Hi Friend
Another week filled with the unexpected and amazing. Last Saturday was my daughter’s 21st birthday. I went up Friday. We had an amazing dinner and then Saturday morning a fantastic breakfast. On my way home I detoured through Rogers, Arkansas to eat some sushi with an old friend. Then stopped at another friend’s home for a visit before making my way back to Edmond. I like road trips. I like friends.
Monica and John spoke together for two days in Evansville, Indiana. I wanted to be there so badly. They both killed it! I got to speak in Ft. Smith, Arkansas later in the week, which brought a flood of memories back from when my daughter played volleyball. On a sad note, my relationship with a girl I love ended. On an up note, a client and friend who I have done virtual events with for the last three years is finally doing an in-person encounter which I get to be a part of in December!
Friday night I walked around Mitch Park where they have installed a bunch of big Christmas lights. It was the grand opening so families and food trucks, live music, plus a pop-up market abounded. It signifies we are now in the holiday season! It’s the same place Joe and I run at 4:30am and nobody is there then!
SEASONS CHANGE
Everything about this past week seemed to resonate that sentiment. I love the different seasons of life. When my daughter played volleyball and we went to those tournaments, it was such a fun community. Having that unforeseen flashback brought a lot of joy. The struggle with season change is that it means one is ending so a new one can begin.
Sometimes you and I are the ones who make the change and sometimes the change happens to us. Mostly it seems to happen around us, and we get to engage within its shift. Navigating the instability of the transition is vital. We don’t want to get stuck there. It’s like going from one room to the next via a hallway. We aren’t meant to stay in the hallway long. If we do, it becomes disorientating.
NO HALLWAYS
In my former home, where my former wife still lives, there are no hallways. From room-to-room there are only thresholds to cross over. I loved that house. I always loved that attribute about it, because there was no wasted space. Every square foot was livable. I approach life that way. Would it be great if life didn’t have hallways and we just were immediately in the next season? Unlikely.
I don’t make great decisions, but I am a great decision-maker. I can make ’em and move in that direction rather swiftly. It could be because I do a lot of pre-work before the decision and once I conclude what seems best, I go for it. Often too, it’s a step of faith and I have enough experience in life, taking risks, that I know you have to be all-in on the choice, so I am. I refuse to linger in hallways.
How about you, friend? Are you frustrated with life because you’ve lingered too long in a hallway? Get to the next season!
Instigating Ideas…
1. Invite Monica and John to speak for you.
2. If you’re unsettled, look around your life. Are you stuck in a hallway? Move forward.
3. Put up Christmas lights.
4. Welcome change and embrace the new season.
Of course, the hardest part of every season change is leaving the one we’re in behind. What makes it bearable is knowing we lived full-on, full-out and completely gave ourselves in and to that season. We get stuck lingering in the hallway because we yearn to go back to that room and time, if we feel like things are left undone. The problem is it doesn’t exist anymore.
OWNERSHIP MINDSET
That’s one of the reasons I’m so passionate about cultivating an Ownership Mindset. It enables us to be fully present in the moment, season, room – making the most of our current scenario. No one really lives in the past. They just live un-present in the present. I’m incredibly fond of the saying “You must seize the opportunity of a lifetime within the lifetime of the opportunity!” Most don’t, I pray you do.
I hope this week you recognize the season you currently are in and make the most of it. I hope even more, if you’re in transition you don’t set up shop and live there. #KeepMovingForward