Experiences

in

Often times I am filled with assessment and analytics on what is going on around me. Not so much hard data, numbers, and graphs, but more gut feelings. I will see a friend about to do something I have done a number of times and I know there is a natural pitfall and it is easy to fall into it. So I speak up. I tell the person about the pitfall. Where its origins are, how it works and, most importantly, how to avoid it. 

When suddenly I hear a voice in the void between me and my friend telling them about the pitfalls etcetera. A voice of caring and concern. I listen intently to the voice and appreciate their care to help my friend. As I listen, the voice become more familiar. I know the cadence, vernacular, and phrasing. The voice is very reasonable even. The voice is making some of the same points and sharing experiences I have. 

I look up expectant of seeing someone I know helping my friend and sharing helpful tips and trick. 

There is not anyone there. 

The voice is mine. 

And the voice never left my head.

My friend gets up and moves along to their next destination and I have not said a word.

What will my friend do? I hope they make it ok. I hope they do not end up engaging in any of the same pitfalls I ran into. I better connect with them quickly. I better make sure they know what they have ahead of themselves. I would hate for them to hit any of the same speed bumps I did when they are so avoidable. I hope it is not too late. 

What experiences do you have? What experiences have you not shared?

Sharing,

–JT

Today

in

One day I will go back to Israel. One day I will go back to Ireland. One day there will be a cure for cancer. One day I will replace my old tired Subaru. 

The issue with 'one day' is it never comes in time. Often times 'one day' never comes at all. 'One day' will even be a myth at times. It has not timeline. ‘one day’ is truly giving up on the present. ‘One day’ insinuates today is not enough. It insinuates tomorrow will have something I do not currently have. It insinuates I am waiting for something outside of my control. 'One day' meanssomething is coming I need, and I cannot continue forward without it.

‘One day’ abdicates my responsibility for today. 

‘One day’ is an excuse.

‘One day’ is a lie…a lie I tell myself.

How often do you tell yourself this lie? What other lies do you tell yourself?

Today,

–JT

Quarterly Reviews

in

Given the new year and my views on annual resolutions, I have been struggling a little with the concept of how to better grow and improve. I dislike forcing an annual plan where I have to accomplish X, Y, and Z in twelve months or I am a failure. And truly resolutions are semi-synonymous with, “a cute goal I won’t achieve this year.” 

I struggle because I can lose track of the goals I am working towards and the way I am moving forward in the areas outside of work. Growing personally has much more significance and long term payment than a job does. Do not get me wrong, I love my job and I think there is much significance and long term payoff in my role. However, when I was slinging coffee, my job started when I clocked in and ended when I clocked out. The long term significance lasted as long as caffeine buzz and a trip to the bathroom. 

I was left to grow and develop on my own during those days. I did not have someone who paid me to grow as a person. There was no responsibility or eternal significance to my success or failure as a barista. Thus I had to motivate myself. I had to push myself to grow and get out of my comfort zone. I was not using any solid metrics to ensure I was growing. To a large extent, I still do not use any excellent metrics. What is worse, I usually have no clue how I am doing in progressing towards accomplishing my goals. 

I need to assess regularly. I need to look at my goals more often, be reminded of what I want to achieve, who I want to become. Where I want to go in life. I need to look at where I am at more often. There is a detrimental side to this where I assess too often and am defeated by measuring my lack of progress. I think for me I will start with assessing three or four times a year. Each phase of assessment will require me to recalibrate my interworking and assess my progress.

What are your goals? How often are you assessing them? What are your metrics to know if you are progressing.

Assessing,

–JT

Backpack

in

Recently, I sat in an airport for longer than I would like to admit. I was waiting for a plane to decide whether or not it had the visibility to land. As we were all waiting, a couple of ladies started getting to know one another. I of course had nothing better to do than ‘drop some eaves’ as I was waiting. 

One of their discussion topics was the younger lady’s backpack. She loves her backpack. She enjoys everything about it and it has a lifetime warranty and she has had it repaired a few time and it works well and she truly wants it to be her only backpack for the rest of her life. 

