Moving Six Miles

"Don’t worry about being worried. You’re heading out on an adventure and you can always change your mind along the way and try something else." -Tracy Kidder

I found it kind of cool that on the same day our good friends Dave and Annie Spell talk about moving into their new home in Brazil; Laura and I are closing and moving into our new home. For both the Spells and ourselves, there is always a moment or two of anxiety and worry. It happens to all of us and it is usually the first hurdle to overcome when change is being contemplated.

If you follow David Spell's blog, you will have seen the great change he and Annie made. In a life changing move, they are now living in Curitiba, Brazil. For my wife and I, we moved six miles. But the point isn't to compare one to the other because change is a very personal thing to go through. The home we are leaving has been our home for over eighteen years. The familiarity of the the door opening, a creak in the floor or traversing a darkened room will all change.

I even found myself the other day wondering how will I drive to work or home from the new house. Everything is different and strange to the patterns established over so many years. And laying down deep, under the anxiety and worry is this excitement starting to boil up. An excitement that is being held down until the keys are in my hands. An excitement that waits until our old home is sold and I can truly release it.

There are so many times though when we keep ourselves from making a change because we either do not want the anxiety and worry. Other times because we are too afraid of allowing excitement into our lives. But change is how we move ahead in life. It is how we are able to accomplish the impossible. We become self-defeating before we even attempt the change.

To help you, Stan Goldberg, Ph.D. writes in Psychology Today about 10 major principles to help you with change.

- All Behaviors Are Complex
- Change Is Frightening
- Change Must Be Positive
- Being Is Easier Than Becoming
- Slower Is Better
- Know More, Do Better
- Change Requires Structure
- Practice Is Necessary
- New Behaviors Must Be Protected
- Small Successes Are Big

Each of these principles will help you look at yourself in a different manner, allowing change to occur, allowing you to move your life forward. Change happens everyday whether we like it or not. Some changes are big, some changes are little, but change does happen. Allow change to have a positive or better yet, an exciting impact upon your life.

And stay inspired my friends!

Catcher in the Rye

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around — nobody big, I mean — except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff — I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy."
-Holden Caulfield (from J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye)

I know there will be many that have a much different opinion than I on this, but I consider Catcher in the Rye one of the great reads of my life. If I slip back into my high school years, there were many teachers being let go or reassigned after having their students read this book. In fact one study showed Catcher in the Rye being the most often censored book in the U.S., second only to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

My good fortune was to have an English teacher who was not afraid to give us The Catcher in the Rye as a reading assignment. The book will most likely be forever one of Salinger's most memorable books.



What prompts you to question and learn more about the life we live? What inspires you?

1968 Torino GT

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." -Oscar Wilde

Just yesterday I had the pleasure of a momentary jump back into my past. As I was driving back from the office, there in a parking lot was a 1968 Ford Torino GT. It was very much like the one I owned in high school, so stop to look and admire it became a step back in time to 1977. The sleek lines of the car covered the 325-hp/390-cid engine just waiting underneath the hood, longing to roar down the road.

A four-speed manual transmission with a stick shift waiting for the driver to put it into action. Yes, I had a 1968 Ford Torino GT in high school. No it certainly was not as fast as other muscle cars in its era, but it did make for a few fun rides down the flat highways near Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska.

Every now and then it can be good to look backwards into the past. It reminds us of where we were and helps us rediscover how we got to where we are today. Stay inspired my friends and enjoy the ride!

Slow Down

"For fast-acting relief try slowing down." -Lily Tomlin

Okay, I admit that I recently cut my ear while shaving. It means that I will need to find my owners manual and relearn how to shave before I end up really hurting myself. But how in the world does one cut their ear while shaving their face?

It is actually quite easy from what I recently encountered. All that is required is a sharp razor, an early morning hour and just being in too big of a hurry.

Which brings me to the point of this article.

If we are in a hurry to get somewhere, to complete some task or to achieve some goal, chances are we are going to miss seeing all of the little things in life. We miss the fact that we have a razor in our hand swinging around our face. We 'race' down the road in our car, never seeing the small things along the way. We miss the short interactions with other people that can add up to a lot of great things.

In example, I have this issue when traveling on vacation. We jump in the car and my objective is to get from point 'A' to point 'B' as quickly as possible. Many times this results in not getting to see the cool things which lie between those two points. If we slow down and experience life, the result will be that we have fewer missed opportunities; the ones that are there but we fail to see.

Slow down and allow the details to become more clear in your life.

Slow down and realize that the razor in your hand could possibly cut your ear.

Stay inspired my friends!