2015….it’s behind me in just a few hours. Honestly, the year started with a great degree of optimism but that quickly faded as the mundane ruled my life. About halfway through the year I was confronted with unexpected adversity, but a renewed faith in God brought me to the other side. As the year closes it feels there is order and most importantly, confidence. Turmoil has been replaced by calm, unknown by hope, and anger by love.
I do not have a “list” I made in 2014 of 2015 goals/wishes, but I know there were certain guideposts. I see guideposts as those things we will ensure happen whereas most of life just takes place in the daily realm. I marked the “planned” guideposts with an asterisk. For my own benefit, to look back in 10 years, I blog my reflections and here is the best of 2015 was (in no particular order):
- ** Riding the Cross Florida (175 mile) bike ride. Even though I did the two-day, not the one-day, I rode it
- Going Skydiving with my oldest daughter, Haley
- Starting my Certified Flight Instructor Rating (CFI)
- ** Taking my oldest son, Jack, to Oshkosh, WI for his week at aviation academy and camping with my younger boys, James and Ty, at the Wisconsin Dells
- ** Going to Guadeloupe for a week with LeeAnn
- Booking (highest grade) my Evidence class
- Going to Ribfest in St. Petersburg, FL
- Buying a surfboard
- Jumping of Stratospheres in Las Vegas
- Seeing “Love” at Cirque de Soleil in Las Vegas
- Taking James and Ty to Disney and Animal Kingdom for their birthdays
What is most enlightening about the above is for all the work we do making resolutions, planning, and trying to predict our future it is really life in the moment that seems to drive daily activities. My friend Ken just alerted me to a book via this narrative (The Wisdom of Insecurity) which focuses on less self-improvement and resolutions in the future and instead living in the “now”.
Looking into 2016 my wife spoke words of wisdom last week I plan to use as my theme and teach to my kids – “kindness and careness.” When our boys argue we want to remind them to be kind and caring. The same is true for every personal encounter in our lives whether with a customer or colleague at work, spouse, son or daughter, or a stranger. If we first offer “kindness and careness” all should resolve itself. Second, I have a plethora of milestones to reach in 2016 but I am more focused on what I discovered in 2015: the unexpected can bring the most joy.
For 2016 I have a few guideposts planned:
- Riding the Cross Florida again
- Taking and passing the MPRE (must do, but could delay)
- Finishing my CFI
- A Tradewinds catamaran trip with LeeAnn
- Week long live aboard diving trip with Jack
2016 is a clean slate. I
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