No, we didn’t do any crazy feats of strength.  We didn’t run a long distance or bike up a huge bluff.  We didn’t lift weights or anything too difficult.  What we did do was a couple of things as a family that involved being up and moving, and it felt awesome!

To start off the day we hit yoga as a family.  While Gavin split off to the kid’s session, Dominic, Becky & I sweated it out in the hot yoga session.  Afterwards we were all pretty relaxed, chill, and had that nice post exercise glow.

After lunch the four of us took the dogs for a nice hour long walk and enjoyed the feel of being in the sun.  After a couple of weeks of cold and yucky weather it was so peaceful to get some fresh air.  While we walked Gavin slogged through every puddle he could find.  Dominic took Sky and ran with her for a while to help her get the energy out of her system.  It felt awesome!

While we may not have been talking the whole time in either case we were spending time with each other and enjoying and appreciating the activity.  I think all four of us needed to have a day in which we got out and moved around and that’s exactly what we did.  These peaceful days are amongst my favorite…  time with my family and enjoying each other’s company.

Thanks!!! 

Today’s Facebook “On This Day” post was one that made me smile.  It is the following blog post:

Yup, that was it.  That was by far the closest I’ve come to skipping a day.  Of all of the almost 500 days, Day 108 is one that will live in infamy.  It was a rough day, a rough week, it was cold and dark, and I was just in a terrible mood.  I was tired of things not working out the way I wanted.  There was NOTHING that I was thankful for that day.

That’s when Becky saved the day (& everyday thereafter).  I was tempted to quit, but she helped push me forward.  As I kept throwing out bullshit excuse after bullshit excuse when she was pushing and pushing for me to come up with something she finally stumbled onto the heated car seats.  “FINE!  That’s what I’ll be thankful for today and then I can quit tomorrow,” was what the voice in my head was saying.  I then proceeded to write the worst post in the history of the blog.

It may be the worst, but quite honestly it may be one of the few I hold closest to my heart.  I had a choice that day.  Quit or figure out what I was doing wrong that caused this day to happen.  Thanks to support from Becky and the grit that I had to keep going quitting was never really an option.

As I thought about it while laying in bed I knew what I had to do.  The first handful of days were relatively easy to come up with what I was thankful for.  There was almost a mental list that I kind of had prepped and ready and that list was pretty much exhausted.  From this point forward I had to start watching for things to be thankful for from the point I woke up until the time I went to bed.  I had to be more vigilant and really seek out things to be thankful for.  This was the turning point for me, this was when I started truly living the purpose of the blog.

In almost everyday since I’ve had to struggle to pick just one thing to be thankful for!  It’s crazy, but when I finally really started seeking out things to be thankful for I was almost crushed by the huge number of things that I should appreciate.  How crazy, just by changing my perspective I was now overwhelmed by the number of positive things around me!  Nothing else changed, just my perspective…  and all because I made the conscious decision to change.  The same decision that all of us can make.

As an interesting side note, I don’t remember why Day 108 sucked so bad!  I can’t recall any of what was going on in my life at that time, yet in the moment it seemed absolutely brutal.  Isn’t it funny, the things that we stress about fade into the background and are easily forgotten, but that which we are thankful for endures.

Today I’m thankful for the worst bringing out the best.  Had I not had a day in which I was that frustrated I would have probably continued to drift until this blog died with nothing but a whimper.  By facing that moment I was forced to make a decision, and I made the right one.

Thanks!!!

Ahh…  the red circle of carpet that will one day be mine…

Tonight Becky and I went on a date to see the TEDx Zumbro River Pitch Night in Rochester.  The event allowed 24 local speakers three minutes to pitch the idea of their TEDx Talk, with the one or two getting the most votes moving on to the actual event in May.

One day I will present at TED, but today was not the day.  Taking my failure as an opportunity to learn I went as a student and took notes on what the speakers did well and what I could do differently to be more effective.  Growth mindset kept me focused on finding ways to improve as opposed to getting frustrated.

In the long run I’m glad I had a chance to see what the event looked like, that’ll help me get my mind right when I get my talk polished enough to present. 

I may not have been presenting, but I’m pretty fired up and ready to go as this was the dream fuel I needed!

Thanks!!!

