Tag: Weekend

Day 9 – 2024 Gratitude Challenge

Have you had a moment to reflect on your day yesterday? Did you share a smile with someone? How did they respond? Take a moment to ponder these three questions and see what insights they spark.

Nature offers a variety of wonders, from beautiful sunrises to stunning sunsets and starry night skies where you can see the Milky Way. We can even appreciate the beauty in cloud formations and the surrounding landscape. It can be tempting to let the weather—something we cannot control—affect our attitudes, which is within our control. Today’s forecast calls for cloudsm rain and cool temperatures. For many, this is less than ideal. Ultimately, you have the choice to decide whether you will allow the weather or any other external factors to influence your mindset.

The challenge today is to focus on what we appreciate about nature. I have listed several examples above. What do you appreciate about nature?

A second challenge is to combine this with a previous day’s challenge. Try to complete both challenges.

As Many With as Without


“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

 

Time is an interesting concept. Today is a day that marks a significant moment in my life. Many years ago, on this day, I was born into this world. As I grow older, I am reminded that each birthday is a precious gift and should be celebrated.

This weekend, I’m just not feeling the birthday cheer. It’s the eighth time my birthday has landed on a Saturday, and it always sends me on a trip down memory lane.

On a beautifully sunny birthday, I was enjoying a morning round of golf with two new friends in a new town. As we strolled off the green of our 12th hole and headed towards the 13th tee, a young man in a golf cart handed me an urgent note from the pro shop. Written in striking red ink, the note read, “Paramedics called. Call your mom at home.”

This was before cell phones became prevalent. As I was at the furthest point on the course from the clubhouse, I rode back to the clubhouse with the young man. While I did not know exactly what had happened, I knew this ride would be a turning point in my life.

As I reached the clubhouse, I called my mother and received devastating news. She informed me that my father had passed away and asked me to return home immediately. It was difficult to comprehend – I had just hugged him less than 12 hours before. It felt like a surreal and heartbreaking moment. The next day was Father’s Day.

I continue to feel a deep sense of sadness about my father not being here. I often find myself wishing he could have met my wife and sons, and for them to have had the opportunity to meet him.

Today feels like a significant turning point. My father has been absent from my life for as long as he was present. In recent years, I’ve pondered how I would feel. I can confirm that little has changed as I write this.

So forgive me if I don’t want to celebrate or play golf this weekend. Maybe I will have a shot whisky or glass of wine in his honor, but there won’t be a party.

Day 12 Gratitude Challenge

Yesterday was a very good day. I list the reasons why:

1. Got to see my youngest son and have dinner with him

2. Watched a great basketball game between Creighton and North Dakota State University

3. The football team at my alma mater won a big football game to clinch the conference championship outright for the first time since 1959.

4. Michigan best Penn State.

5. Great late fall weather.

Todays challenge is a wild card challenge. Find three things to be grateful for. Have a great Sunday!

Day 13 Gratitude Challenge

“The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little energy and effort as possible.”

— James Clear

It’s been almost two weeks since we started. Have you noticed any difference in your your attitude? Are you happier? Are you more appreciative? Do people respond to your gratitude?

One of my goals is to make gratitude a habit. It would be great if everyone did but I can only change myself. Habits take time. But it isn’t hard to incorporate gratitude into your routine. If you have read and completed all the challenges so far, you are on your way to a habit.

Todays find time and reflect. Reflect upon the progress you have made since the beginning of the challenge. Be grateful for what has happened. Notice what is working? How have you changed? Are you complaining less? Focused on what you do rather than what others do? What didn’t work? How can you improve? Just as sports teams make adjustments at halftime, so should you. SKOL Vikings

Weekend Thoughts

At the beginning of the year, I purchased two daily calendars: “Golf Tip-A-Day” and “YOU are a BADASS” One calendar provides inspiration, motivation, and guidance in life. The other calendar provides guidance for golf which is a hobby of mine in the summer.

Today, the comments appeared to intersect. One said “If it’s something you want to do, don’t wait until you’re less busy or richer or ‘ready’ or twenty pounds lighter. Start right now. You’ll never be this young again.”  The tile of the other is “Thinking of making a swing change?”  It advises that “If you are thinking of changing your swing, you should first make sure that you are doing the right thing.”  It goes on to caution that “[o]ften, change is difficult to accept as it may feel awkward and uncomfortable.” 

At first glance, the two appear to conflict with one saying act now and the other don’t act until you’re sure. Yet, a deeper analysis shows they complement each other. There is good advice in each. Here is my take. First, determine where you need to make a change and make the decision to change. Second, investigate the most effective way for you with the help of experts and/or people who made a similar change. Third, act and implement the change. Finally, understand that change is uncomfortable. Have a great weekend.

