Mistakes, Struggles, Regrets, Hikes, Dancing Machines

“We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.”
— Steve Maraboli

Hello, I missed you yesterday; I got up and began penning some soup and had some things come up and thought, why not do a two-day batch.  So here is the rue from yesterday, I’ll add an update, and we can both get on our way.

Yesterday:

Well, good morning, happy Labor Day, a day we celebrate labor so much we don’t do it. I have always thought I should work twice as hard on this day, but society asks that we relax, and I’m a big rule follower!  Another great day yesterday; we took our pup to Meyers Ranch and walked two miles before heading to the Perk to get some lunch.  We then went to the grocery store and then enjoyed an afternoon at home.  Bay and I played cards while my wife cooked; we slept like champs. It was an early night.

We’re going to meet some friends for a hike today, then get lunch, and then return home to cook some ribs and close out the holiday weekend. But, of course, this day is always the official end of summer, fall starts tomorrow, and I’m not sure if the Jerry Lewis telethon is still on, but as a kid, that was a marker that it was time to go back to school.

As a child, I was not too fond of school, I was not interested in the things they taught, it was not challenging, so I was not a great student. Some folks hang on to their high school years as the best days of their life; it was a springboard for me to my best life. However, college was challenging, so I performed well there, even earning a master’s degree after undergrad.

I should share that the prospects of my graduating college were low; my father always nudged me to become a barber; he thought that would be an excellent job for me. However, I had no interest in cutting hair; I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up; if you told the 20-year-old me I would one day live on top of a mountain, I would have laughed in your face.  I would always live surrounded by cornfields; that’s how limiting my vision was as a young man.

We need to give kids a break who don’t do so well in school.  We all have gifts that are not aligned with the traditional STEM teachings; I think a more immersive approach to school might be a solution for those not interested in learning the basics taught in today’s education system.  We need more trades folks; why not develop a test and allow each student to take a test that identifies their interests and then build a track highlighting their talents and gifts?

With the death of shopping malls, we will have a lot of space to fill with nontraditional education models. So put classrooms in the old shops that focus on technology, using your hands, building things, welding, and let the next generation have an improved educational experience.  I’m just an old white guy, but I think that might be a good idea.

I’m a little late in my soup creation.  My wife and I bought a propane fire pit for our deck, and last night we could not get the thing working.  We both woke up with a mission to figure out why our new unit did not work.  We broke it down, found we needed a triple-A battery, and we now have a working fire pit on our deck filled with lava rocks.  It’s cool and will be an excellent place to hang in the chilly fall evenings.  

Well, folks, I have chores to complete; I’m the designated vacuum professional with a dog that sheds about 3 pounds of white hair a day; I must use my three vacuum’s to pick up the hair. So, it’s a daily 15 minute part of my morning. But, I enjoy it, my wife has her chores, we’ve settled into a nice routine.

Today:

We went on an epic hike yesterday with our friends Keith and Kathy; they brought Ozzie and Bear, we had PVHT and Bay. Then, we went to lunch at JJ Madwells, and Allie joined us, came home, napped, and then Allie, K, and K came back with O and B, and we had an enormous feast of ribs, veggies, pasta salad, and some wine.

After dinner, a dance party broke out with all hitting our living room dance floor, the bean bags were moved, and we learned our friends are dancing machines. Since it was a school night, everyone left early, we got to bed at a reasonable time, and I’m ready to fire up another work week.  My wife and I did plan a little getaway this weekend; we will head to Telluride for some hiking and exploration.

We are in CO for a couple more weeks, then we fly back to Indy for a few events, client meetings, then back to CO, and then we will winter in Indiana.  They are starting to demo our deck today, new construction this week, new deck in a couple of weeks; then our hot tub gets installed.  A lot of our friends are asking why we would choose to winter in Indiana.  Our middle kid gets married, and it’s a busy time for our company.  We need to be back in the Midwest to help our team get through our busy time.

Well, that is my best update; I know it’s not a lot of substance, but after a holiday weekend, I am getting my bearings back.  Bay headed back to the condo; my wife is up, we have a couple of projects today.  Life is a blessing; we are in a good place with many friends, a growing company, and a peaceful existence.  I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe with some social commentary; for now, I’m just checking in for my future self.

“We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.”
— Steve Maraboli