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I drove down to Huntsville State Park today (Saturday, 2021.02.06) to volunteer for the Rocky Raccoon 100 with NTTR at the Damnation aid station. The photo is from nine years ago, the last time I was there, and the morning of my first 50 mile race. Nine years ago was a slugfest of a day – the first two of three 17 mile loops went ridiculously well for me. The third – oh man, I slowly, painfully victory lapped it into one of the last 50 mile finisher spots of the race. 252nd. 17:31:18. ...

A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life. – Christopher K. Germer A practical example: be sweet to yourself. Remind yourself as many times as you need throughout the day, every day. I met a yoga teacher a few years ago who would say this in nearly every class. It was such a wonderful thing to hear spoken out loud even though it was a lesson I had already taken to heart years ago. The specific phrase of “be sweet to yourself” resonated strongly and has stuck. I suppose there’s often more work to when it comes to self-compassion. ...

A human being is not one in pursuit of happiness but rather in search of a reason to become happy. – Viktor Frank, Man’s Search for Meaning True happiness for me comes in connecting deeply with people. Through watching people really come into themselves. To see them living authentically, to live in integrity with themselves, to be as much of themselves as they can possibly be. And to see them getting out there, and fucking getting it. ...

A star wants to see himself rise to the top. A leader wants to see those around him rise to the top. – Simon Sinek I spent a large part of today either in a coaching class around branding or thinking about branding. Much of the material and ideas originated from Simon Sinek’s work, so I thought it only appropriate to quote him today. Sinek’s most famous work is all about finding and starting from your why. Why is it that you do what it is that you do? That’s what people truly care about – not what you do, but why you do it. ...

People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. – Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love ...

Gratitude is the wine for the soul. Go on. Get drunk. – Rumi I’ve been having not the greatest last few days. I’ve been in a bit of a mental funk and can’t seem to find a way out of it. That is, I was until I found flow while writing gratitude letters this evening. I was sitting, remote working at a brewery today, attempting to design a feature for a software application I’m building. I had been there for hours; tired, low energy, unable to focus. And so I decided to change it up in the moment and began writing gratitude letters I’ve been meaning to write. ...

Love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. – Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning This is the truth as told by so many poets, the final wisdom of so many thinkers. What is love? (baby don’t …) Hah, no. What is unconditional love? Everything. Love is everything. The salvation of man is through love and in love. I consider myself extremely fortunate in that I’ve been able to experience this endless vibrational wave that is love permeating through my body and everything around me. I’m thinking of a particular moment that left me in a state of pure bliss. One that I’ve never experienced so forcefully before this moment. A moment where I could do nothing else but float in an ocean of my own tears. ...

Be Americans. Let there be no sectionalism, no North, South, East or West. You are all dependent on one another and should be one in union. In one word, be a nation. Be Americans, and be true to yourselves. – George Washington Personally, I’d go broader. Be humans. Practice curiosity and understanding. Practice compassion.

The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of trick learned while mastering the art of living. – Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning To find humor in moments of suffering is an art worth mastering. If we have the power to choose how we think about things in any given situation or set of circumstances (and we do!), finding humor in suffering feels an awful lot like living. ...

As children we found ways to protect ourselves from vulnerability, from being hurt, diminished, and disappointed … now as adults we realize that to live with courage, purpose, and connection—to be the person whom we long to be—we must again be vulnerable. — Brené Brown, Daring Greatly Aluminimum Man, 2020 Aluminimum Woman, 2020 ...