Throughout my day of hiking (see the next section) I was working on taking pictures using some of the new things I’ve been learning and thought I was making progress. As it turns out, I was making progress, though not as I had intended! So many of the photos I took were totally blur and not what I’d intended, a few of the settings were off and I thought I would skip the tripod and shoot by hand. So the learning continues! Nothing like the sting of mistake to fuel the learning for the next time.
Appreciation:
I took the day off today and headed out to one of my favorite local-ish hiking areas, Pikes Peak State Park in McGregor, IA. Out the door just after 5am I was able to get to the park and where I wanted to be before sunrise. In addition to taking pictures I relaxed, soaked in the beautiful sights (& sounds), and slowly sipped my coffee and enjoyed every moment.
After putting my coffee mug away I knocked out about a dozen miles in the park and walked all the trails I’ve wanted to cover in past visits. It was just the deer, eagles, and I in the woods, the only people I encountered on the trail were as I was within eye shot of my car. Such a wonderfully relaxing way to get my brain back in the right state of mind.
Everything in life can be worked out while walking in the woods. The fresh air, the trees, the wildlife, and all the wonderful views, including frozen waterfalls, bring a level of stillness that can help us see all of life so much more clearly. I am beyond grateful for making the time needed to get my brain in the right place.
Presence:
Standing in the woods, all alone, relaxing and enjoying the sights and sounds all around me. Of all of the moments there is one in particular that really jumps out. When I was watching the sunrise slowly paint the sky I was serenaded by the music of the ice on the Mississippi River slowly expanding and popping. It echoed through the valley and was a perfect soundtrack to the sunrise!
If we want to live out our dreams we have to first dream them and then plan for them. Dream them, write them down, plan for them, and then make them happen. Today was a reminder to pause and plan in order to make things happen.
Appreciation:
Another dream / bucket list item is in the hopper and ready to go this year! Last year Dominic and I hiked in Patagonia. Becky and I hiked across the Grand Canyon in October. Gavin and I just got our permits to hike the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park in Canada this summer! Another hiking dream to be knocked off this year, soooo pumped!!!
While I was focused on setting up our backpacking permits this morning I switched gears completely on my drive to work and back. Another subset of big dreams I have involve the ocean. In order to keep stoking those flames I’ve gone back to a favorite book of mine, Deep by James Nestor. Getting lost in the stories and science of the ocean was a wonderful balance to all of the mountain focus of the morning!
There is only so much one person can do, but there is so much more many can do. Don’t carry the burden alone, share it with those willing and offering to help. Allow them the opportunity to help others, allow yourself the opportunity to accomplish more together than alone.
Appreciation:
Life is full of choices. Some very large, some seemingly insignificant. In each of those choices we choose who we are. Each choice shapes us and molds us. Each can be undone, but each can also slowly add mass to our being. Some choices we seemingly don’t even make, the inertia of life more easily pulls us towards certain decisions. Regardless, we have the opportunity to choose how we respond to each and every single opportunity to decide. May we choose wisely, with intention, and accept all the decisions lead us to. We always have a choice to make, including how we respond to the choices we make.
Presence:
My past couple of days of drives to and from Winona for work have been opportunities to pause and view the majesty of the Driftless. As I’ve passed by the small valleys I’m able to see the frozen waterfalls normally hidden by the leaves of trees now barren. With no foliage the secret twists and turns of small creeks share their secrets, allow a view into their natural beauty normally unseen.
These views make me appreciate this area all the more, increase my desire to hike throughout the woods, to lose myself in the wonder of the Driftless.
Man overcomes himself, affirms himself, and realizes himself in the struggle towards the summit, toward the absolute. In the extreme tension of the struggle, on the frontier of death, the universe disappears and drops away beneath us. Space, time, fear, suffering, no longer exist. Everything then becomes quite simple. As on the crest of a wave, or in the heart of a cyclone, we are strangely calm —not the calm of emptiness, but the heart of action itself. Then we know with absolute certainty that there is something indestructible in us, against which nothing shall prevail.
A flame so kindled can never be extinguished. When we have lost everything it is then we find ourselves most rich.
Maurice Herzog
Appreciation:
Iceland has become a part of my being. My travels to the land of fire and ice have fueled my imagination in unprecedented ways while also creating lifelong memories shared with friends and family. Being here a third time is rejuvenating, my soul is at ease and so comfortably at home. So grateful for the opportunity to be here again, I will appreciate every single moment of it!
Presence:
Within hours of arriving in Iceland we saw the eruption! The pics don’t do justice to just how incredible it was to see lava spurting from the Earth!