When something pops up a couple of times over the course of a week I try to stop and pay attention.  Today while I was listening to Resilience by Eric Greitens (thanks to Jeremy for the recommendation!) there was a comment about how ancient Roman men would be sure to say good night to their kids because there was a high infant mortality rate and for all they knew that could be the last time they saw their child.  Really Kreiling, what the hell?  Trying to depress us today?  Nope, quite the opposite!  I hope everyone who reads this takes a quick moment to sneak in one more quick hug, smooch, or say “I love you”to someone they love and appreciate tonight.

When I heard this today I stopped the book and smiled.  There’s a little family tradition that is so automatic it could almost slip past appreciation everyday.  That said, there has yet to be a time that I didn’t appreciate it for at least a fleeting moment.  Every night when I’m home I give the boys a hug, tuck them in bed, and tell them I love them.  They respond in kind (except for tucking me in, but based on how early we sometimes go to bed that will probably start happening before too long!).  Every time they would leave the house, be it going to a friend’s house, going to school, whatever, they get a hug and I tell them I love them and they respond in kind.  Becky always gets a kiss and an “I love you” before either of us leave the house, and there’s always a kiss ready when we return.

The reason for this might seem morbid, but who knows if that time that one of us walk out the door or go to bed will be the last time we have with each other.  The odds are definitely in our favor that we’ll do this over and over again for many decades, but just in case…  If something would ever happen to one of us I want to make sure that there is never a question, never a shadow of doubt, that they are loved.  Knowing that helps me take a deep breath and not stress about all the “what ifs” in the world.  There are many things in life that I am powerless to control, but one thing that I can control is my taking a moment to make sure they know that I love them.

I love my family and don’t want to even think about losing one of them.  Knowing that we have this little family tradition helps me minimize my worries and take solace in knowing they know that I love and appreciate them.  It’s nice that it has become so automatic that I don’t even have to think about doing it, but yet has stayed so meaningful that I always appreciate each hug, each kiss, and every “I love you.”

Thanks!!!

LOL – sometimes life just doesn’t go to script, does it?  I was in the middle of typing up my blog today, a post about a book that I just finished today that I greatly enjoyed, when a little red headed ball of energy came out of nowhere and started asking to play a card game with me.  My first response was no, I was too busy typing my blog.  When asked again my response was still no.  Shortly after saying no I paused from my typing and just thought for a moment.

That’s when it hit me.  Why do I continue to do this blog after 470 days?  To bring me happiness, to keep me thankful for the gifts I have, to keep me grounded in wanting what I have versus having what I want.  The most precious thing I have in life is time, and I decided to really appreciate it.

Slapping my laptop closed I jumped into an epic game of King Kong with Gavin.  Dominic heard the commotion, saw how much fun we were having and then he joined in.  Next thing we knew we were have crazed games of King Kong between the three of us, all acting stupid and laughing hysterically while we traded out cards, literally ripped them out of each other’s hands, and all bent the rules…  It was AWESOME!!!

At one point I had to pause and get pictures of the two yahoo’s before we fired up another game.  It was a pretty awesome way to end a great day.

I continue to be amazed at how many ways this blog has brought a little extra joy to my life, I’m thankful I stopped to remember why I did it tonight.

Thanks!!!

It was kind of crazy, but last night I was realizing how thankful I was to have a full 5 day work week.  I know, it’s borderline insane, but I really love what I do and I’m happy to have more time to do it this week.

Today I was whittling down my task list and before I knew it almost the entire day flew by.  In the blink of an eye it was here and gone.  In retrospect I’m pretty sure I was smiling pretty much the whole time!

All of the favorite things of my job were involved.  Working with my managers on sales plans.  Developing team members.  Prepping a client proposal.  Finishing a couple of training proposals.  Interacting with my team.  Strategizing sales plans.  Sharing my vision of our future.  I was engaged from start to finish and it felt awesome!

Don’t mistake my long term plans, I’m super pumped about retiring at some point to a life of traveling, inventing, creating and annoying Becky.  In the meantime, days like today remind me of how thankful I am to have a career that I love, a career in which I can get lost in a state of flow and the days fly by.

Thanks!!!

In the last day of our first weekend at home with no plans in month or so there was a lot accomplished.  Between more family games, a trip to Menards, and watching the Packers kick some butt it was nice to get back to a normal (though increasingly abnormal) weekend.  Amongst all of that it would have been pretty tough to try to decide on what to write about today had it not been for a comment made by each of the boys today at different times without hearing what the other said.

