Topic: Personal Development

  • Melt With You

    “Melt With You” by Jason Kotecki. 20 x 20. Oil on canvas.
    Original is available. 🟢 Shop this art!

    Well, it’s official: The end of the world is upon us.

    It sure seems that way, doesn’t it?

    2020 has not been for the faint of heart, and just when you think it can’t get any worse, well, just wait for tomorrow. The thing is, every generation fears it’s living in the last days. And so far, every one has been wrong. I’m old enough to remember some of the Cold War and the events that transpired on 9/11/2001. Things looked bleak then, too. 

    This cheerful painting was inspired by a song about the end of the world. The words are from the lyrics of a catchy tune from the 1980s by a band named Modern English. Lead singer Robbie Grey, who wrote the seemingly simple upbeat love song with his four bandmates, explained, “I don’t think many people realized it was about a couple making love as the bomb dropped. As they make love, they become one and melt together.”

    Alllllrighty then.

    On to another fun fact: This was the very first canvas I painted live during the first-ever Madison Night Market. It was also the first time I offered my art for sale to an audience that hadn’t just heard me speak. Previously, I’d only sold my art at my speaking engagements, after spending an hour sharing my art on a big screen and telling stories to a captive audience. But here, my art would be standing on its own. No explanation. No context.

    As I painted away, I was able to hear people’s reactions to the painting and the prints we had for sale. What I heard was magic. People smiled and laughed and pulled their friends over to take a look.

    Quite simply, my art made people happy. And that made me feel awesome. I concluded right then and there that if that’s all I was ever able to accomplish, it was a worthy calling, and it would be enough.

    This is kind of a big deal because, you see, in the art world, it’s not enough. An artist is supposed to make a political statement, disturb people, or question everything they hold true. Which is fine, as far as it goes. But putting good into the world, making someone happy, and bringing a small measure of joy to a fellow human being is pretty good, too.

    Which brings me back to this song about apocalyptic hanky-panky.

    While we wait to see if the world is going to end, let’s do something productive with our time. It seems like we can find better options than rioting in the streets, cowering in fear in front of our TVs, and ranting on social media.

    Instead, what’s ONE thing you can do today to make someone’s day just a teeny bit brighter? How can you use one of your gifts to make someone happy? It might not seem like much, but it’s enough.

    Regardless of when the world ends, we all have a last day coming. I can’t say for certain that I’ll spend it in the fashion described in the aforementioned ’80s song. But if I can make someone happy on my last day (and on many of the days between now and then), I’m good with that.

    How about you?

  • Ring of Fire

    “Ring of Fire” by Jason Kotecki. 20 x 20. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴 Shop this art!

    Everyone thinks the excitement that accompanies the start of a relationship is the best. 

    Granted, it IS intoxicating. Everything is new and mysterious. You’re wondering if the other person just likes you or actually “likes you” likes you. A simple touch ignites an inferno of passion. There’s so much to talk about as you’re constantly learning new things about one another. That way he chews, and that way she steals your jacket when she’s cold, is still cute and endearing.

    There’s no doubt about it: The beginning of a new relationship is pretty great.

    But then again, in the beginning, you’re just two separate entities. Like bread and cheese. Cheese is good. Bread is good. Put them together and you have a cheese sandwich. Also good.

    But Johnny Cash was right when he sang that love is a burning thing. It doesn’t get really good until you’ve gone through some fires together. That’s when you really get to know what you’re made of, as you melt together and you become one. That melty, gooey goodness is where the magic’s at. And have you ever tried to separate a grilled cheese sandwich? It’s not easy. Which is how it should be. 

    Combined, my parents and Kim’s parents have been married for over 90 years. They have struggled and endured many, many fires. But through it all, they’ve stuck together. In today’s day and age, that’s no small feat. Is there a secret? I don’t know. I’m sure there’s luck involved, but I know that it’s not all luck. I know communication is really important. And mutual respect. And a willingness to give more than you get.