Technology can really help us build connections when used correctly. Today we were able to FaceTime with each of the boys, yesterday we did the same with all four of us at the same time, even though we’re in different states and continents currently! Gavin was able to share pictures and jokes via our favorite social media messenger app. Throughout the day Dominic, Gavin, and I shared music we each enjoyed. Gavin sent all of us pics of all the sights he has seen in Germany. Becky and I used technology the right way for us while hiking, we shut it off completely and enjoyed conversation without electronics. When used the right way (and turned off often), what a gift technology is!
Appreciation:
This afternoon I was removing some old boards form our deck. It was build by Dad and I about twenty years ago and one of my projects for next year is to build a new deck. As I started taking it apart this afternoon I couldn’t help but think back often to the time I spent with Dad building it in the first place. I initially felt a little sad about taking apart something we’d built together, but I quickly realized that what we built together many years ago was not what I was taking apart now. This was only the deck, old beaten up and weathered boards. What we’d built back then were poignant memories of working together, of enjoying each other’s company, and of spending time with each other. The boards may be removed, but the memories not be erased.
So many moments of learning to work together as we built that deck! We learned about how much wood we could actually load into his pickup. We then found out that there was a weird policy at the store we bought it from and one of us had to stay with half the load while the other delivered the first load, unloaded it at the house, and then drove back. I personally learned why it is not a good idea to pull out too rapidly with a truck bed full of decking materials. Dad learned how much he would have appreciated having a cell phone to figure out what was taking me so long to come back for the second load as I was re-loading the lumber into the truck from off the pavement in a somewhat busy road. As you can imagine, as we traded stories afterwards we laughed and laughed! What wonderful memories the entire project was!
The things we build with our hands will eventually age and turn into dust and ash. The time we spend with loved ones making memories will burn in our souls forever.
Presence:
I kind of feel like this is becoming a bit of a broken record, but getting outside and hiking the trails with Becky to start off the day is pretty epic! Nothing quite like the fresh air and exercise while enjoying the views from the bluffs. Certainly my happy place, the trails. A couple of specific moments really stuck out. Standing atop Miller’s Bluff and taking in the view of the city below and river, woods, and bluff surrounding. Catching a spectacular fall scent form the leaves, almost a spicy old cigar box kind of smell (you gotta trust me, it is a wonderful aroma!). Throw in focused time with Becky and I talking as we hike and I couldn’t ask for much more than that!
This afternoon I had an awesomely in depth conversation with my friend, Brian, on the topics of leadership and life. Initially he had reached out with a question, but I quickly found he was helping me find answers to questions and feelings I’ve had over the past year. What was especially insightful to me was his willingness to open up and share so much, he just shared where he was at. His openness was truly inspiring. As I reflect on the conversation I can’t help but realize he summed up my awe in a follow up text.
Life feels different when you bring others in!
Brian B
How often do I carry the burden myself rather than sharing it? When am I too nervous about how others may view me to share how I am really doing and thinking? Why do I sometimes struggle to ask for help when I am in need of it? One would think I would know better by age 47, heck, I even wrote about this very topic in my book about losing Dad!
Today I’m very grateful for the reminder to open up, to share my heart openly, and to bring others in. We all have so much in common and we can all help lighten each other’s loads. Thank you for a conversation I needed more than I imagined today Brian!
Appreciation:
Due to our vacation my sons held back on giving me a Father’s Day gift until this evening. There is no question it was well worth the wait! Not gonna lie, there may have been a little bit of awesome leaking out of my eyes as I took it in and read the quote they added.
It was a map of the world, complete with pins of all the places I’ve been – and color coded based on who was with on the trip. In the bottom left corner was one of my all time favorite quotes by Jim Valvano, one I used in my blog the Father’s Day less than a week after Dad passed away.
My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.
Jim Valvano
Throw in some very heartfelt and handcrafted Father’s Day cards from the boys and I was definitely feeling the love. Between the boys and Becky it was quite the way to lead into the weekend!
In addition to the initial fun of the gift we all got an epic bonus present… time to dream as a family as we looked at all the spaces without pins and started dreaming up some additional crazy ideas and plans for the future. Just a hunch, but I’d bet on a trip to a little place called Mount Kilimanjaro at some point in the not too distant future 😉
Thank you Becky and the boys for making me extra loved for a belated Father’s Day, I’m beyond blessed to ahve you each in my life!!!
Presence:
There’s a moment, maybe better put as a series of moments, from our time in Sequoia National Park which has been with me often in the past week. As we walked the trail amongst the massive sequoias I wandered in awe of the enormity of the titans towering over me. My mind and soul struggled to comprehend all they had experienced in the two to three THOUSAND years of life on earth.