The manufacturer has discontinued the make and model of her backpack. She previously would send it in for repairs and they would send her a new backpack or a refurbished backpack in the event her backpack needed to be replaced

Since they have now discontinued her backpack, they have to repair her backpack whenever she sends it in. This is ok with her, but what if she is unable to get it repaired at some point. One of her zippers is especially troublesome and might not survive. There is much to be concerned about as she described her backpack woes. 

I listened on and reflected about her story and realized I do the same thing she was doing. I get overly concerned about a niche product. I get overly zeroed in on the one detail I care about and lose the rest of the picture. 

A backpack is not this big of a deal. 

My favorite roast of coffee at Starbucks.

The restaurant discontinuing my favorite dish because it was unpopular.

Whether someone takes a photo or video horizontal is not that big of a deal.

There are things in life that are a big deal. They warrant fretting and consternation. There are things in life I can fight for and belabor the point on and do some good in the world. I should be concerned about the health, safety, and betterment of myself and the people around me. I should belabor those points.

I should be concerned about the thing that will effect my life in twenty years. I cannot let myself get so lost in the minutiae of the accouterments in my life.

What are your minutiae? Do you fuss over the long term as much as you do the accouterments?

Longterm,

–JT

Information Overload

in

I generally give people information pretty freely. I will tell them about something or explain something or give them observations on what is happening or has happened and then I will often expect them to process the information I give them.

The issue is, I will usually expect people to process the information I give them the same way I do. I take it in, I churn it around, talk to myself about it, and then spew out an idea or thought I have in relationship to the information I am given or even take the idea inside and really rest on it for a while and let it sift me. 

When I give someone the information, I want them to be connected and engaged with the information, take it in, churn it around, and then spew how they will be changed by the revelation I have given them or the way the information changes things for them.

What actually happens is one of two things. When I tell someone something I think is monumental, he will sometimes take the information in, then start talking with me about the information, where it came from or how I got there, ask me about different aspects of the information, or simply, discredit the information all together. What he does is start externally processing the information. Which is what he does. He externally processes. 

Which makes sense when he is an external processor. 

I will in turn, walk away disappointed because the information missed the intended target and landed amongst the weeds, not on the target at all.

The second options is, I will give a piece of information to someone else and she will take it in, churn it around, and she will have little to say about it. The conversation will pretty much be over by the time I would expect her to spew out some ideas or changes to make based on the information. I then in turn get frustrated and try to reframe the conversation or reframe the idea or concept. I try to deliver the information in better packaging. Ultimately, everything lands the same with her and I walk away without hitting my mark again. This time it is almost as if I never fired a shot. 

Which makes sense. 

She is processing. 

Inside.

As she does.

Either way, I feel a bit like a failure. I walk away thinking I have done nothing in both instances. This highlights the issue to begin with.

My expectations of the situation were unfair to begin with. I thought too much of myself and expected too much from people when I showed up. I should have walked in more open–minded to these two people processing as they do and worked with them to process. I was working at them not with them. What is worse, I never even offered up a single expectation to these people before I lobbed my idea at them. I launched, watched, shook my head, and walked away.

Where are your expectations sideways for the situation? Where are you not voicing your expectations? Where are you thinking more of yourself than you ought?

Unexpecting,

–JT

Propellant

in

I have survived. 2015 is drawing to a close. I made it past the Christmas mayhem, without as much mayhem and a little bit more peace and joy I think, and now I am riding into 2016 without a hitch. 

I will ring in the new year with friends and hopefully in a little better spirits than these past few years. Generally, my new years celebration means I am being woken up by my wife on the couch for the last ten seconds of the ball dropping to drink my drink, get up off the couch, get in the car, and make the long cold drive home. Apparently, midnight comes too late for me and grumpy comes a little too early for me. 