    But I think the real secret is that it comes down to a choice to stick together, no matter what. Infatuation is a feeling, but love? Love is a choice. When my parents exchanged vows on their wedding day, promising they’d be there for each other no matter what, in sickness and in health, through the good times and the fires…they meant it. For reals. 

    And when I married Kim, that’s how I looked at it too. Death will have to break us apart; it’s the only option. We have not left an escape hatch for ourselves. The ships back to a world where we go our separate ways are smoldering sticks of charcoal. When disagreements emerge, a fight erupts, and feelings are hurt, Plan A is to work it out.

    There is no Plan B. 

    When you don’t burn the ships, there’s a very high probability that someday, you’ll use them to sail away from one another. 

    Of course, you can throw all of this out the window if both people aren’t on board. If one flakes out or doesn’t live up to the promise, it all falls apart. And that is nothing short of heartbreaking.

    I write this to give hope to the newlyweds, to the people thinking about giving this love thing another go, and to those who are in the middle of one of those scary fires right now. 

    As James Blunt sang, “Everybody wants a flame, they don’t want to get burnt.”

    It’s true: once you get past the lovey-dovey stage of a relationship, and experience the fires that flare up when things get real, you will come out a little charred. 

    But that char – the battle scars from a life lived together – add a richness, depth, and magic that a regular old cheese sandwich can only dream about. 

  • Time For S’mores

    “Time For S’mores” by Jason Kotecki. 24 x 30. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴 Shop this art!

    The background of this painting comes from a photograph I took during a family trip to the Pacific Northwest. It captured a holy moment.

    You see, in our family, when the sun has taken its final bow for the day, and the moon is set to take the stage, it’s time for s’mores. 

    I suppose you could have s’mores during afternoon tea, and of course, there’s no rule against having them for breakfast, but it just doesn’t seem right.

    You may disagree with me on the proper time for s’mores, but one thing is certain: making s’mores demands that you make time for s’mores. 

    It’s not something you just throw together. You have to gather the chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows, which aren’t as conveniently handy as eggs and milk. You have to build a fire, which requires wood and kindling and matches, and the patience required to nurse a spark into a full-blown fire, especially if the wind is conspiring against you. You have to get the sticks for roasting said marshmallows. And most importantly, you have to set aside the space to make all of this happen, because it won’t schedule itself, and there’s no rushing it if you want it done right. I’m first in line for a burnt marshmallow, but a perfectly toasted one takes no small amount of time and patience. 

    Time and patience.

    Two rare and very limited resources in our fast-food, drive-thru society, where we pack our vacations so full that upon our return home, we exclaim our need for another vacation.

    To make time for s’mores, you must be willing to put down your mobile devices. You have to turn down invitations to partake in other, more thrilling activities. You must set aside time for what seems like nothing. 

    And once you do all that, the real magic happens. Your heartbeat slows. You notice just how many stars are in the sky (have they been there this whole time?!). The smoke from the fire seeps into your clothes and your bones, making you feel like you lived this day well. Stories begin to emerge from the past, followed by laughter, and content smiles savoring good memories. New legends are born, while old legends grow mighty in stature. Talking about the olden days often leads to dreams for the future, and those stars suddenly become pretty handy for wish-making. 

    This, to say nothing of the s’mores themselves, which are deliciously gooey and sticky sweet, but nothing compared to the benefits they brought forth, in the form of conversation, contemplation, and connection.

    In a world that feels like it’s bursting at the seams, too rushed, too noisy, and too demanding, it’s always time for s’mores. 

  • C Plane

    “C Plane” by Jason Kotecki. 20 x 20. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴  Shop this art!

    Remember alphabet soup?

    I ask you to remember because the last time you had it probably wasn’t yesterday or last week. It may have been a decade or four.

    Something about alphabet soup brings out a sense of wonder and curiosity in us as kids. We stir it around to see if any secret messages emerge randomly, like a vegetable-fueled Ouiji board. We use our spoon to carefully arrange our own words, spell our name, a simple sentence, or maybe a dirty word…Just me?

    But then we outgrow alphabet soup. Why?

    Are we afraid our sophistication will be challenged? That we’ll be considered immature? That people won’t take us seriously?

