Have you ever met someone who doesn't like their birthday? I found it very weird the first time I met such a person I found out it was their birthday walked up to them and wished them a big happy birthday and they walked right out of the room we were in without saying a word. It was awkward to say the least.
Birthdays are funny things, I view them as my own personal "new year's day". I mean we don't really start a new year on the first of January unless we were born that day. In a few days I'll be in the year 39! When we are younger the doctor checks to see if you are developed for your age. I think this is a good idea, but I'm not sure why we stop. Everyone has expectations and ideas of where we should be at a certain age. So why don't we check to see how we are doing? Probably because we are all adults and make our own choices, but let's face it some adults are real bad at choices.
Now that I've rambled and you are still with me how about something interesting. We measure life in years while we are alive, but when we die our life is measured by what we did or accomplished. Take Abraham Lincoln for example, his life was cut short at 56, but what he did in his years as president made sure his life echoed on for years to come and possibly forever.
So why do we measure life in years, days, hours, etc? I'm sure after 10 people read this post the world will change and we will all measure our lives differently. OK maybe not, I'm not that big of a deal (yet). I may not change the world today, but what about you? If you measured this month with the achievements you made, accomplished goals, good deeds and lessons learned, would it changed how you viewed your time? Would you live differently if you stopped letting the clock drive your life? If you lived forever, what good is time for defining our lives? Since none of us know how much time we have isn't it also pointless to let time define us?
Go live your life, regardless if it make sense in the context of time. Did you spend 8 years in medical school and all you want to do is make cupcakes out of a truck, then go make cupcakes! Time spent is time spent, Wasting more time doing something to improve the time you already wasted seems kind of pointless.
One day this week look at what you did, not how long you did it. Be where you are not when you are.
Random thought for the day out ~
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Time
We waste time, we kill time, we save time. For all the things with do with time it seems most of us don't respect it.
Time is the ultimate and only real currency. When you first start working you make minimum wage or something close. That's usually because of a lack of experience but experience is just time. Experience is the time you spent getting better at something, which is a problem in and of itself. Lots of people spend time on something but never really get better at it. I suck at math and I've done it for years! However I've never spent the time to get better at it, why? Because I didn't find the investment worth it. My time was better spent building a skill that was easier or more fun to get better at or I would use more readily.
Why is any of this important - maybe it isn't maybe you are wasting your time right now. Maybe I'm wasting my time typing this out. Or maybe one person will read this and understand even a little better why time is so important! We take time for granted like we do the air in our lungs.
Time is money - you've heard people say that more than once I'd wager(see what I did there). Well no time is time and your time is converted to money via a business or job. I know I'm not getting to the point! You wouldn't burn a 20 dollar bill would you? Wasting time is wasting life, money and experiences be better shepherds of your time. It is OK to say no. At the end of the day, week, month or year look back and feel good about home you spent the only true thing that matters, time.
Time is the ultimate and only real currency. When you first start working you make minimum wage or something close. That's usually because of a lack of experience but experience is just time. Experience is the time you spent getting better at something, which is a problem in and of itself. Lots of people spend time on something but never really get better at it. I suck at math and I've done it for years! However I've never spent the time to get better at it, why? Because I didn't find the investment worth it. My time was better spent building a skill that was easier or more fun to get better at or I would use more readily.
Why is any of this important - maybe it isn't maybe you are wasting your time right now. Maybe I'm wasting my time typing this out. Or maybe one person will read this and understand even a little better why time is so important! We take time for granted like we do the air in our lungs.
Time is money - you've heard people say that more than once I'd wager(see what I did there). Well no time is time and your time is converted to money via a business or job. I know I'm not getting to the point! You wouldn't burn a 20 dollar bill would you? Wasting time is wasting life, money and experiences be better shepherds of your time. It is OK to say no. At the end of the day, week, month or year look back and feel good about home you spent the only true thing that matters, time.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Just not happening
Well it's been days since my last post. I found I didn't post when I wasn't doing so hot on tracking my month long goals, so much for staying accountable! Honestly a lot has been going on and my goals are still important but I don't think overall they are something to track like calories.
I know if you want to make changes you make them one or two at a time not five at a time and somehow I thought I was going be able to be super human and change all the things all at once. Truth is I didn't need to change all the things. I do want some days to be more focused on some areas of my life but I have to make them integrated into my life not feel bolted on.
We found out my company is going to relocate us five hours back to were we used to live. This is overall great news for a lot of work and personal reasons I won't get into here, but it is going to be stressful. There is a ton of things to be done in a very short amount of time, so my goal :) ? Keep calm and carry on.
