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Tag: Personal Stories

There’s More To The Story

Published on March 26, 2023

I had an incredibly sobering moment today on the basketball court.

While playing with 12 other guys and in the midst of non-stop madness consisting of dribbling, shooting, jumping, sprinting, cutting, grunting, picking, rolling, fouling, falling, etc… and in a happenstance moment where time slowed down to a crawl for a brief moment…

I saw, hidden behind one of the player’s ears and peaking out just ever so slightly from his sweaty, overlaying hair… a “;” tattoo.

Now, for those who aren’t familiar, the people who generally get a semi-colon tattoo are suicide survivors. Its meaning is pulled from the dictionary definition of a semi-colon and essentially means there’s more to the story.

Looking at this dude… and in the midst of a chaotic, enjoyable, flow-state kind of time… I never would have known.

And it was a sobering reminder that everyone we meet is living a life as rich and as complicated as we are who are oftentimes facing battles we know nothing about looking at their outward appearance.

…It was a sobering reminder to be kind; to initiate connection, and to try not to judge.

And I hope it might be for you, too.

P.s. 101 Acts of Kindness To Help Recalibrate The World.

Nuggets From The People I Work With

Published on March 18, 2023

Tonight I gave a speech featuring the many things I have learned from the people I get to work with on a regular basis.

What follows isn’t that, but a brief list of nuggets or “isms” from that speech that I thought were worth sharing—even to the reader who has never met them. Enjoy :)

  • Kindness is always in fashion.
  • Adventures are the real currency in life.
  • Always have something to look forward to.
  • Try to keep a night saved for the girls… or the boys.
  • Any day that consists of “went to the gym” is a great day.
  • The real benefit of ‘more’ is that we get to give back more.
  • Taking things seriously is important—but so is taking things lightly.
  • Work just as hard when there’s 2 in the room as you would when there’s 40.
  • Sometimes the claps from one, true fan can ring louder than the standing ovation received from a thousand spectators.
  • The best way to start a conversation, no matter how hard, is to walk directly up to the person, sometimes cornering them, and dive right in.
  • Always bet on yourself—the path might not always be clear, but the inner resolve and grit that’s guided us safely before will do so again.
  • Being honest upfront and well in advance of what might require honesty—saves everybody (mostly ourselves) time and headache.
  • Taking pictures at each step of the way makes for an incredible look back at a journey you didn’t even realize you were exponentially changing on.
  • The time it takes to construct a funny, witty, random, outrageous, where-in-the-heck-did-that-come-from text or comment… is worth every minute of invested time.

The Excuse That’s Needed

Published on March 14, 2023

Yesterday, my website broke.

And as anyone who has ever built websites knows… there’s a million things that could’ve caused it.

Fortunately, it was still functional, just all of my theme settings were seemingly erased or there was some major facelift that messed everything up.

Now for context, my previous settings were in place for several years. And, as the saying goes, it wasn’t broke… so I didn’t fix it.

But, once it did break… rather than wreak havoc on everybody and anybody who could’ve been involved or spend a handful of hours trying to troubleshoot the exact (sometimes ridiculously minor) issue… I simply looked at it as a signal for it being time…

…Time to take a fresh look. Time to upgrade from where it was several years ago. Time to question everything about the user experience and re-create new settings from scratch.

Because while the pain of having things break is that you have to fix them… sometimes that’s the excuse you needed (and didn’t know you were waiting for) anyway.

P.s. How To Stay Calm When Things Break – A Buddhist Teaching.

Knocking On Doors

Published on December 25, 2022

Things I discovered today from knocking on neighbors’ doors after the Buffalo Blizzard:

  • An elderly neighbor, who had an electric stove (but no electricity) had no way of heating up the food she had stored.
  • Two neighbors had no way of communicating (in case of serious emergency) because their phones died (and they were completely snowed in their houses).
  • A really unlucky neighbor’s window got smashed in early into the blizzard (from a patio pole that came loose from wind gusts)—causing blizzard like conditions to scream into her living room of her unpowered house.

I share this, not to share how helpful I was in helping solve these problems, but as a reminder that sometimes, the people who need the most help are the ones who have the most trouble asking.

The elderly neighbor wasn’t gonna trudge through the snow knocking on doors to ask for help—and the neighbor whose window got smashed in was so barricaded with snow that she couldn’t even open her front door without risking it breaking from bowing.

This goes for the people in everyday weather situations just as much as it does for people in the midst of a post-blizzard reality.

If you can find it in yourself to take the initiative, offer help proactively, and make it a regular selfless practice of asking something as simple as: “Hey! Is there anything I can do to help you?”—I imagine you’ll make a profound impact in the lives of some really grateful, humble-hearted people.

Blizzard of ’22 [Poem]

Published on December 24, 2022 
This snow doesn’t fall
It screams

Running parallel to streets
Digging deep

As a silver olympian
Extends for gold

An otherworldly relentlessness
Seen only asleep

My eyes turn inward
Inspired and see

Thick, swirling steam
A lifeline; hope

Two days no power
Creative heat

I turn inward again
And grasp tighter the rope

All That Remains

Published on December 23, 2022

Gratitude notes from the Buffalo Blizzard:

  • No power… has been a great chance to catch up on reading
  • Whiteout conditions for 12+ hours (so far)… has made me really appreciate this roof
  • A 50º F House… has made coats, blankets, and hot drinks an absolute luxury

Losing things is an excellent reminder that everything we have is temporary. One day, we’re going to lose it all. This isn’t meant to be a gloomy thought. Just a reminder to be truly thankful for all that we have while it’s still here… And for all that remains when we do, in fact, lose some of what we gained along the way.

P.s. Thinking hits different next to candlelight than it does in LEDs… thankful for those deep, reflective-type thoughts coming in hot from candlelight tonight.

Goals for 2023

Published on December 5, 2022

I find myself thinking a lot about duality lately.

How things are far more gray than they are black-and-white.

Which is why, as we move into the new year, I’m going to focus more on the balancing forces in all that I do in life—so that I may stay more mindfully in the middle of any which extreme.

Some of my initial thoughts:

  • A strong body… with a soft touch.
  • A serious focus… with a playful heart.
  • Concrete boundaries… outlining a warm host.
  • A “stay hard” mindset… that knows how to relax.
  • An uncanny hustle… that knows when to slow down.
  • An indomitable spirit… that knows when to surrender.

What are some of your goals for 2023?