Godspeed Suzanne 2001 – 2021, Sober October, Who, What, Where is Reading my Work, The Key to Happiness

“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
— Dale Carnegie

Monday morning, 6:09 a.m., coffee is made, the dog has been out and back in, my wife is slow asleep, and my fireplace is kicking out a little heat to keep me warm on this 2nd day of August.  Yesterday was Parker Van Halen’s birthday; we had a big party; I think we had 30 dogs show up, the theme was Snoopy, and everyone dressed as their favorite Snoopy character.   I’m kidding, we didn’t have a party, but it was her first birthday, as best we can tell.

We headed to Aspen Perk, had 10 in our group, another set of our friends had 10 in their group, separated with us outside, and inside, we have a fantastic community of kind, good-hearted folks.  Jack joined us, and he and Allie went on a hike; we had lunch at the Well before heading home; Jack stopped back by for one last visit before heading to Boulder.  After he left, we got some alone time and did what newlyweds do.

We took a nap, then got up and watched some DAVE, then Dangerous Women before heading to bed.  We got another incredible night of sleep.  We are both blessed to have the ability to go to bed and not wake up until morning; our dream machines are in good shape, showing movies while we shut our eyes.

I looked at my Substack stats yesterday; I check them occasionally to see what firms are reading my work.  Where they are reading it from and the job title of my readers.  It is no surprise that most of my readership comes from the insurance industry; some follow for inspiration, others might read to feign rage.  The top job of my readers is salesperson, followed by an executive director, then CEO’s.  The geographic location changes; most days, Indianapolis leads, with Denver in second, India and China are regulars, but yesterday I had a few from Washington D.C.  Yesterday I wrote about my dissatisfaction with where the country is heading; hopefully, my voice was heard; I’m kidding; of course, no one cares about the thoughts and ideas of a mountain top dweller.

But I’ll keep sharing my views, remember this is more for me than you; I’m taking notes of my life class.  I’ve been writing daily for ten years, been writing for over 20; if you put pen to paper, I’ve got over 4 million words associated with my name. So I’m sure if someone bothered to dig, they could find some interesting passages.  I rarely revisit my work; I write it and then let it sit in the ether of the world, hoping to inspire or challenge others to think a different way.  I don’t know many that produce the amount of content I create; it’s a gift, I guess, and some might see it as a curse.

I’ve made friends through my writing; Jack, who spent the weekend, found me through my writing.  His first curiosity was my arrogant photo, the smirk caught his eye, and then he wanted to see “who the hell does this guy think he is?”  And then, we became friends.  I have others that have found me and resonated; I have a friend in China, New York, the East Coast; over 10,000 people follow me, not bad for a kid that grew up in a town of 1300.

We have a busy week, but a soft day today.  I’ve got some meditation work to do this morning.  I’ve got some appointments this afternoon; I know we will do a two-mile hike with the pup and spend some time gardening; we plan to create three flower beds using rocks from our property; I think we might spend some time on that project today.  We plan to have them ready for fall.  I’ve got a couple of client projects I’m working on; I need to get a couple of new Sherpa clients, time to do a little prospecting.

We lost another appliance.  We have had a few losses lately; our coffee maker died last week for a day only to pull a Lazarus and return the following day.  But this past week, our hot tub, Suzanne, decided she no longer wanted to be part of our world.  She provided us many good times; we will miss you, Suzy, God Speed. So this week we will go and buy a new tub and spend our evenings looking at the city’s lights.

It is not lost on me that I am blessed beyond measure.  Karma is real; if you are kind and do good for others, the universe will return treasure in the form of love, joy, and happiness.  I can’t think of one thing in my life that needs adjustment; if my life is a machine, it’s glistening.  But I know that a storm will come, and I’m ready for that storm.  Nothing on the horizon, no clouds, no rain in the forecast, but storms are inevitable. So when the storm comes, I’ll be ready to turn it into a gift and opportunity.

My wife and I both have a 64 oz YETI.  My daily ritual is to get up, and as the coffee is being made, I fill the YETI up with ice from our commercial ice machine and then fill it with clean, crisp mountain water.  I drink 4 or 5 a day; hydration is key to peak performance.  I’m in good shape, not great, but at this point in my life, good is an excellent place to be.  We’re talking about starting to train for next year’s Indy Mini; our thought is that our valley run will be a breeze if we train in the mountains.

Our daughter gets married in November; after thanksgiving, I need to drop about ten pounds to fit in my suit. So we do sober October, and I’ll lose the weight then, holding steady at a buck 80 for now.  My friends Allie and Kathy are doing sober August; I wish them well; it’s a gauntlet, but a good gauntlet.  If you want to join us on our sober journey, message me, and I’ll add you to our list.   It is nice to have the community support you when doing something a little unique.

Well, that will do it; I think I’ve said what I need to say.  What do you need to say that you are not saying? I’ll remind you that kindness is contagious, and your actions speak louder than your words.  So be nice, be the person you wanted to be as a young boy or girl; it’s never too late to become your best self and each day is an opportunity to make one small change that will propel you to being that person that would inspire and be an example for your younger self.  And if your mental health is not good, seek health; mental health is equally important to physical health.

“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
— Dale Carnegie