I had a lot of fun making a puzzle box for my mom to put her Christmas present in.  It was the type of project that I really enjoy, something new, very different, mechanical, an idea that required thought and improvising, and something that could be done in a weekend.  With the recency of that in my head I bought a book on how to make puzzle boxes using my bandsaw.  When were in Belize about a year ago we picked up a couple of small boxes that are similar to what I wanted to attempt to make so I picked up the materials I needed (and a new saw blade, was recently reminded of how important that is!) and started to go to town.

The very first step was getting the saw blade on and getting everything tuned on my bandsaw.  I’d never done that before and the book walked through what seemed to be a very simple process.  Sadly for this guy, it was a pain in the butt and I’m still working on it.  For whatever reason the saw blade kept slowly twisting in an arc to the left as I attempted to saw my 4×4 pine.  I tried just about everything and just couldn’t get it to work and got pretty frustrated.

Gavin was downstairs with me while I was working on this and was both watching me and walking very fast on the treadmill.  At one point I informed him that I was going to try one more thing before I quit.  “But you can’t quit Dad, we’re not quitters, you’ll figure it out”  was his immediate reply.  I explained to him that I wasn’t actually “quitting,” I was taking a breather and walking away from it for a little while.  As I explained to him that sometimes it’s best to walk away from something when you’re frustrated and then go back to it later I couldn’t help but smile.  Gavin had been listening all of those times I’ve told him to never quit just because something got tough.

As I was tucking Dominic into bed a few hours later I saw his puzzle box on his table.  Picking it up I was sliding it apart when I explained to Dominic that this was what I was trying to make today.  “Don’t worry Dad, you’ll figure it out.”  It was a statement of fact, and there wasn’t a bit of doubt to his comment.  Again I just smiled, Dominic was listening all of those times that I told him that he could figure anything out, sometimes it just took a little work.

As I walked back up the stairs that’s when it hit me that I heard both of those things from them at different times that echoed two of my core values, grit and having a growth mindset.  I believe that anything is possible if you have the passion and stick to it-ness and are open to learning (& failing) along the way.  Over the years the boys have been picking that up from Becky and I, and I am thankful that they occasionally listen!

Thanks!!!

This was the part of the lazy Saturday I’ve been looking forward to most – family game night!  Pull out the extra chunks of the dining room table, take the gloves off, and battle it out for family domination!

Good times are still happening…  Becky’s shuffling up the next game and we’re back at it!

Thanks!!!

The past few weekends have been full of fun with family.  First we had Christmas with my brother’s family and my dad & Nancy.  Then we had Christmas with Becky’s family.  Then we had Christmas with my brother’s family and my mom & StepBrad.  Three weekends of staying up late, having a lot of fun, eating way too much, and a lot of travel.

This weekend?  Here’s a preview of the entire weekend…

For those of you scoring at home, this is me on the couch in my living with my shoeless feet up, already wearing pajama pants, and typing my blog.  After a couple of last things are wrapped up it’ll be family movie night on the couch.  Tomorrow will involve sleeping in, some errands (but not too many), church, pizza, and family game night.  Sunday will be another day at home, sleeping in, chilling out, and watching the Packers from the comfort of our own living room.

Ahh…  The joys of staying at home!

Thanks!!!

 

Today’s post was already written in my head on my drive home.  It was going to be a little dark, introspective, maybe even bordering on brooding.  There was something that really caught me off guard in a moment of self reflection and I was thankful for the realization.  That was the plan for today’s blog…  but sometimes I find it is better to go off script. 🙂

After getting home and eating supper quickly Becky and I headed over to Root Down for a nice little hot yoga date.  The heat felt great, I was feeling more relaxed and flexible than usual, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered.  As the session wrapped up and I was laying on my back with my eyes closed, relaxed and focused on my slow and easy breathing…

Next thing I knew I was on the porch in Hawaii with Becky a few years back.  The ocean air was lightly blowing in my face.  We were relaxed on the reclining deck chair, snuggled up, not doing anything.  Sitting, relaxing, taking in the slowly darkening sky over rolling ocean waves.  Not thinking about the future or the past, just soaking in every possible second of the present.  There was no stress, no worry, no responsibility, only the moment.  The palm trees slowly swaying with the breeze, the only sounds the water folding in upon itself and on the rocks surrounding the champagne pools.  It was paradise, perfection, and home.

One moment I was there again tonight, and then I was brought back to now as the instructor told us to start moving our fingers and toes.  Back to real life, back to reality.  But for a moment, all was right in the world and I was in my own personal heaven.  For that moment of bliss I am incredibly thankful.

When I leave this life if anyone wants to see me, check out the porch in Kapoho…  I’ll be there.

Thanks!!!