Forgiveness

“Forgiveness does not change the past but it does enlarge the future.” Paul Lewis Boese

I’ve written about the importance of focus and facts. The why and the how are essential to creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In future posts, I will write more on each.

Today, I want to briefly touch on the topic that brings it all together. Forgiveness is essential if you are going to succeed. There are too many distractions, temptations, stressors, and other factors which cause us to lose focus. You will stumble and make mistakes in this journey. You must be able to move on when this happens.

According to one dictionary, forgiveness is “to stop feeling anger about (something) : to forgive someone for (something wrong)” Christian tradition talks about the importance of forgiving others who commit sins. The forgiveness allows you to move past the incident in which you were wronged. Forgiving others is essential to a healthy life.

But this post is not about forgiving others. Others didn’t force you to make unhealthy choices. You make the unhealthy choices. You make mistakes. You must learn to forgive yourself when you make the mistakes. Learn from your mistakes but don’t dwell. Learning to forgive yourself slows you to grow your future and move on.

This time of year is challenging. Between the temptation of Christmas parties and Christmas cookies, weight loss is hard. I remember this time last year. I had made good progress in my weight loss journey. Then came Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I deviated from my meal plan. I ate mostly foods that are not healthy. They tasted good but they weren’t healthy.

After Christmas, I stepped on the scale and was devastated. I had gained 8 pounds in a matter of a couple of days. At that moment, I could have given up and said it wasn’t worth it. Instead, I forgave myself for over indulging. I reminded myself that spending time with people that I love eating good food is a good thing. Further, Christmas only comes once a year (except on the Hallmark channel). Fix the problem and move on.

I recommitted to my journey and began anew. I focused on eating healthy again. I explored why such a significant weight gain occurred in such a short period of time. Most of the weight was retained water. I’ve learned that some foods, particularly prepackaged and restaurant foods, contain a lot of sodium. When I eat this kind of food, I quickly gain a large amount of weight. Also, cheese. Really good cheese.

I continued to drink my daily water, eat natural foods, and control my portions. The result was instant. Within a few days, the weight I had gained over Christmas was gone. And I was back on the path to a healthy life. It set me back a week but that’s okay. What is a week compared to a lifetime.

I had a similar experience a couple weekends ago. My wife and I went out of town to visit our son at college. We ate out, drank beer, and had a wonderful time. Yet, upon my return home I was discouraged when I stepped on the scale. But again, I forgave myself and committed to eating healthy again. Things were back to normal within a couple of days.

As you wind through the Christmas season, take moments to enjoy friends and family. Go ahead and eat that cookie. Just don’t eat three cookies. And, if you do eat three cookies, forgive yourself and move on. Your goal should be excellence not perfection.

Rainy Day Thoughts

Earlier this week, it was 70+ degrees and sunny. Today it is 40 degrees and rainy. A common descriptive phrase where I live is that we are the land of infinite variety. We also say if you don’t like the weather, wait 48 hours.

What if we all took a similar approach to all aspects of life. In other words, rather than reacting negatively to the current situation, we accepted it for what it was and looked forward to an optimistic the future?

So far, I have not written about the specific foods and “diet” that has lead to a nearly 70 pound weight loss. Rather, I have spent most of the time writing about mindset. This has been intentional.

For me, I attribute my success primarily to a change in my mind set and focus. From the beginning, I believed the next 48 hours, 30 days, and 3 months would bring a better result. You need to pay attention to what you’re doing today. You also need to have the patience and ability to look beyond what happens today.

Set aside time this weekend, whether it be 15, 30, or 60 minutes, to think about the person you want to be in the future. Write it down and commit to it. Next week, I’ll write about the food system I chose to follow. Have A great weekend!

Persist, Pivot or Concede

“Persist, pivot, or concede. It’s up to us, our choice every time.”
― Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights

I started reading Matthew McConaughey’s book this week. The above quote jumped out at me. When faced obstacles and challenges, we have three choices. Last week, for the first time since George W Bush was President, the woman’s soccer team at my alma mater defeated a longtime conference foe ending an 18 game losing streak. I was fortunate to be there to capture this picture of the woman who scored the winning goal.

The picture, the winning goal, and my weight loss are all the result of persistent and steady pursuit of a goal. I could have given up of weight loss many times. The soccer team could have conceded. Neither of us did. We persisted and pivoted until we found something that worked. Both of us are celebrating our success.

Take time this weekend to examine The obstacles and challenges in your life. What is the best strategy. Persist? Pivot? Concede? To me, it seems obvious that two of these strategies will lead to more success than the other.