This year I am still holding true to my ‘Make No Resolutions’ policy. Not because I think Resolutions are bad, but because I have goals already. I am working toward goals, some of which date back to 2014. I do not think I need new goals on top of my old goals to muddy up the target I am trying to hit.

What I love about my goals is I have friends helping me achieve them. I have people who know me and love me helping me get farther down the path of the goals I have set for myself and I do not need the harking of a new year to remind me to set my goals. I need to continue to work forward. I need to continue to grind up against my friends and family as we work forward, encourage each other, sharpen each other, and propel each other forward.

Who is helping you achieve your goals? Who is holding you accountable for your goals? Who are you seeking out that has achieved your goals before?

Propelled by friends,

–JT

Preparation

in

As I approach the weekbetween Christmas and New Years I often take time to reflect on the last year, where I have been, what I have done, things I have done well, things I have not done well and generally how this year has been. I am looking to see not only what has happened to me but also how have I reacted and responded to the year.

For some reason, I work backwards in this exercise. I start at the end of the year the current season and work back towards the beginning. I would not say it is the most logical way to do it but it has always worked for me and my quirky personality. When I look at the end of this year I have a bit of a rubric of things I think I should probably be outputting. I should be outputting things like hope, joy, and love. This is a season of Christ. The season of preparation. 

Preparation.

I am to be prepared for to be these things. I am to be ready to be hope to people. I am to be prepared to live out joy. I am to be available to share love with other people. I need to be prepared to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. 

I would not say It has been a good year. Generally, these have been two long years. In my short life, these last two years are in the top five hardest years I have had. I do not think I have some sort of right to claim this year as harder than anyone else’s; I would say with out a doubt there are people who have had significantly harder years than I have had. 

These messages are bigger than we are though. I would say for all of us, we can bring these messages of love, hope, and joy to the people around us despite the years we have had. We are to prepare ourselves to bring these things to people around us. The Christ child came and brought these things to his parents when they needed it. 

For me, it all revolves around preparation. Am I preparing myself to bring love to the people around me? Am I preparing myself to bring joy to the people around me? Am I preparing myself to bring hope to the people around me?

Not because I have an abundance of these things, but because I am preparing myself. Focusing myself. When I wake up, do I decide to bring love to others, despite knowing I am going to sit in more traffic than I would want. When I wake up, am I preparing to bring joy to the cashier at Starbucks despite the child behind me throwing a tantrum. Am I prepared to bring hope to the employee at the department store, despite her inability to get off her phone? 

Am I walking into the situation prepared to better someone else’s day despite my perception of what they should or should not be doing? Am I preparing myself to be to others what I need and want in this season? 

Are you prepared to be love, joy, and hope? Are you preparing yourself?

Prepared,

–JT

Not A Noun

‘Grit’ It seems to be a bit of a buzz word of late. I hear about it on podcasts. Read about it on blogs. See it zipping around the world wide web. Successful entrepreneurs have it. Aspiring entrepreneurs want it. It is the prized possession.

Only it is not a possession. I do not get to own grit. As a matter of fact, I do not even get to feign having it. Truly, grit is not a thing at all. 

Grit is a choice. 

Grit happens over and over and over again.

Grit happens slowly.

I hear Bill Hybels talk about it at the Global Leadership Summit as one of his six points about leaders blah blah blah…

Would it not be wonderful if it were that simple? I could add it to my life as one of six goals to develop over six weeks. Then afterwards, I would then have a tool in my toolbox. 

WHAMO! 

Success, I have grit…right!?             

NO

Grit is much like a callous. It happens over time. It develops because I put the time in. Grit is just like a muscle. It does not come because I decide I want it. It comes because I choose to persevere forward even though I have been told no. Even though I am tired I keep trying. Even though I am bored I keep learning. Even when I am distracted I decide my goals are more important than my comfort. Suddenly grit becomes part of every day. Every. Single. Day. Is marked by several decisions involving Grit. 

No my quippy buzz worded friends. Grit is not tool in a toolbox. Grit happens over the course of months and years not days and weeks. Grit happens when I am hangry and I do not want to push forward. Grit happens when I am tasked to sort and label each individual grain of sand in a dump truck full of sand. 