    In a seemingly unrelated note, it’s impossible for me to see an airplane and not think of my father-in-law, Gary. He loves airplanes. He used to drag his wife and four daughters to air shows. Their reviews of the regular excursions are mixed, but one thing was constant: it was always an opportunity for Gary’s inner child to soar.

    I had the pleasure of attending the Oshkosh Airshow with him a few years ago. According to him, it’s the Super Bowl of air shows. He may have technically been sixty at the time, but it seemed more like he was six. His passion for airplanes has never faded.

    Recently, he took my kids to watch sky divers jump out of planes and land safely a few feet from them on the ground. You might think he wanted to share a passion with his grandkids. You’d be partly right, but let’s be honest, it didn’t really matter if there was anyone else around. It was merely an excuse to indulge in a little bit of wonder.

    When we are kids, we are drawn to wonder, and there are so many things that light us up and get us excited.

    Too often, like our declining consumption of alphabet soup, we neglect or hide the things that light us up.

    Maybe it’s because we are afraid our sophistication will be challenged. Or that we’ll be considered immature. Or that people won’t take us seriously.

    There is a phrase we often use: guilty pleasures. They are things we enjoy but feel guilty for doing so. Usually, there is no real reason we should feel guilty; it’s just that they threaten our carefully curated likes and dislikes that fit in with the people we associate with or want respect from. 

    I’m with Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Foo Fighters, who said, “F*¢K guilty pleasures.” Like what you like. If you like Britney Spears, like Britney Spears. 

    Embrace your guilty pleasures. Find what lights you up and love it. Reconnect with the passions that get your inner child fired up and own them. 

    Never outgrow your sense of wonder. 

  • Angry Owl

    “Angry Owl” by Jason Kotecki. 16 x 20. Oil on canvas.
    Original is in Private Collection 🖼️ Shop this art!

    I’ve always thought owls looked angry. That perception inspired this painting, as I decided to give him something to be angry about.

    But now I wonder if maybe they’re just focused.

    After all, perpetually being on the lookout for your next meal kind of requires your undivided attention.

    Likewise, in order to achieve a dream or accomplish anything worthwhile, you have to be incredibly focused. You can’t let distractions knock you off your game. One of the biggest reasons people are not as successful as they’d like to be – regardless of their definition of success – is due to a lack of focus. They keep chasing shiny objects and fail to follow through on any one initiative.

    As Steven Pressfield writes brilliantly in his book The War of Art, “The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”

    Understanding this truth – and expecting it – is a great advantage for you, because then you won’t be surprised by how hard it becomes to find the time to write even one page of your next book. Or how easy it gets to find other people who are way more successful than you. Or how tantalizing that entire sleeve of Thin Mints suddenly appears on the first day of your new diet.

    During the first nine years of our business and marriage, Kim and I lived in an apartment. It was a two-bedroom place that seemed big when we started. We expected to live there two or three years, not nine. As time went on, the apartment felt like it was shrinking. We grew weary of the loud music at all hours of the night. The neighbors who smoked right outside our open windows. The occasional gun shots we heard from the gas station a block away. The time someone broke into our storage area in the basement and stole our Christmas decor, including a Santa pillow that was crocheted by my Grandma. The fact that our peers were financially further along than us, building homes and starting families. The debt we accumulated throwing spaghetti at the wall, trying to find a business model that was fueled by our talents AND paid the bills.

    It added up to a whole lot of suckage.

    And yet, it was all part of a test to see how badly we wanted it. 

    Giving up is easy. Staying focused is hard.

    You have to stay the course even when things aren’t going according to plan, when the haters are shooting their slings and arrows, or when an ice cream cone falls on your head. Most so-called “overnight successes” are anything but. There are miles and miles of unpaved, rocky roads behind them that we often don’t see.

    Achieving a dream is not quick and easy, like winning the lottery. It’s messy, difficult, and exhausting.

    Understand it. Accept it. Own it.

    If your dream is worth it, just keep going.

    Take it from the owl: Staying focused is wise – keep your eye on the prize!

