Jason

The two angels in the back row wearing yellow t-shirts and gold tinsel halos were mine. My two youngest kids were in a musical as part of our homeschool co-op. It was the first time on stage for both of them. We went to both performances and they did great! Naturally, opening night was filled with nervous excitement and hyperactive butterflies. There were no noticeable gaffs or forgotten lines from anyone. It was an impressive effort. The second day was different. Still good, but some missed cues and forgotten lines that added awkward uncomfortability. One might think the second …

[Read more...] about One Last Time

​There are ogres in Maine. My daughter Lucy and I were there for a speaking engagement in Portland. We spent some free time visiting the lighthouse, and Lucy paused to photograph some plants she saw along our path. (She is her mother's daughter!) Then, a crabby ogre emerged up over the cliff. Her vile breath slapped us in the face as she bellowed through rotten teeth, "That's GARLIC MUSTARD. It's a TERRIBLE weed!" And just like that, she disappeared from view, apparently returning to the dank cave she calls home. Okay, it wasn't an ogre. And she didn't have bad breath or …

[Read more...] about The Ogres in Maine

One of the main reasons I wrote the book Must Be Nice is because I compare myself to other people all the time. Social media exacerbates this, but honestly, I don't need anybody's help. I compare myself to other speakers, other artists, and authors. Both dead and alive. I compare myself and my house and my yard and my patio furniture to my neighbors. I compare myself to the people I went to high school with that I see posting on Facebook. I compare myself to other guys who can build things and fix things and fight things better than me. I compare myself to people older …

[Read more...] about Horses vs. Hummingbirds: The Winner Is…

I don't know why we keep publishing self-help books. Myself included. I recently binged a podcast that shared a series of remarkable stories of people who had overcome extreme obstacles to accomplish amazing things. The particulars of each story couldn't have been more different: An athlete on the way to the NFL who became paralyzed. A woman who had both feet amputated. A guy who got busted for drugs and sentenced to 65 years in prison. Different races, different genders, different backgrounds, different challenges. But if you pay attention, the advice they give is the …

[Read more...] about The Only Self-Help Advice You’ll Ever Need

In the early days of basketball, before there was a shot clock, a team winning 2-0 could technically hold the ball and keep it away from the other team until the end of the game. It would have been a very boring game, which is why the shot clock was invented, requiring each team to shoot the ball within a certain period of time or lose possession. Still, to this day, the team in the lead near the end of the game often adopts the strategy of using up as much time as possible on the other team. The less time on the clock, the less time the other team has to score. Adultitis utilizes a …

[Read more...] about Adultitis is Running Out the Clock on You

My family went bowling recently. One of the peculiar aspects of bowling is the funny shoes they give you to wear.The shoes at the place we went to were half neon orange and half neon yellow. Mine even had a white velcro strap. Classy. Now there are legitimate reasons they want us wearing their shoes, besides keeping the lanes clean and pristine (which I will now speak authoritatively about, after a quick Google search): First of all, the soles are super slick, which helps you slide, allowing you to achieve a smoother motion when bowling. If you're sticking to the floor, you can injure …

[Read more...] about The Surprising Benefit of Wearing Bowling Shoes Every Single Day