Happy Sunday Everyone:
This might be a little hard to follow for new readers but interesting to me none the less-
So, this is what I wrote yesterday (Saturday 3/26), when I had a little time in the morning, just this first paragraph-
“You ever have those moments where you have this unimaginable level of gratitude hit you over the head? It happened to me Friday Night. Had dinner with my mom, Jack, & Thomas (Kim’s out of town, Jack’s in town). After I dropped my mom off, driving home solo, and I was crushed by this crazy amount of gratitude that almost brought me to tears. I’m driving thinking “what the f was that”. What just happened? I started thinking about the amount of people I have in my life who help me get through every day. Goes back to the thought about relational vs. transactional, and what we put out in the world, and what we get in return”.
This morning (3/27) i re-read it and thought-this is too sappy to continue on with. Then I thought, I think I’ll skip Sunday Thoughts today. Then my buddy Dayton popped into my head in saying a while back “don’t skip Sunday thoughts, just go into the arsenal and repost if you don’t feel up to a new one”(i have over 500 at this point). First one that popped up was titled “Looking through someone else’s lens“. Here is the first paragraph from 3 years ago.
Our family calls October “Marcktober”. Kim’s birthday is the 17th, my dad’s the 18th, Jack (16) today, and Thomas (14) tomorrow. My dad just turned 75. We were having dinner at their house. I asked him how is birthday was and he casually said he had reached out to his heart doctor and back doctor and thanked them again for what they did for him 6-7 years ago. I’ll skip the details, but it was bad. Both doctors told him he had made their day, one asked him to join him for drinks. Why is this important? People don’t get thanked enough. Just because something happened in the past doesn’t mean you shouldn’t appreciate it today. He called them because he was sitting there reflecting at 75 how good he feels and their involvement with it, so he reached out. A 2nd point about my dad (picture below) and my recent realization (at 45) is how important it is to take care of yourself. Not everyone has the luxury of a clean bill of health, but if you have one, it doesn’t last forever, and how you treat yourself today matters when you’re 75. I have a newfound realization of this and will do something with it, not so much as a chore but something I deserve to do for myself. My dad is very much enjoying the fruits of his labor, and in large part because he took care of himself along the way.
Back to today-3/27/2023-Sunday Morning-
I try not to swear on anything but when I tell you it’s the first post i randomly opened, I’m telling the truth. The fact that I wasn’t going to hit send because my first paragraph was too sappy, then I hop on a post 3 years ago talking about my dad showing gratitude to doctors who helped him, well I think that’s pretty damn cool. Of course, ironic that he also passed in perfect health while holding a pitching wedge in his hand but that’s not the point today. The point is my first paragraph. I am a massive believer in what you give is what you get. I think of the people in my life who are the biggest givers are also the biggest getters. It’s not material (although sometimes), it’s the size of their lives, it’s the impact they have on the people they interact with, could be family, could be strangers, but it’s consistent.
So, a little sappy, perhaps, but if we spent our days making someone else’s day, in everything we did, and how we conducted ourselves…pretty good recipe for a life well lived and a simple road map to follow. Give/Receive.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!