  • All-American

    “All-American” by Jason Kotecki. 40 x 40. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴 Shop this art!

    This bison is terrible at golf. But that’s okay because he’s playing a different game.

    In a fitting reflection of the diversity we enjoy in this county, the American Dream has splintered into a hundred different versions. I like to think of these options as games. Rather than tracking three-pointers, we might measure things like money, body weight, square footage, degrees, status, accolades, connections, sales, prestige, and fame. In the old version, the white picket fence served as the trophy to prove that you won.

    This is your life. You decide what game you want to play. But you can’t play and hope to win them all. If you’re not careful, you can get duped into playing a game you don’t even care about and end up making choices that distract you from the game you do.

    The cool thing is that once you identify the game that matters to you, you can let go of all the burdensome envy and guilt you feel when you compare yourself to people playing different games. I’ll admit it: I’m getting blown out in the games that are being played by some of my friends, family, and peers. You might be, too. But the game that matters to me? I’m leading the league.

    Two lessons here: Get really clear on what game you’re playing. And don’t beat yourself up for being in last place in the games you’re not.

  • 93% Weird

    “93% Weird” by Jason Kotecki. 24 x 40. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴  Shop this art!

    Many fruits have a similar vibe. You get some variations in color and texture, but “round” is pretty much the regular shape.

    Even the tomato, which I grew up being taught was a vegetable, wants to get in with the fruit group. And upon a quick glance, we say, “Sure, whatever, you seem to fit the description.”

    And then there’s the pineapple.

    Compared to most fruits, pineapples are weird. Unfortunately, weird isn’t usually a compliment.

    Before I take the stage for a speech, at the very end of my introduction, there is a passage that talks about me “spending time with my beautiful wife and three weird kids.”

    It’s always fun – and telling – to see how the introducer handles this bit. Sometimes they read it as is, but other times they are quick to uncomfortably interject, “I didn’t write that!” I’ve even had some who eliminate it altogether. 

    Ultimately I exclaim to them that, in our household, being called “weird” is a badge of honor. For example, one day, my wife was telling my oldest daughter that it’s OK to be weird. It makes life more interesting, she said, and like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, the things that make us weird are often our greatest superpowers. She informed Lucy that being weird makes life better.

    The next day, we heard Lucy asking her little brother, “Ben, are you weird?”

    “No,” he replied, innocently.

    “Then you’re going to have a horrible life.”

    Now don’t get me wrong. It is possible to be too weird. “Licking-the-salt-from-almonds-and-putting-them-back-in-the-bowl” kind of weird. Or “owning-thirty-seven-cats-and-dressing-them-all-to-look-like-Taylor-Swift” weird.

    So the rule of thumb in our family is that you should shoot for 93% weird; anything after that is just too much. 

    The cold hard truth is that most of us aren’t anywhere near that level of weird. 

    When we were kids, at the very beginning, we were all weird. We made up weird games, had weird bedtime routines, enjoyed weird hobbies, and dressed up in weird clothes in weird combinations. But eventually, someone sees us living our bliss, decides it’s weird and shames us. We get made fun of in the schoolyard, on the bus, or across the dinner table. For the first time, it occurs to us that some of the things we do might be looked upon with contempt by another person.

    From then on, we start paying attention. We start noticing what’s “in” and what’s not. We take heed of the things that could get us ridiculed, singled out, and shamed. And we stop doing them. We smooth out the rough edges and start hiding our weirdness. And one by one, little parts of us die.

    Possibly the greatest tragedy of our lives is that we spend so much time conforming to the world around us, just to avoid that feeling of shame ever again.

    And the world is worse off for it.

    “Ridicule is the terrible witherer of the flower of the imagination. It binds us where we should be free.”–Madeleine L’Engle

    People only have the power to shame us if we give it to them. When we surrender our weird, we are imprisoning ourselves and handing over the key. It’s too expensive to pay attention to what everyone else thinks.

    Because when we do, and as Adultitis settles in…

    Our choices become limited.
    Our possibilities shrink.
    Our life becomes boring.

