happiness

Work As A Team

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This week my wife and I have been working on several daily life decisions ranging from getting our next cat, to updating our insurance, to future spending plans.  While these topics have created lots of discussion, I have come away feeling extremely grateful that we are both on the same team.

Through all the discussions and decisions we’ve had and made, we’ve both participated with the mindset that we are on the same team and are heading in the same direction… together.  I’m reminded this past week how much I appreciate working as a team with her.  Even when we have our differences, we understand that we both share the same last name, which makes us a team.  We also realize that teams perform better when they work together.

So who’s on your team?  How have you been well working with them lately?  If you haven’t been performing very well as a team, perhaps it’s time to decide to start rowing in the same direction to achieve your common goals.  If your team has been performing well, be sure to let your teammate know how much you appreciate them.

Taking Care of What You Have

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Over the past year I’ve had several people I know, including me, experience an unexpected medical event.  I also work at a hospital, so I’m constantly reminded of the infections, injuries, and illnesses that can plague our health.  While this may all sound gloomy, I think there’s’ a bright point to keep in mind:

While there are enough bad things that can happen to us that are beyond our control, there are significant actions we can take to increase the likelihood of a healthy life.

It’s amazing how so much of what we do, over a long period of time, has an impact on our health.  Consider the following healthy habits:

  • Eating a healthy diet
  • Getting plenty of sleep
  • Exercising regularly
  • Drinking lots of water
  • Enjoying food in moderation
  • Visiting the doctor for any health abnormalities
  • Getting preventative checkups

While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, these healthy habits, when done together, over years and decades lead to good health.  And here’s the cool part… we get to choose whether or not we do them!   No one gets to decide whether or not we live a healthy life.  That decision is totally up to us!

We also get to decide, consciously or not, if we want to observe unhealthy lifestyle choices.  By not deciding to take care of our health, we are essentially deciding to neglect it and choose poor health as an alternative.

Why would we voluntarily choose to surrender our good health to sloppy decision making.  There are enough outside forces at work against our health.  Let’s not allow our own apathy toward our good health to become one of them.

Younger Teachers

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“The older I get, the younger my teachers become.”  ~Unknown

As a life-long learner, I’m grateful for the people who have been (and currently are) willing to teach me.  Whether they’ve written a book I’ve read, created a podcast, or sat down next to me to explain something, their willingness to teach me has enriched my live.  I’m especially grateful that these teachers are often younger than I am.

As someone who’s been around for over half a century, I couldn’t imagine how adversely impacted my learning would be if I only listened to people who were older than me.  If I carried the belief that there’s nothing I can learn from anyone who’s younger than me, I’d be willingly disconnecting myself from the wisdom and knowledge of a significant portion of the world population.  What an awful way to move through life!

If sense a negative attitude bubbling up when you have the opportunity to learn from someone younger, check yourself.  You may be on the cusp of throwing away a perfectly good learning experience.

How foolish it would be to miss an opportunity to learn something valuable, simply because pride and ego deafen your ears to voices younger than your own.

Being Intentional

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On New Year’s Day, my wife and I spent some time discussing the events and activities we’d like to do in 2020.  At one point as we were listing off places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do, my wife said, “We need to get these on the calendar.”  She was exactly right!  So that’s what we did.

It’s amazing to me how much we can miss out on (exciting things that we actually want to do) simply because we are not intentional about getting them scheduled and making them happen.  Something changed when we wrote these things on the calendar.  This simple act affirmed our commitment to them.  By putting the event/activity on the calendar, we’ve said, “Yes, this is something we will do!”

So often our failure to commit the time to something is the major obstacle that keeps it from being realized.  What is it that you’d like to do in 2020?  Is there somewhere you’d like to go or something you’d like to accomplish?  If so, I’d encourage you to get it scheduled before your calendar fills up.

Commit time to those things that are important for you to achieve in 2020.  Otherwise you’ll get to December 31, 2020 and realize that your lack of being intentional has caused you to miss out on what otherwise might have been an spectacular year.

A Thought on Giving Advice

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“The best way to succeed in life is to act on the advice you give others.”     ~ Unknown

Have you ever observed a behavior in another person and found yourself either thinking, or actually telling them, how you feel they could have better-handled the situation?  If so, here’s a news flash for you (and for me as well!): Unless someone asks you for your opinion, they aren’t interested in hearing your advice.

I don’t normally appreciate unsolicited advice from others, so why would I think someone else would be receptive to unsolicited advice from me?

My best option is to take my own advice and work on myself versus trying to fix others.  Because ultimately, the only person I have control over… is me.

Next Time

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I like working to improve different areas of my life.  Whether it’s learning a skill, interacting with others, maintaining healthy habits, or following the teachings of Jesus, there are so many opportunities to get better every day.  I find that encouraging!