I enjoy writing this blog and have some ideas for some upcoming content, but I make no promises. For everyone reading - Thanks. Keep calm and carry on!
I know if you want to make changes you make them one or two at a time not five at a time and somehow I thought I was going be able to be super human and change all the things all at once. Truth is I didn't need to change all the things. I do want some days to be more focused on some areas of my life but I have to make them integrated into my life not feel bolted on.
We found out my company is going to relocate us five hours back to were we used to live. This is overall great news for a lot of work and personal reasons I won't get into here, but it is going to be stressful. There is a ton of things to be done in a very short amount of time, so my goal :) ? Keep calm and carry on.
I enjoy writing this blog and have some ideas for some upcoming content, but I make no promises. For everyone reading - Thanks. Keep calm and carry on!
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Failure is always an option
So I didn't post yesterday or the day before. Yes was unplanned - the day before I was changing gears a little. My plan moving forward is to write about the day before at a time that I can do some actual writing and not when I'm ready for bed.
What happened yesterday? - Well I decide to take the family on an unplanned trip to the Children's Museum in Indy. So I had a high school for time with the kids - diet and exercise were zero. Prayer happened right before bed. The day before that I was feeling really run down so I didn't exercise or do much of anything so diet got a 3 out of 5 for eating healthy but I kept stuffing my face because I was so inactive. Oh and fundraising... yeah I've got some ground to cover there, a lot of ground.
As the title of these post says failure is always an option, but failure isn't a bad thing when we learn. So did I learn anything? Sort of if anything I learned or practice self forgiveness. When I wasn't feeling well working out would have been the wrong thing for my body and that is the whole reason to workout and eat right. Yesterday I learned or practiced living in the moment. I wanted to enjoy the day with my family and we did. You can't live like there is no tomorrow, but you do have to balance that with some fun every once in awhile.
So status update provide, on to some content.
You are what you eat - I'd be willing to be most of you have heard this at some point in your life. As I've gotten older I know this to be more true than false for sure. So let's talk a little about what I eat and why.
Disclaimer: I've been reading a book called How Not to Die .
Most of what I'm going to talk about you can read for yourself. I'm only a couple of chapters in and I'm enjoying it a lot. I picked it up on sale because the title was interesting to me.
In the book the author talks about what foods provide for you. I'm going to break it down to something really simple we need energy from the sun and we get that from plants, either the plants we eat or from the animals that ate the plants. So this is the point I missed with grass feed animals, they eat better food so when you eat them they are better for you! Yes it seems painfully clear now, but I wasn't thinking about it before which is part of our problems as American's we just don't think enough for ourselves(yes that is my opinion, take it or leave I don't care :) )
Back to health - A healthy weight is something most people want and we all need. A tradition diet contains 2000 calories a day, the big take away here is make sure those 2000 calories are providing you the maximum amount of good stuff, vitamins minerals, antioxidants, healthy fats. You don't have to have gross(tasting) food to be healthy. I started eating sweet potatoes because they release sugar in the body in better ways. I don't or I didn't really even liked sweet potatoes, but oddly enough I really like them now! If we are willing acquire a taste for something like beer or coffee, why not healthier foods.
I've got a lot more to say on the topic, but I'll leave you with this today. So far I'm on track for the day!
Here is a picture of breakfast: Half a cup or rolled oats, cinnamon(good source of antioxidants!) and a cup of blueberries(provides the sweet and health benefits instead of processed sugar, it's still sugar, woot!).
What happened yesterday? - Well I decide to take the family on an unplanned trip to the Children's Museum in Indy. So I had a high school for time with the kids - diet and exercise were zero. Prayer happened right before bed. The day before that I was feeling really run down so I didn't exercise or do much of anything so diet got a 3 out of 5 for eating healthy but I kept stuffing my face because I was so inactive. Oh and fundraising... yeah I've got some ground to cover there, a lot of ground.
As the title of these post says failure is always an option, but failure isn't a bad thing when we learn. So did I learn anything? Sort of if anything I learned or practice self forgiveness. When I wasn't feeling well working out would have been the wrong thing for my body and that is the whole reason to workout and eat right. Yesterday I learned or practiced living in the moment. I wanted to enjoy the day with my family and we did. You can't live like there is no tomorrow, but you do have to balance that with some fun every once in awhile.
So status update provide, on to some content.
