless, it really fits today!

In our planning session yesterday we went around the room and shared what our biggest personal successes were from the past month or so.  I mentioned that I was super proud of Becky’s focus, determination, and hard work in pushing through the final stretches of her PhD program.  In sharing that I also said how cool it was to hear how many times her research has been cited – including in a textbook!  Over the past 24+ hours I’ve smiled many times at thinking about just how she is gritting out this dream of hers.

Spending as much time as I do with her I see her reading, researching, and writing almost constantly at all hours of the day and night.  For reals, I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to find her reading some research papers in the wee hours of the night / morning.  Seeing just how much work she’s put into this dream is truly spectacular…  and then remembering that she’s also a full time and very involved mother and wife makes it al the more incredible!

One of the values I hold closest is Grit.  As I’ve mentioned before, grit is the passion and perseverance towards a long term goal or dream.  For as long as I’ve known Becky she’s had a dream of earning her PhD.  Over these past couple of years I’ve been blessed to see just how hard she is willing to work to make that dream a reality.  It’s mind blowing how many hours and how much blood, sweat, and tears she’s already put into this.  In spite of all of this she’s often nervous about whether or not she’s being a great mom (she is!) and a great wife (always!) and is being attentive to the needs of her family (she totally is).  As if she weren’t already gritty enough focusing on her studying she’s just as gritty at home and with her family!

And that’s what I’m thankful for today…  Her grit is totally infectious!  Each day as I talk with her I can’t help but find times when I push myself harder towards my goals to keep up with her.  Seeing Becky work this hard for her dreams and focus so tightly onto one goal like this inspires me to work harder towards my goals and focus more keenly onto that which is the most important.  Long story short, she inspires me to be a better me.  How awesome is that?  Her grit is bringing her joy in accomplishment of her dreams while bringing me joy in inspiring me to focus more on reaching mine while helping her reach hers.  What an awesome combination and force!

Thanks for inspiring me on a daily basis!  How you find the time and energy to be such an incredible friend, mother, wife, and so many other roles all while reaching towards a crazy huge dream (and still finding at least an hour to workout each day) is crazily awesomely motivational.  So happy to be spending this crazy life with you – love you!

Thanks!!!

On this day last year we went for a hike that was to be one of the highlights of our trip to New Zealand, the Tongariro Crossing. Mother Nature had other plans and decided to throw us a curveball. It was so foggy that we couldn’t see anything, let alone go on the hike. We still drove up and did a different hike, but the pic below tells the whole story… on the way up we took the top pic, the way down we took the other pic. Both in the same place, of the same thing, but a very different view.

That picture seems so appropriate today. Sometimes I have this perfect vision of where I’m going and how to get there. Out of nowhere a fog rolls in and distorts my view. I know the same destination is out there and remains unchanged, but it is hidden away. If I pause, take a deep breath and stay calm the fog will lift and I’ll find my way again. If I panic I can get off track, get lost and turned around, and possibly even find myself further away from my goal.

When I find myself in the fog I must remember to pause, take a deep breath, and see the fog as a warm blanket to be appreciated. In that changed view there is beauty and sometimes different perspective. If I choose to panic instead I only get further lost in the fog and will need extra time to reorient myself afterwards.

Today I stood calm in the fog and soaked it in. As it has slowly lifted I’m seeing the view I’ve known has been there the whole time and I have a different and deeper appreciation for it.

Thanks!!!

Sometimes I have to wonder where exactly my eagworms come from…  I’m not a huge country fan, not by a long shot.  Regardless, I’ve had a specific song stuck in my head over the past week and change.  Ever since driving back with the boys it’s been fading in and out of the back of my brain.  Even tonight as I sat down on the couch with my laptop and started thinking about my blog tonight it popped right back in…  and I couldn’t help but smile as I heard it in my head (and then fired it up on YouTube).

Not the greatest song ever, there lyrics aren’t overly intense, or anything specifically awesome about the song, but it still just makes me smile and be thankful to be alive to enjoy the day.  I hear it and I smile, I even sing along at certain lines that make me laugh to myself because I totally understand the feeling (though I need to buy a Harley first):

Well, I might go get me a new tattoo
Or take my old Harley for three day cruise
Might even grow me a fu man chu

And it’s a great day to be alive…

Ahh…  I love ear worms like this that make me smile, regardless of how goofy the reasons or songs might be!

Thanks!!!

To be clear, yes, I still talk to my dad even though he’s been gone for almost a year and a half.  There are still times I swear I can hear his voice in my head and heart.

There’ve been several moments today when something was brought up by either the boys or Becky that my dad / Grandpa Pete is probably laughing or calling you names right now.  Each time I’ve smiled because they were right on the money.  Whether it was when I was frustrated with one of the boys, made a silly mistake, or just had one of those moments I was reminded of my dad and knew that they were 100% right on the money… Dad totally would have been saying something or laughing and shaking his head.

The day has been totally packed from sun up until now, outside of about 30 minutes that I had to myself.  Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my time running with Becky, grocery shopping with her, running to Menards with the boys, putting up Christmas lights, planning a Cub Scout meeting, and then heading up for a dinner with friends in Winona – it’s been an awesome day.  In the 30 minutes of time to myself I went up to my workshop to put wheels on the base of an old tool from my dad.

As I was struggling with unforeseen challenges with what should have been a very simple task I paused and chuckled to myself.  After taking a deep breath I proceeded to talk to Dad while I was trying to get it back on track.  It felt so good to say the things I would’ve said to him on the phone as my blood pressure went up.  Just like I always he’d give me a hard time and then help walk me off the ledge.  While I didn’t hear his responses with my ears I did hear him in my heart.  It felt like he was there with me and he helped me take a deep breath and appreciate all that I have around me.  I can’t even being to say how wonderful that felt and how full of joy my heart is as I think of it.

Two years ago on this day Dad helped me out on what was our last project together in our house – tiling the bathroom floor the day after Thanksgiving in 2016.  It’s almost three years ago to the day that we worked together (with Gavin) to help him build some cabinets in his garage.  Spending a little time in my workshop talking with him today was exactly what the doctor ordered and I’m thankful for every moment of it.

Thanks!!!