🆒 10 Things Grateful, plus meager efforts to write again

Just a stormtrooper trying to steal Tim Tebow’s thunder.

I’m in a spot with not enough time to finish this, but also not so little time I can’t start.

And that’s sort of been the calling card in my life lately. Again, were this blog a goldfish in a bowl, it’d be floating belly-up. Interestingly, I feel better equipped to handle a hectic life than ever. And life is still keeping me away from this space.

Not entirely.

I’ve kept up (mostly) every day with the gratitude journal, so there’s plenty of material. Hopefully, that’ll get finished tonight after my boys’ soccer training and Camdyn’s teams’, when that Monster Energy drink kicks in somewhere between here and the Lowe’s Y.

I’m grateful to have a spot to return to and also for the Speedy Gonzales combo at Casa Grande, our new regular spot for team lunches.

But blogging and tacos are stalwarts of gratitude for me. It feels like you and I have some catching up to do. Please leave your gratitude and shit at the end of my gratitudes and shit, and we can all be grateful together.

Is it breakfast time yet?

1-Practicing yoga when I don’t feel it. I had lots of excuses this morning: Too tired, it’s too hot, my feet are cold, the mat is too matty. I did it anyway, and I’m glad. Momentum can be sexy but give me some gritty traction any time to start my day.

2-The reasons to start up again. For many things. This blog. My journal. Better health. Healthier relationships. Relationships that benefit us both. Both work and play. Play, scheduled. Scheduled time for writing. Writing from my heart, head, and soul.

3-The innovators and the kind ones. We all know them. Those will cool ideas we can pour into. The ones who find a way to make everyone near feel comfortable. They’re not common and they’re not easy to imitate, but when you find the real thing …

Madison and Camdyn horsing around in team shirts. I always get them team shirts. Aren’t they cute?

4-Meditation becoming automatic. I’m nearing 230 consecutive days of meditating (with a scare or three in between – a couple of midnight meditations!) The number means nothing, but the commitment to self-care means everything.

5-A challenge to a possible path for myself. As I approach the age my father learned he had leukemia, health has become paramount. Finally. He could do nothing about cancer, and neither can I, really. But there is plenty I can do something about.

6-Hayden’s happiness (and a trip home.) She glowed when she walked through the door. Ms. Independent takes care of business, which can make a dad feel shuffled out of the mix. I’m awfully proud she’s taking control of her days and kicking ass at it.

My phone autocorrects to Madisutt when I try to type Madison, here with Sutton.

7-Thought-provoking questions and answers. Man, they make the world go ‘round. Them, and tacos. And you can’t contrive either. Not all conversations go all places, but the ones that do? They can transform both parties. You just have to trust and participate.

8-Praying again with Hayden in mind. I’m awful at praying. I stopped praying for the Rockies before Independence Day. I haven’t started praying about the Broncos. But when Hayden left for school, I found myself seeking an audience with my Home Boy, God.

9-Jennifer, for my Target schedule. My calendar looks like a cheap bookshelf with a ton of copies of War and Peace sagging its boards. Jennifer masterfully navigates my full-time, my coaching, and even sprinkles in not-asked-for downtime to keep me alive.

Caffeine. Mmm.

10-The moment I start to dig in. It should always be earlier, but when it happens, it’s 100. Nothing is insurmountable even if I can’t surmount it in one day. The only way through is through, my friends. Let’s get this.

So what are you all grateful for these days?

-30-

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. – Denis Waitley