    We need to embrace our weird. About 93% worth.

    Do that, and you’ll realize that you’re not weird, you’re free.

  • 3D Panda

    “3D Panda” by Jason Kotecki. 40 x 40. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴  Shop this art!

    Too often, we look at our plans and big dreams with rose-colored glasses. We only see the upside, the pros, the best-case scenarios.

    But if our dream – whatever it is – actually comes true, there will be downsides as well.

    As author and entrepreneur Mark Manson has pointed out, everything sucks, some of the time. Every dream – no matter how wonderful or glamorous it first appears  – comes with some flavor of what he calls a shit sandwich, a lousy side effect that you have to deal with.

    That’s not to say we shouldn’t dream.

    We just need to do it with 3D glasses.

    When we look at something with 3D glasses, we see it from all sides: the good, sexy, photogenic slide, and the ugly, unfavorable, hideously-lit side. This allows us to behold a more realistic appraisal of the situation.

    In the early days of our business, I dreamed of creating a giant online retail store that carried all kinds of “cool stuff for the young at heart.” It was easy to imagine us rolling in dough once we established ourselves in the marketplace and traffic started flowing. We’d be selling fun products on a fun website to people who liked to have fun. Not a downside in sight!

    Well, as moved forward and started to grow, I began to encounter the drawbacks I hadn’t envisioned when I was looking at my plans with rose-colored glasses. I realized I hated trying to figure out what people would be interested in buying. I didn’t like managing inventory. Most importantly, I didn’t get any joy in selling other people’s stuff when I wanted to create my own. I saw that if we continued to grow, I would be doing MORE inventory, MORE managing, and MORE selling of other people’s stuff.

    It was a shit sandwich that I didn’t want to eat.

    My current role as a professional speaker involves a lot of travel, which includes no small measure of loneliness, delayed flights, and missed family events. But it’s a sandwich I’m willing to eat because it affords me the opportunity to visit cool places with my family and a lot of freedom to spend time in the studio when I’m not traveling.

    As Manson notes, “Your favorite shit sandwich is your competitive advantage. By definition, anything that you’re willing to do (that you enjoy doing) that most people are not willing to do gives you a huge leg-up.”

    The good news is that you can save a lot of time, money, and effort with a decent pair of 3D glasses. 

    When an amazing retail location became available in downtown Madison, Kim and I considered securing it as a combination studio / store / event space. 

    We spent two whole days looking at the possibilities with our trusty 3D glasses. The first day focused on imagining all the good parts: The great exposure our brand would get being steps away from the state capitol. The flexible space would allow us to host a lot of different events. The chance to sell my products directly to people, in person, in a space we created.

    Then we spent the next day on the downsides: The high cost of rent. The need to hire and manage staff. The reality is that if I wanted to paint, my introverted self would rather spend it alone in my studio than in front of a crowd.

    Ultimately, we decided to pass. 

    The point is not about finding the perfect scenario that doesn’t include a shit sandwich, because there isn’t one. It’s to spend some time upfront finding out what it is, by realistically examining the good, the bad, AND the ugly before you sink a ton of resources into an endeavor that won’t end up being your cup of tea. 

    No, you won’t be able to foresee everything but know this: Whatever you choose, your passion needs to be strong enough to withstand the most unpalatable parts of the work.

    Rose-colored glasses are tempting, but a good pair of 3D glasses are the key to making smart decisions.

  • Speed Racer

    “Speed Racer” by Jason Kotecki. 30 x 40. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴 Shop this art!

    The cheetah is known for being fast.

    Really fast.

    It’s the fastest land mammal, achieving running speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. But what most people don’t know is that the cheetah can’t maintain those speeds for long. In fact, a cheetah spends very little of its time running. It needs to recuperate and build up energy for the next hunt.

    Obviously, if a cheetah doesn’t run, it cannot eat. But if the cheetah doesn’t rest, it cannot run. If the cheetah spent all its time doing what it does best, it would die.

    The rest is just as important as the chase.