The lyrics which have resonated the most are these:
Somewhere down the road is a place that we can go where everyone And everything is divine And when we’re all awake, we can finally make and end of these Divisions in our minds
Far beyond those walls, gleaming black and white Further than our false schemes of wrong and right Is a field where we can walk Leaving all our names behind
I will meet you there, beyond the pines
Thrice, Beyond the Pines
The feeling of hiking in the giant sequoias felt like I was walking in heaven, in paradise. There was zero stress or need or frustration, only awe and peace and gratitude and joy and love. How much more joyful and full of love would our world be if we all took time to go “beyond the pines” once in a while? To pause, breathe in the fresh pine scented air, feel the cool breeze on our face, and look in awe at the wondrous gifts the world has been given?
This is the specific tree I would like to have some of my ashes scattered at when my time is complete, it is marked in my Garmin Earthmate GPS as “Perfect Seq-MK ash” It was the most perfect and beautiful sequoia I saw on our trip to Sequoia National Park, and it was just far enough off the busiest paths to have the eternal quiet I would liek to enjoy.
Take photos almost constantly. Don’t let the lens get in the way of the experience itself, rather, allow it to become an extension of oneself. This way we are both 100% present in the moment AND we have the embers of memory to rekindle the fires when we view the photos. One well timed picture can light up an entire inferno of wonderful memories. As I’ve been reviewing the photos from our vacation my heart has been warmed many times by the flames of memory.
Appreciation:
Many years ago in a hotel room in San Francisco on a work trip I came across a quote which has stuck with me. The Marriott brand hotel had a beautiful travel magazine sharing experiences they had available and amongst the incredible adventures was this nugget which has stuck with me ever since:
Travel lets us see ourselves in a new way. With our minds free to dream, goals become clearer, moments grow richer, and we return home fuller than when we left.
Marriott Bonvoy
Another travel adventure has been had by my family and I. The time away has allowed me to dream bigger, to start putting together some bigger goals. The moments I’ve share with my family are so much more vivid and rich. I’m definitely returning home much fuller than when I left.
Travel is an opportunity to create space in our lives to intentionally focus on awe and wonder. I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity to take this time traveling with my family.
So many moments strung together over a week and a half, each a gift to each other, a new inside joke, a shared experience, a moment of awe together, love shared amongst family. Nothing quite like travel to create the space for an increased level of awareness with family!
With selling our boat there were two big goals we had – sell it quickly rather than drag on the process and get a fair price for it. We did our research on the set up and set the price very fair. When I posted it this morning I wasn’t sure what to expect. Within two hours we had almost a dozen offers!
While part of me questioned whether I priced it too low or not I remembered to pause and consider the goal. Get it sold quickly and at a fair price. The asking price we threw out there was very fair and I would have been happy to get it. With as quickly as the offers came in I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have priced it lower. When this thought came up I just kept going back to the initial goal, why second guess what I thought was fair from the beginning?
The entire process has been a wonderful opportunity to learn about myself and my values. So thankful for remembering to set goals when I have the benefit of extra time, less emotion, and a clear head. In the heat of the moment it is so easy to second guess and reconsider, remember to think ahead and trust the plan.
Appreciation:
Selling the boat has been a bittersweet process. While it is time to move on as the boys have outgrown it and we want to move on to other water based adventures (canoeing and kayaking), there are so many family stories and memories tied up in the boat. For the past 14-ish years we’ve spent a ton of our spare summer time on boat as a family soaking up the sun, playing in the sand, and splashing in the water. Wrapping up this chapter brings back so many memories and emotion.
Who’d ever have thought you could go through a sort of grieving process over the loss of a boat? For sure, the metal itself isn’t a big deal, just the memories it symbolizes. When I remember that it is so much easier to let it go. The memories will live on regardless of if have it, and now someone else will have the opportunity to create more memories with their family.
Here’s to 14 years of a vessel for our family fun and bonding!
Presence:
Is there any better place to eat a family meal than outside on the deck? The weather today was PERFECT and we ate both lunch and supper outside in the sun. Gotta love how much better the food tastes when it is eaten outside!
Okay, I’m totally breaking from the normal script today. Instead of focusing on Growth, Appreciation, and Presence I’m focused on the awesome yoga practice Becky and I went to at Root Down Yoga. Due to Gavin’s driving lesson tomorrow night we moved our Monday Yoga Date Night to Sunday. Getting that time away for the two of us to share something we love was an incredible way to wrap up the weekend.