You are what you eat - I'd be willing to be most of you have heard this at some point in your life. As I've gotten older I know this to be more true than false for sure. So let's talk a little about what I eat and why.
Disclaimer: I've been reading a book called How Not to Die .
Most of what I'm going to talk about you can read for yourself. I'm only a couple of chapters in and I'm enjoying it a lot. I picked it up on sale because the title was interesting to me.
In the book the author talks about what foods provide for you. I'm going to break it down to something really simple we need energy from the sun and we get that from plants, either the plants we eat or from the animals that ate the plants. So this is the point I missed with grass feed animals, they eat better food so when you eat them they are better for you! Yes it seems painfully clear now, but I wasn't thinking about it before which is part of our problems as American's we just don't think enough for ourselves(yes that is my opinion, take it or leave I don't care :) )
Back to health - A healthy weight is something most people want and we all need. A tradition diet contains 2000 calories a day, the big take away here is make sure those 2000 calories are providing you the maximum amount of good stuff, vitamins minerals, antioxidants, healthy fats. You don't have to have gross(tasting) food to be healthy. I started eating sweet potatoes because they release sugar in the body in better ways. I don't or I didn't really even liked sweet potatoes, but oddly enough I really like them now! If we are willing acquire a taste for something like beer or coffee, why not healthier foods.
I've got a lot more to say on the topic, but I'll leave you with this today. So far I'm on track for the day!
Here is a picture of breakfast: Half a cup or rolled oats, cinnamon(good source of antioxidants!) and a cup of blueberries(provides the sweet and health benefits instead of processed sugar, it's still sugar, woot!).
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Day 1
So I'm sleepy and ready for bed so I'm going to make this a quick one!
Day went well:
- Kids wanted to watch AGT so we did that together, I would have liked 1-1 time but we all really enjoy watching shows together so I count that as a win.
- Healthy eating, yup that is a check. Probably ate a little over my calories today, but it was all good for you stuff! I made chicken stuff with spinach tonight and it was pretty darn good.
- Prayer - Yes, but it was just before writing this and not as thought out as I would like it to be. I played video games when I should have been praying!
- Fundraising - Didn't happen today, so I'll double up tomorrow!
- Work, check
- Read - Audio book for 27 mins(one chapter) while I worked out.
Nighty night!
Day went well:
- Kids wanted to watch AGT so we did that together, I would have liked 1-1 time but we all really enjoy watching shows together so I count that as a win.
- Healthy eating, yup that is a check. Probably ate a little over my calories today, but it was all good for you stuff! I made chicken stuff with spinach tonight and it was pretty darn good.
- Prayer - Yes, but it was just before writing this and not as thought out as I would like it to be. I played video games when I should have been praying!
- Fundraising - Didn't happen today, so I'll double up tomorrow!
- Work, check
- Read - Audio book for 27 mins(one chapter) while I worked out.
Nighty night!
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.
It's been awhile, almost a year in fact. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to say, I just didn't really feel like saying it. I'm back in a season of my life that I feel like sharing and think I have something that is worth sharing.
The title of this post may sound familiar. It is a small twist on a famous quote. I choose it for a few reasons, but the main one is because I'm starting something other than just blogging again. I'm bringing back the 30 day challenges! It's been even longer since I did one of these so let's recap. I choose something say blogging and challenge myself to do it for 30 days straight - no cheating or excuses!
Well this 30 day challenge will be a little different. I'm going to have goals, yup more than one, but the challenge is really about being accountable. For 30 days (31 really, let's do this August thing!), I'm going to blog how I'm doing on each one of my daily goals.
So what kind of goals am I going to set? I'm setting goals as if I was my ideal self - this person I want to be but most of the time I'm way too lazy to be.
The title of this post may sound familiar. It is a small twist on a famous quote. I choose it for a few reasons, but the main one is because I'm starting something other than just blogging again. I'm bringing back the 30 day challenges! It's been even longer since I did one of these so let's recap. I choose something say blogging and challenge myself to do it for 30 days straight - no cheating or excuses!
Well this 30 day challenge will be a little different. I'm going to have goals, yup more than one, but the challenge is really about being accountable. For 30 days (31 really, let's do this August thing!), I'm going to blog how I'm doing on each one of my daily goals.
So what kind of goals am I going to set? I'm setting goals as if I was my ideal self - this person I want to be but most of the time I'm way too lazy to be.
- Daily Prayer
- There was a time in my life where this wouldn't have needed to be a goal. That season of my life was really hard. My wife and I were young and broke, but our faith was strong and our friendships with folks were deep and meaningful. Daily prayer was a part of that and I want that in my life again.