Grit is doing the hard stuff. The stuff I do not want to do. Grit is trying even when I do not want to. Grit is making dinner after a long day even though my wife and I have been fighting all day. Grit is dealing with hard conversations in real time even when I do not want to. Grit is cleaning up after people who I do not think deserve it. The part that sets these moments apart from plain old patience and perseverance is, I do these things with a smile on my face and keep a positive mental attitude.

Grit is a verb not a noun.

Where do you need to grit?

Even when I do not want to,

–JT

PS. These are my observations as I learn how to do this. Not my reflections because I think I have learned how to do this. I do not do this well most of the time.

Brilliance

in

The other day someone peered over my shoulder as I was working on some odds and ends bouncing between email and web browsers and they were impressed by how fluidly I moved around and how I had applications and windows sorted on the computer. Really, I do not ever think about it. Most of it is all pretty simple and well thought out and arranged around my computer’s desktops for where I want them to be. It is natural and logical to me. 

However, to them, it was brilliant! They had never thought of it all this way. They had never thought to use spaces like I do or arrange their applications like I do. It was genius. What was completely obvious to me was genius to them. 

Likewise, I was playing a game and I kept failing pretty hard with some friends and strangers. They pointed out how I was failing and what to do differently. To me, what they suggested was not only brilliant but also perfect. They solved my problem and made it possible for the whole team to succeed. And we did. 

Their suggestion was obvious to them and genius to me. 

It all brought me back to how I can often miss the most obvious of things; but, when someone else brings their opinion to play, I can suddenly be shocked out of my train of logic into a different train of thought I had never thought of before. A train of logic seeming quite brilliant to me. 

I have to wonder, was E=MC^2 brilliant to Einstein or was it obvious? 

What brilliant idea are you logically working out as if it should be plain as day to everyone around you? What brilliant idea have you come across from someone else who thought it was no more than common place? How are you observing the people around you to grow and improve in new ways?

Logically,

–JT

Adventures

in

I am a pretty simple person. I do not have a lot of lofty life goals and idealistic priorities in my life. I do not have much of a bucket list and I most certainly do not have a bunch of crazy dreams I am trying to achieve. As a matter of fact, if anything, I have too few goals and achievements to strive towards.

I have been on a lot of cool adventures though. Not necessarily stuff out of the ordinary, quite simply put, things important to me. Things like going to Ireland and going to Israel. Two life goals or bucket list items I have checked off my list. I have been to Norway, Belgium, France, Germany, and Iceland (though only the airport for a few hours.) I have been to most of the states in the United States of America including Hawaii. I did a road trip for three weeks with four of my best friends. Generally, I never really dreamed I needed to go all these places but I have. And I am so thankful to have gotten to have done these things. 

Much of what I have done has not been because of me. I have done what I have done because of the people around me. 

People like my wife, my friends, and my family. 

I have been where I have been and seen what I have seen because of the people in my life who want to share their goals and adventures with me. I have what I have not because I am something extra special deserving of these fun travels. I have been blessed to go these places because of the people in my life who love me enough to take me along as they do these things. I have been where I have been because I am plugged into community. 

Now, I am sure I will still be able to do some really cool stuff over the next rest of my life. I am sure much of that will continue to be because of community. However, I must also make sure I am blessing people too. I must make sure I am bringing people along who might not have the chance or blessing people as I have been blessed. I must make sure I am inciting adventures and bringing people along with me and expect nothing in return.

Who are you bringing along on your adventures?

Adventuring,

–JT

Are You Not Entertained?

in

Someone recently posed the question to me, “What causes your generation to be connected to something?” Essentially, they were trying to figure out how to advertise to me. How to connect to me as a brand or a business. 

How do they advertise to me? How do they sell me something? How do they become my resource for sales and purchases? 

Simply put, “What do they need to do to sell to the iPhone generation?”