    How much there is to learn from the cheetah! Oh, we have the running part down. We’re good at racing from one commitment to the next. Meetings, grocery shopping, clarinet practice, yoga, daycare drop-offs and pick-ups, baseball tournaments, birthday parties…the list goes on. 

    But the resting part, that’s where we falter. Slowing down is counter-cultural. We declare, “I’m so busy!” as if it’s a badge of honor. It’s a boast disguised as a complaint.

    We celebrate hustle but are afraid of the hush.

    We need to be more like a cheetah. Taking a reprieve from the hectic pace of modern life may seem pretty revolutionary, but it’s as old as human history. It even has a name, albeit an old-fashioned and highfalutin’ one: Sabbath.

    The word itself conjures up religious overtones and maybe even an image of Charlton Heston holding a couple of stone tablets. Indeed, the concept of “Sabbath,” which means to stop or to rest, does have ties to every major world religion. But the truth is, the Sabbath has never really been for God. It’s for us. The idea of taking a day to stop our frenzied activity is as relevant today as it ever has been.

    Many people — maybe even you — think of such an idea as impractical or even impossible. After all, weekends are packed with athletic events, church activities, work commitments, and family get-togethers like birthday parties, baptisms, and weddings. You’d love to have a day off, but it’s not like the world is going to let you take one.

    No, the world might not be too keen about you dropping off the radar, but you know what?

    It’s not the world’s choice. It’s yours.

    I have friends who completely challenged my thinking about what’s possible when it comes to taking a Sabbath. Early in their marriage, they committed to taking one every week. It starts with church in the morning, after which they return home and have leftovers for lunch. Then they just hang out, taking naps, playing board games, or watching old Andy Griffith reruns. And they get pizza delivered for dinner (no cooking for Mom!)

    When I first heard of this, I was as intrigued as I was perplexed. “But what if your kids have a baseball game? What about youth programs at your church? What about the obligatory birthday parties of friends and family?” Knowing that the husband spoke at churches where Sunday evening programs are common, I added, “What about people who want to hire you on Sundays?”

    “We say no,” they said simply.

    They admitted it was challenging at first. Communication was key. They told potential clients that their Sabbath was vital to the health of their family, and the churches simply booked him on a different day. They were up front with the coaches of their kids’ sports teams at the beginning of the season about their inability to participate in games or practices on Sundays. Even extended family members eventually got on board and respected their wishes.

    “And you know what the most amazing thing is?” they added. “The kids look forward to it more than we do! They love the downtime and the reprieve from the busy week at school.”

    I was blown away by the audacity of this family to disregard the concept of what a typical weekend is “supposed” to look like. Their example helped me to see that the idea that we are “obligated” to go to all the athletic, church, and family activities going on is another one of those rules that don’t exist.

    Believe it or not, you get to decide what a weekend is “supposed” to look like. (For YOU, at least.)

    Since then, Kim and I have taken a Sabbath almost every week. (There have been a handful of days when we’ve gotten cocky, thinking we could operate without one. Big mistake. We always notice it the following week, and we always regret it.) We started before we had kids, but it’s become even more important now that we have three. I can’t tell you how much it has contributed to the overall health and happiness of our lives. Just like anyone, our weeks are busy and contain their share of potholes and emergencies, but they are so much easier to deal with when you know you have a light at the end of the tunnel: a day to stop and get refreshed.

    Even though some faith traditions consider certain days of the week as the “official” Sabbath, the important thing is to take one day a week as a time out, to slow down and reflect in gratitude about the blessings in our lives. Here are a few guidelines we follow:

    • We take a Sabbath once a week. Absolutely NO exceptions.
    • Because of our flexible schedule, we don’t always take our Sabbath on the same day each week, so we have to mark them on the calendar a few months out. After all, if you don’t plan it, life has a way of making plans for you.
    • We don’t do any chores. Zip. Zero. Nada.
    • I usually cook dinner, but only because I like to cook.
    • We give ourselves permission to pig out, be lazy, watch tv, or do whatever we want.

    You might choose to do things a bit differently. Nobody’s life is the same, but there are two constants:

    First, a Sabbath is doable for everyone. If you think you’re the exception, you’re wrong.

