Absolute.

 A while back, I read “Trust” by Dr. Henry Cloud.  He writes repeatedly about how humans are hardwired to trust.  We are built to trust others and form relationships.  The book covers a lot of ground but one of the over-arching ideas is that when you spend time with someone, the natural by-product of that time is that you begin to trust them. It does not matter much about the person’s actual conduct or character.   It also does not matter much how they treat you.   If you stick with them, you deepen your trust in them.   The books goes in depth about how this plays out in your daily life (it IS a worthwhile read), but I think we should also be very conscious of the inverse side of this equation… The people who are spending time with you, most likely trust you.  Even if there is no conversation with a trust litmus test or any other form of a DTR (Define The Relationship), they probably trust you and more significantly- your opinions.  Our ...

  “Great is the enemy of good.”   I do in principle believe that statement.   I have seen this play out.   I have come up with this elaborate Olympic high dive routine for something in my life and ended up doing a belly flop instead.   It has happened.   The statement has relevance and application and there are many tasks and areas of life where good is good enough. There have also been times when I have intentionally decided to be good, not great.   My last year of teaching was also the last year that three of my kids were going to be home.   I decided that I didn’t want to sacrifice my last year of major influence on my kids’ lives, for my classroom.   I chose to be a good teacher (not a great one). But still, great is the enemy of good, is not a statement I want to build my life around.   There are many parts of my life that I don’t want to just be “good”.   There are areas, tasks, and roles where I want to be “great”. ...

 Two weeks ago, I lost 2 pounds and hit a huge milestone.  These 2 pounds made me the lightest I have ever been in my adult life.  I am 34 years old, and I am the lightest I have ever been, the strongest I have ever been, and the fastest I have ever been. For a lot of reasons, I did not think this weight was even a possibility for me.   Based on my lightest weight in Minnesota, current muscle mass, and some other variables- I thought my weight would plateau at 145 pounds.   I was in disbelief as I approached my previous lightest weight and am still struggling to believe that I have broken that threshold as well.   This is data and numbers but my perception is still incredibly emotionally driven.   It is facts, but still the reality of it is so allusive to me. Before this year of discipline, I would look at women in good physical shape and I would admire them because I knew they were working harder than me to look like that.   I really had NO ...

  As many readers know, my word of the year for 2023 (and 2022 lol) is Discipline.   The month of May brought several milestones for me in my pursuit of discipline, but one stood out above the rest.   It was a perfect month for me in that I prayed and worked out six days a week for the entire month.   In reflection, I am still a little amazed that it happened.   I cannot recall another month, ever in my life, that I have brought this level of consistency.   Adding to the amazement, May was also likely the busiest month I have seen this calendar year (we had two seniors graduating from two different schools).   Some of you are likely very put off by this because it sounds impractical.   But a few of you are wondering, “How did she do it?” “What’s the secret?”   Sorry to disappoint, but there is no secret.   There was no moment at the beginning of the month where I made a proclamation that this would be a perfect month.   There was ...

 I know, a “normal” person does an MOY at the end of June, but the long-time readers know- my calendar revolves around Christmas and my Birthday.  In the wake of my birthday, I am writing a little update on my Word-of-the-Year.  I have been working to improve the discipline in my life for a couple of years now and I reflect in amazement about how far I have come.   I knew God was prompting me to grow in this area, but I am thankful that He did not reveal to me how far this would go.   Had God told me then what my life would look like now, I likely would have been paralyzed with intimidation.   I am grateful that it was just open-ended encouragement to get more disciplined.   With my pursuit of discipline and desire to incorporate some more highly disciplined people into my life, I joined a gym at the end of January.   This is the first time ever in my life that I have paid for a gym membership.   Historically, I have always told myself t...

We are in a sweet, sweet season with the kids right now.   One of the twins made straight A’s for 5 th six weeks and the other made A-B honor roll for the entire first semester.   All 3 kids have jobs.   All 3 have their licenses. 2 of them have purchased their own cars.   2 of them are in the process of talking to college coaches and hoping to attend college in the fall.   They are coming to the place where they treasure the opportunity for all 5 of us to gather around the dinner table and they value family time.   Both girls are coming to me and Matt with stories and wanting us to be a part of their lives.   They are independently setting their own technology boundaries.   I thought I was going to write a whole blog post about how good they are doing right now, but this blog isn’t supposed to be a highlight reel.   I didn’t write a blog post about all of the hard days that led up to this.   I didn’t write about the drama and tears she...