I was a little off put and realized, they needed to connect to me by connecting to me. They needed to tell me a story. They needed to bring me a message worth taking in. They needed to connect me to the story of their brand. 

We jokingly talked about how my generation and I could so easily pick up our phone and seemingly tune out a conversation with four or five other people who are all talking. 

I pointed out about how picking up our phone was not tuning out a conversation with four or five other people. It was choosing to engage in a conversation with the 300 people on the other end of our story. 

While I might be connected to a conversation about the weather, the annoying neighbors, work woes, or the funny thing a pet recently did. As soon as I pick up my phone I have real peoples’ stories to join. 

To read.

To watch.

To engage with. 

All of a sudden the surface level conversation about the weather is trivial when compared to the content online. The content of seeing a child take their first steps on social media or the content of the guy I know going through a depression and expressing his angst. When I compare the content linking me to the family who donated all of their Christmas gifts to the needy to someone else’s work woes, I find myself more interested in the family making a difference than the same sad story about work woes. 

I do not think I am justified to pick up my phone as if I have found the social trump card. 

I do think I am expected to be worthwhile in conversation. When I am in a conversation I am leading, it is my job to be worthwhile content. I need to be digging into the conversation and making it worth everyone’s time sitting around the conversation we are having. Is the content I am providing in this conversation more interesting than the weather?

The weather happens to everyone, when is the next time you are going to talk about how you happened to the world around you? When you are in a conversation are you contributing something worthwhile?  

Quality Content,

–JT

Scaling

in

Putting issues on a scale has brought me much perspective in life. I have been able to see what is important and what is not important. I have been able to see when to act, react, and instigate. I have not always done a great job at analyzing life on this scale. I have been trying…that is pretty much the same right!? Not so much. 

But the moments in my life I have put things into perspective for myself have made an immense difference when I was over or under acting in a situation.

For instance, when I start to look at life through a scale of 1 to 10, I can see the valuable moments versus the valueless moments. When I am upset about something and I throw it on this scale, I can see how upset I should really be. Are my actions truly to scale of the situation. Am I about to flip a table at a restaurant because I have not had my iced tea refilled in the last ten minutes? 

Am I totally downplaying the importance of family and ignoring my wife in order to watch another episode of Hell on Wheels?

Usually when I get this scale out of whack it is because I am out of whack. When I see myself react to situations out of proportion, I know something else is wrong. Something else is misaligned in my life. Usually whatever I am under or overreacting about is not the real issue, there is something else behind the issue for me. However, using this metric I am able to see how I should be acting and reacting to situations.

How do you tell whether or not you have a piston misfiring? How often do you overreact or under react to situations? How would your actions & reactions change if you put everything into a relative scale of 1 to 10?

Scaling,

–JT

Steps

in

For every step I take in knowing who I am and how comfortable I am in my own skin I find mixed results. I the more comfortable I am in my own skin, the more I am able to relax, let my hair down, and be who I am with people I know and trust. However, the more I am who I am most comfortable being, the more I receive questions and comments about my attitude, demeanor, and disposition. 

People start to ask me if I am ok all the time. They start to ask about me. They start to get really concerned about me. In turn, I start to get really concerned about myself. I start to become hyper aware of my own demeanor and disposition. I start to question whether or not I am ok. I start to dig around and look into how I am doing, I assume there is something wrong. I am constantly looking for the wrong thing looking to fix it. I want to fix the broken part when all along, the broken part is what I assumed.

I assumed there is something wrong. 

There was not anything wrong more than my assumption. I was ok to begin with. I was just operating differently than everyone else which is completely normal. I am different than many and similar to many. However, the people I am different from will ask if I am ok because they are not sure. The people I am the same as will ask if I am ok because they care. 

Are you starting with the wrong assumption? What is your problem?

Unbroken,

–JT

Waking Up

in

The recent events of Paris have slammed into us all. These events have awoken me as well as I am sure you have been awoken as well. These events have reminded us of the worst parts of humanity. Our collective lowest points and how terrible humanity can be when we act out of pure selfishness and extremism. Truly an atrocity in Paris.