However, occasionally (actually, more often than I’d like to admit) I find myself acting in a way that is contrary to the improvements I’m trying to make.  To keep from feeling frustrated and defeated when this happens, I remind myself that although I missed the mark this time, I will do better next time.

I’m so grateful that missing the mark doesn’t condemn us to forever-failure status.  We have so many opportunities to do better, because there is always a “next time” right around the corner.

If you’re working to make improvements in your life, but find you’ve been missing the mark, that’s OK!  Simply think about what hitting the mark would look like, and commit to doing that the next time.

Make the Most of the Next 12 Months  

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Several years ago I got a birthday card from my co-workers.  It was a nice card filled with kind words of birthday cheer.  Of all the notes written, there was one encouraging message that really stood out.  It simply read, “Make the most of the next 12 months, for you will never be this age again!”

I’d never thought of birthdays like that.  Sure, I know how the calendar works, but I‘d never really considered that we get the privilege of being a certain age for only 12 months.  This encouraging note reminded me that I get to decide how I want to spend the next 12 months of my lives.

It’s easy to think of birthdays as a reminder that we’re getting older, but my co-worker’s wise words continue to remind me that we have a role to play in what we do with the days between our birthdays.  We can choose to become “old” by complaining that we’re getting old, or we can choose to be grateful for the days we have and get about the business of living them well.  It’s absolutely up to us.

Even Though It Sucks

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On Monday we took our 5 year old Siamese cat Chewy to the vet to be put to sleep.  He was suffering with the last stages of heart disease.  Chewy is the big one in the picture below.

Chewy

As my wife and I noticed Chewy getting worse we made 2 decisions:

  1. To love him well, all the way to the end
  2. To put him down before he was in pain or having trouble getting around

Chewy was a very lovable and affectionate cat, so the first decision was easy to follow through on.  For me, loving him well meant not only petting him and continuing to say nice things to him during his last days, it also meant being with him until his very last heart beat in the veterinarian’s office.  He brought me a tremendous amount of joy, so it was my privilege to usher him out with love.

Following through on the second decision sucked.  We could tell that Chewy’s time had come, but that didn’t make it any easier.  It was hard to scoop him up in my arms and take him to the vet, knowing that for him, it would be a one way trip.  Although we knew it was the right thing to do, it didn’t feel very good.

Letting him go beyond this point, because we didn’t want to do what was hard, would have been cruel to Chewy and would have gone against the first decision we made, which was to love him well to the end.

While we miss Chewy’s presence, we are grateful that we followed through with our decision regarding when to take him in.  Even though it sucked.

Changing The Plan

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On a recent trip to Maine, my wife and I made a stop at Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.  We hadn’t known about either of these attractions when we started, but rather came upon them while driving from Acadia to Camden.  Since they looked intriguing, we changed our plans and stopped to check them out.

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The Penobscot Narrows Bridge was unique because you could take an elevator to an observation deck at the top of the structure and see all across Maine.  It was especially scenic with all the fall colors no display.  Both of these attractions were quite remarkable and well worth the stop.

Fort Knox was a Revolution era fort that thwarted efforts of the British navy vessels that attempted to sail up the Penobscot River.  It was interesting to learn about this fort and explore the building and grounds.  I never knew something like this existed.

I’m glad we were not solely focused on getting from point A to point B, but were willing to change out plans when something interesting presented itself.   The Journey was made more memorable by our willingness to change up the plan.

Keeping Busyness In Check

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I like being busy.  Not busy just for the sake of being busy, but busy doing things that are meaningful and fulfilling.  To me, life is more fun when our days are full of activities that give us purpose.  However, it’s crucial that we remember to make time for those important things that can easily get lost or overlooked in the midst of our day-to-day busyness.

Some important things are extremely easy to put off because of how busy we are.  Consider how easy it is to tell ourselves, “When I’m not so busy I need to:”

  • Make time to connect with my friend…
  • Schedule that annual checkup or routine medical screening
  • Start exercising daily
  • Begin saving for the future
  • Make some healthy changes to my diet
  • Pursue that goal or dream of mine

Our intentions are to do these important things, but the reality is that they often get forgotten or pushed out because we are busy.  The reality is also that putting off these things could have significant negative consequences if they are neglected too long.  Those consequences could be things like:

  • The drifting a part of a once great friendship
  • A once easily preventable/treatable condition has turned into a full blown medical emergency
  • Our health has deteriorated
  • Our lifestyle will drastically change, because we don’t have the resources we need for the future
  • Our goals and dream go unrealized

All because we are too busy to address them today.

Let’s make sure we’re not being so busy today that we neglect the things that will lead to a fulfilling and healthy future.