All of the teachers at Root Down are outstanding and all have their “normal-ish” practice that they take us through. I appreciate how each one throws out slightly different twists to keep us on our toes from practice to practice. With Jessie leading the class today I had a pretty solid idea of what I was in for, but I was totally mistaken in a really positive way.
When we walked into the studio we had fun talking with Jessie about my trip to Patagonia, something that will be more relevant in a moment. It kicked in some fun travel memories before I got to my mat.
Jessie’s class was totally NOT what I expected at all! She had a different rhythm and cadence that helped me stay focused. There were different poses strung together and my mind had zero chance to wander as all my attention stayed on my breathing and making the appropriate movements. Part way through she switched from leading a series of poses with our left legs after we’d started with the normal right leg starts earlier. Towards the end there was a new position I’d never tried before. By the end I caught myself smiling as I could only imagine what lay ahead!
Throughout the entire class she was her awesomely normal super positive, upbeat, high energy, humorous, and epically supportive self! It was the Jessie who always causes us to enter the studio with a smile of anticipation and leave with an even bigger smile of a great workout and more positive outlook.
That trail had so many similar twists and turns! It started in a cattle pasture, goes up a rocky hill, dips into a freaking rain forest, crosses over blue rivers whenever it feels like it, twists into an old growth forest, kicks into a rocky and almost Hixon Forest in La Crosse feel, turns into a borderline bouldering session, and then switches between sand, rock, and boulders until you make the final climb of well over 1,000′ of elevation gain in less than three quarters of a mile. Did I mention the views of a river valley, massive glaciers, and unreal rock formations throughout? By the end you are rewarded with one of the most spectacular views, a lake separating you from massive 8,000’+ tall sheer granite cliffs. The beginning of the hike gets you smiling at the prospect of the sights in front of you. The next six and a half miles keep you guessing about what is around each corner while you’re level of joy continues to increase. The final view leaves you speechless and in a state of awe. It’s an epic wild ride of joy and awe!
Today’s yoga session led by Jessie was so much like that! We started with smiles, worked along the path and enjoyed all the twists and turns and never knew what would come next, and were then rewarded with an awesome yoga session that increased our already high levels of joy.
Jessie Patagonia – Dude… for reals. That was EPIC today!!! Thank you for not only leading an awesome session, but for bringing back some incredible travel memories!!! You’ve got to start planning your trip to the other side of the world to experience why I’m only calling you Jessie Patagonia moving forward 😉 Thanks for sharing your awesomeness with us today!!!
I’ve seen this before, but it struck a very different chord in me today and had a profoundly positive impact on how I chose to spend my day.
“No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself”
Seneca
This morning I started reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new book, Be Useful. Honestly, it has been blowing my mind page after page. So many examples of what focus and hard work can create in our lives. My workout this evening was improved as a result of the stories he shared. This quote was one of the most concise ways to summarize the first half of this book.
Appreciation:
From the start today has been a day which was very much off balance – and somehow that helped make the rest of day a very productive one. There have been plot twists, changes in plans, curveballs, and any other cliche you want to toss out there. When I think back there are at least six different events which easily could have disrupted my day and caused serious challenge. Instead, I chose to adapt.
Early in the morning I decided I would flow with the day rather than attempt to impose my will upon it. I saw it as an opportunity to challenge myself to stay focused on my goals for the day while simultaneously flowing and bending like a sapling on a windy day. After the second change of pace I caught myself smiling and enjoying the struggle. How wild is that?
It’s bizarre, but even in a whirlwind of chaos and change there is a choice to make. Push back against the gusts and break, let go and blow away, or become one with the wind and allow it to shift us while still staying grounded. When we choose to stay grounded but flexible we can find ways to be productive towards our goals AND adapt to what’s going on around… AND enjoy the ride at the same time!
Today was a test, one I rather enjoyed. I never would have chosen the surprises along the way, but they really created an opportunity for me to learn and grow, a situation full of discomfort yet so full of opportunity. I chose positivity, flexibility, adaptability, and focus and I smiled the entire way. At one point I caught myself shaking my head while laughing to myself and asking, “what next” – not in frustration, but almost the crazy anticipation of the next opportunity to flex my “choose positivity” muscles. It was wild.
A topsy turvy day for sure, but one in which I grew, smiled, and made progress towards my goals.
Presence:
For a variety of reasons, my mind has gone back to Alaska today. Specifically, the day we helped Dad reach his 50th state. That moment shared with family, remains one of the most touching of my life. What a moment it was, a moment of both stillness, presence, and love.
Thankful for Forty 