- Minimal processed food intake
- This is just the next step in treating my body right. Processed foods should concern you, if they don't I recommend you do more research for yourself. If this goal is unclear it should get cleared up as I track progress and give you a break down of what I eat.
- Exercise 30 minutes/day
- Also didn't need this as a goal a few months ago - I still exercise WAY more than I did a couple of years ago, but not enough to keep the benefits. 30 minutes a day is proven to have HUGE health benefits, so this commitment should never be a burden.
- Read/Audio book - 30 minutes/day
- Good for the brain, plus most books I like teach me something, but fiction is nice too!
- Spend 15 minutes/day/kid, doing whatever they want(within reason)
- I don't spend the amount of 1:1 time with my kids I think I should. We watch TV together and have meals together or go out somewhere. Still I don't think each kid gets enough one on one interaction. The kids would rather hang with friends most days so I figure this one will be one of the harder ones to just let go.
- Fund raise once/day
- Once each day I'll ask someone directly to donate to Extra Life. I HATE asking people for money. I repeat I HATE asking people for money. I feel super awkward asking someone to hand over money they've worked for, for a cause they may not care a thing about. In fact it wasn't until I started doing Extra Life that I would even consider asking for money. Extra Life is the right cause/group for me to support so I do and I'll have to get used to be uncomfortable and awkward.
Well while it isn't a goal I have been doing really well at going to bed and getting up at the same time everyday, YES even on the weekend! So I'm going to call it a night. You'll be hearing from me tomorrow as I report out and you hold me accountable!
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
You're the Star
There are seasons of the year, seasons of our lives and even seasons of TV shows. at face value they may all seem disconnected. The weather outside and how my life stage is going don't match up - but they kind of do. In your life seasons you'll have hot days(great days) and cold days(no so great days) and TV seasons, well they do follow the seasonal calendar for the most part.
What about TV seasons and the seasons of your life? Not related right? Wrong again - you aren't really wrong so don't get down, but do listen to how they relate.
You are in a season of life - maybe you are single or newly married, maybe you just had your first child or just lost a loved one. Maybe you are approaching an big birthday and thinking - what next?
As you look at the season you are in you may find that you notice some themes that match up with some of your favorite TV shows. This isn't really untrue - for example I'm a big fan of the TV The Flash, I don't however run super fast or save people's lives. I do however understand his personal loss and his desire to help others and better himself.
We are the authors of our own TV season - we are the stars. We control the plot as the season progresses. Do we get the girl in the end? Do we save the day? Escape the zombies? Does someone kill Kenny? For the season of your life are you the one writing or are you a supporting cast member in your own series?
The fact is for many of us we know what the plot of our season is and have an idea how we want it to end(aka what we want to accomplish with a given amount of time). How many of us are using each episode to fulfill our plot? Granted every season has some filler episodes, but we a good season of our show should stick to the plot.
If you days and weeks were TV episodes and your goals the plot of a season how would that change your day to day? Why aren't we reaching our goals? Don't wait until next season to bring up your ratings. You have the final say!
Be the hero - get the girl(goal)! You are amazing and nothing will stop you!!
What about TV seasons and the seasons of your life? Not related right? Wrong again - you aren't really wrong so don't get down, but do listen to how they relate.
You are in a season of life - maybe you are single or newly married, maybe you just had your first child or just lost a loved one. Maybe you are approaching an big birthday and thinking - what next?
As you look at the season you are in you may find that you notice some themes that match up with some of your favorite TV shows. This isn't really untrue - for example I'm a big fan of the TV The Flash, I don't however run super fast or save people's lives. I do however understand his personal loss and his desire to help others and better himself.
We are the authors of our own TV season - we are the stars. We control the plot as the season progresses. Do we get the girl in the end? Do we save the day? Escape the zombies? Does someone kill Kenny? For the season of your life are you the one writing or are you a supporting cast member in your own series?
The fact is for many of us we know what the plot of our season is and have an idea how we want it to end(aka what we want to accomplish with a given amount of time). How many of us are using each episode to fulfill our plot? Granted every season has some filler episodes, but we a good season of our show should stick to the plot.
If you days and weeks were TV episodes and your goals the plot of a season how would that change your day to day? Why aren't we reaching our goals? Don't wait until next season to bring up your ratings. You have the final say!
Be the hero - get the girl(goal)! You are amazing and nothing will stop you!!
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