Thank you

A few of my blogs lately have been about blogging.....and, yes you guessed it, this one is heading down that path as well. It has not been flowing for me lately like it was. I am learning about myself and human nature in my recent challenge, so I am grateful for it. Tonight I have decided to write a thank you blog. Whoever is reading this blog right now, I am writing this for you. I do not take it for granted that you are reading my blog. And, knowing that you are reading my blog, not only inspires me to continue writing, it inspires me to continue growing and making a difference on this planet. By supporting my blog, you are supporting me and I thank you. It reminds me of how important it is to encourage people, to acknowledge them, to appreciate them.....it's like fuel for the soul. When we support what people are up to in life and encourage them to move forward, we are doing our part to make this planet a better place. OK, I know, I know....you're thinking "It's just a blog dude, settle down"....I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate you appreciating me....thank you. Oh, and babe...special thanks to you, my biggest supporter always....I love you.....

Commitment

People have different views of what commitment means. I do believe that you can't be kinda, sorta committed. I am either committed or not, right? Take this blog, for instance. I have been at a training all day and I am tired and have to get up early again and I really feel like just going to bed....I know, "somebody call the whaaambulance". My point is, I have been writing this blog every day since January 1, no matter what. So, if I didn't write it this one time, does that mean I was committed to writing the blog and now I'm not? Yes, it means that tonight I am committed to going to sleep and not to writing my blog and tomorrow I can get committed to writing the blog again. Commitment is a choice in the moment, I think....lol. This is all really individual perspectives anyway...makes sense to me, though. So, why bother writing the blog than, if I am tired and can just recommit tomorrow? Because I made a long term commitment to blog every day for a year and I choose to be my commitment in this moment. That being said, I am now choosing to commit to sleeping. Sweet dreams ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

A cup of smiles to get me going

I flew into Orlando yesterday for a Transitions training. I'm staying with Marie's sister, her husband and three kids. This morning I woke up to the sound of little voices and giggles. I got up and walked out of my room and was greatet by a big smile and a loud "Uncle Stephen's up! "Then I got hugs and more smiles. I sat at the table and watched as they ate breakfast and, of course, made a little bit of a mess. Then, it was my mission to do whatever I could to get them to smile and laugh or hear little Samantha say "moooawah" (more) or Alex say "what awr yew duwing unwkle stewphen?" Who needs coffee? I know when this is your every morning routine, it may be a challenge at times to find the joy in it amidst the pounding headache....I do get that. I am a visitor and I am leaving in two days. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves to see the joy in what we have. This reminds me to see the joy in what I have and appreciate every moment of it.

Two sides

It's always been fascinating to me how two people can experience the exact same event and have completely different experiences. Not only do we experience the situation differently, but we also hear the explanation of the situation differently than the person is intending to express it. Did you follow that? You're not supposed to really, that's the point. Yet we argue about it, go back and forth, trying desperately to get our point across, to be heard. And, of course we are not being heard because guess what the other person wants?....to be heard! And their "a lot" is 2 and your "a lot" is 8 and, by the way, in the midst of it all, you happen to be wearing the same color shirt of the kid that beat them up in the third grade....you don't stand a chance of being heard. The thing I have been slow in realizing is this....if my side is my side, then I already know what it is, so why am I spending so much time talking about it. Why not listen to one I know nothing about....because I'm a stubborn human sometimes. So, there are two sides to every story and all the growth and learning is in the other one.

Writers block

This is my 62nd straight blog, beginning from January 1 and what I have decided to write about today is not knowing what to write about.....stay with me. I read an interview with a famous writer once and he said that writers block isn't that you have nothing to write, it's just that you don't like anything you write. When I began writing, I really didn't have anything to write about, so maybe that only applies to famous writers. That is a wake up call for me though. If, in a full 24 hour period, about 18 of those hours being awake, I have nothing new to write about, it's time to step it up...again. My commitment is to create a new story every day, to learn something every day, create a new adventure, have a new experience, make a new discovery. That's living after all, isn't it? And why would any of us just want to live some days and take off on others? So, no I'm not letting myself off the hook for having one day where I had nothing to write about because I deserve to have a big day every day, we all do. Hey wait, I guess I did learn something today.....make every day something to write about!

The 11th impression

A friend and a great man passed away yesterday. This was not a man who I would say made a great first impression. My guess would be that many people walked away from him after the first meeting thinking, "Who does he think he is?" or something to that affect. This was a man who called it like he saw it and didn't apologize for it. My first and probably tenth impression of him was not a great one. I am so grateful that I had an opportunity for the 11th impression. This was a man who cared more about people than what they thought of him. Was he always right? Was he always effective? Did his message always get through? Of course not. The thing is that he had the courage to voice his opinion and he was coming from love. I remember being in a meeting the first time I met him and thinking why doesn't this guy just back off and leave me alone? The answer, I would later find out was because he cared, even though he didn't know me. "You never know how far you can go, unless you are willing to go too far". Steve Stark was willing to go too far and in the process countless people took a deeper look at themselves and were better for it....including myself. The lesson this great man has left with me is to not be afraid to take in feedback from all sources and to trust that I may have something to offer to someone else and to not be afraid to say it. Thank you Steve.....you will be missed.

GPS

I am apparently a bit behind with the times. I have been driving around aimlessly using manual directions, watching for street signs and exit numbers and actually using a map when I get off course....what a caveman I have been! Well, a friend of ours left their GPS behind and we have been using it for the past few weeks. How have I survived? I put in the address where I'm going and I start driving along and a woman in a very sophisticated British accent says "in 2.3 miles, bear left, then exit left"I know some of you are laughing at me because you have had one of these things for years now, but I'm excited! then I find out that they need it back this week....what? No more sophisticated British accent direction lady? Are you kidding me? How will I get around? We need to go buy a GPS! To think that we once lived without cell phones and computers and Ipods....really! And one day we will be saying "remember when we had to actually manually drive our cars?" Human conditioning is amazing! Just last month I was getting around the old fashioned way.....googling an address and having an itemized printout within 60 seconds. Now I hear that I'm losing "my" GPS and it's like somebody poked my eyes out and gave me a lobotomy. I remember before I had a cell phone, I had about 30 phone numbers memorized in my head, now I had to use a memory technique to remember my wife's number. If we suddenly lost all modern technology , we would all be walking around like zombies...for a little while. Then, soon after, you know what would happen? We would figure out how to live without it. That's how amazing humans are. We only think that we are dependant on it. We can live without technology, we just choose not to, and I'm grateful that we do.