Happy Sunday Everyone-
I opened up a package on Friday Night. I figured it was some Marckwardt acquisition from Amazon, seeing as half my income goes there now. Instead, it was a card, the front of the card was a hand drawn buffalo (not bad) with my name in the middle of it. When I opened it, it was some of kindest words I could read, not to be shared here, followed by a T-shirt with a buffalo on it that said, “into the storm”. The gifter was Eric K., a friend I used to coach with. Eric is a human specimen, his shoulders start right above his ears. He’s a hall of fame college athlete, played in MLB. He’s handsome, highly successful, tough as all get up, and probably considered by some as shy. Put all those words together and he can come off as intimidating, and probably not the person that’s writing handwritten, emotionally charged notes, with meaningful gifts attached to it. He’s also sent me two books he thought I’d like in the past 6 months, both of which I’ve read, and loved. I feel a strong connection with Eric in large part because of things like this. Our relationship is distant and impactful. We rarely talk but when we do, it counts, and when he does things like this, I’m reminded of our connection. Most important, it makes me want to be better toward my connection with him i.e., can’t be one- sided.
I almost wrote today’s Sunday Thoughts asking the question of “what have you stopped doing that made you successful in the first place?”. Asking this question and primarily thinking about myself. Eric’s kind gesture was one thing that triggered this, I’ve stopped (or lessened) doing what he just did for me, the extra effort that is involved in staying connected with the people I care most about. A few less handwritten thank you notes….”i’ll just send an email because I don’t know if they still go to the office etc., or I’ll just txt them to the let them know i appreciate them..” We start piling up the excuses of why we’re not doing something we used to do, and it impacts the relationships we have with people, it just does. My hand is up, I’m guilty, and I’m working on it. The bigger people I know execute on the gratitude they have for the relationships they want to keep. I’m lining up the biggest relationships I have in my head right now, people I respect the most, and most of them work hard on their connections. It’s not by chance, and it’s not just by process, its intentional w/ purpose, and it matters.
Thank you for the reminder, Eric!
Have a great rest of your Sunday.