    Second, the world isn’t going to offer you a free day once a week without a bit of effort. It will take a little creativity, sacrifice, and communication. You will probably have to say no to some good opportunities in order to say yes to the best ones. But in the end, it will be SO worth it.

    A respite from the cacophony of voices and choices, from the harried busyness that wears down our immune system, is not a luxury. It’s an absolute necessity. If you don’t make time to rest, life has a way of forcing you to, and it might not be in a manner you’d prefer.

    We need to model the rhythm of the cheetah. She knows that she can’t run all the time, even if it is the thing she does best. 

    Like the cheetah, we all need time to physically and mentally rest. To catch our breath. To just be. 

    And to make sure life doesn’t speed by you before you’ve ever had the chance to figure out where you want to go.

  • Enjoy the Climb

    “Enjoy the Climb” by Jason Kotecki. 16 x 20. Oil on canvas.
    Original is SOLD 🔴 Shop this art!

    If you were to place your nose really close to this canvas and focus only on one of the goats, what would you see? A mountain goat on a snowy mountain. The environment around them is boring, plain, cold, and possibly treacherous.

    I was reading some old journals the other day. I was struck by how concerned I was about details of projects and initiatives that are no longer relevant to our current business model. Problems that needed to be solved, or else! Pitfalls that seemed like backbreakers. At first, I felt disappointment that I had wasted so much time on things that, in the end, didn’t matter at all. But then I realized that’s how life works. You struggle through, doing the best you can with the information you have. Hopefully, you learn from your mistakes, grow, and move forward. I realized that in ten years, a review of the journal I wrote this morning will probably feel the same way; only the details will have changed.

    Back to the painting now. Look at the big picture.

    Holy cow, those goats are surrounded by ice cream! 

    Sometimes we miss the cool things happening in our lives, because we’re too focused on the struggles right in front of us.

    A few years ago, I was enjoying a wonderful dinner with some speaker friends. We started a table discussion about the best place you’ve ever been that you’d like to go back to. While others shared amazing stories of Tuscany, Brazil, and Ireland, I felt silly because all I could think of was the Quality Inn in Clearwater, Florida.

    I’m pretty sure the year was 2007. Kim and I didn’t have kids yet, and we were in the early stages of my speaking career. We’d recently been to a speakers’ convention where a guy named Randy Gage talked about these exotic bungalows in Tahiti. He noted that some are perched over the water, featuring cool glass-bottomed floors, and wondered why anyone would invest the considerable expense to vacation in Tahiti and then settle for the slightly cheaper but extremely less exotic wood-bottomed accommodations a few hundred feet inland.

    So as we checked into the Quality Inn, the host offered us the option of upgrading from our “Garden View” room (which savvy travelers know as code for “Ugly Roof and Air Conditioning Unit View”) to an “Ocean View” room.

    “How much extra would that cost?” we asked.

    “$20 a night,” was the reply.

    We huddled to talk it over. Twenty bucks was a big deal for us, which should not come as a surprise because, as I mentioned, we were checking into a QUALITY INN.

    With Randy’s rallying cry still ringing in our ears, we threw caution to the wind and said YES.

    Isn’t it funny how often it takes far less than a million dollars to feel like a millionaire? That’s definitely how we felt as we triumphantly surveyed our ocean view.

    Photographers often refer to the hour before sunset as “magic hour,” because the light from the sun casts a beautiful golden hue on everything it touches. I remember lying on our bed, watching the sun sink into the Gulf. And I still remember how beautiful Kim looked. I’m so glad we snapped this selfie before selfies were a thing.

    I also remember that back then, we spent a lot of our time dreaming of “making it” and looking forward to the days when we’d be checking into much fancier hotels, you know, like Quality Inns in Tuscany.

    I spent a lot of time striving, worrying, and wishing I were somewhere else. Somewhere better. But I look back now and realize what an exciting, fun time that really was.

    Sometimes we get so caught up chasing the next moment that we forget to savor the one we’re in.

    Wherever you are on the mountain right now, enjoy the climb.