Alongside these events in Paris have come a series of responses ranging the full gamut. One response being the Bleeding Heart. These are the people who have been changing their profile photo, making statuses on social media of their thoughts, prayers, and good vibes being sent towards Parisians caught up in these events. 

Then there are other peoples' responses, such as the Cynic’s approach. The people who are unimpressed by these statuses, avatar changes, and sending of prayers. These people cite the monetary value of these changes to be nothing. To the Cynic, sending nothing to Paris is the same as doing the listed actions above. The Cynic also makes comments about the unreported atrocities going on every day. They point out the lack of emotion from the bleeding heart and the mainstream media's lack of coverage. All of which ends up hurting and devaluing what the Bleeding Heart was saying or doing in the first place. 

The Bleeding Heart eventually responds mad and makes an inflammatory defensive statement towards the Cynic. 

The Cynic, justified by the Bleeding Heart, fires off some snarky remarks designed to enflame the Bleeding Heart. 

At the end of the conversation, no one has won. There is only anger, pain, and hurt people. When all along the Cynic only wants people to take action and the Bleeding Hearts wants to help people. 

Action is exactly what everyone wants. Everyone wants to help. Everyone wants to see restoration and healing. The prayers are powerful. The thoughts are encouraging. And donating to the cause makes a difference. 

All of these parts are necessary. I cannot let myself stop short of taking action. Too often I hear of something tragic going on whether it be up the street or half way around the world and I say my prayer and call it good. Not often enough do I take time to donate my time or money to the cause. 

In this season of generosity, will you donate to the cause? What other times do you stop short when you are called to do more than an obligatory prayer? Who are you in this scenario, the Cynic or the Bleeding Heart?

Both And,

–JT

P.S. I found these two charities. One to help the victims of Bataclan and one to help the Syrian Refugees. I have not researched or vetted these charities in any way. I strongly suggest doing your research before donating, but I think these charities are trying to help people who are front and center of the world’s stage.

Support the Syrian Refugees [Global Giving] 

Support the Bataclan Theater victims [Bitcoin Only]

Where I Belong

in

Belonging. I want to belong. I want to belong to an identifiable group. A chunk of people who all align similarly and are pointed the same direction. A college sports team. A professional sports team. A group of nerds playing video games. A group of people listening to the same podcast, commenting on the same subreddit, or even so simple as to rock out to the same concert. 

I want to belong. 

Most often I know what group of people someone ascribes to by their use of 'we.' I also know what group of people I am ascribing to by my own use of 'we.' We beat the boss in the game, we beat the other team at sportsball, we were talking about topic XYZ online last night. 

When I start to make these comments, and include myself in these 'we' statements I know I have often overstepped my bounds. When I refer to the sports team and say, 'we are playing so-and-so.' It is so incredibly inaccurate but I so want to be a part of the team. I want to belong to this group. I want to be a part of the moment, even if my part is to be on the sidelines cheering along. 

The key is to make sure I am focused on being a part of the right things. 

What are you trying to be apart of? Who is your 'we'?

Belonging,

–JT

Understanding

in

“If you cannot explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough.” — A. Einstein

This quote has left me in an incredible state of questioning what I do and do not understand. I do not use this to question everything; but, I do use it to know whether or not I am going to claim to understand something.

What do you understand? Can you explain it? Can you defend it? Can you question it? Can you argue for it? Can you argue against it? What do you understand?

Explaining,

–JT

Shred of Truth

in

I tell myself stories all the time. I tell myself stories about to explain companies doing well, explain other people, to explain my reactions, and to explain everything. Many of these stories start with a shred of evidence. I use this shred to dig deeper, find more information, fact find, and fill in the gaps. There are on occasion times I tell myself stories and they are not as filled in as they should be. They might start with a sideways glance, a loaded comment, or an unassuming joke. 

One of these sorts of minor happenings then become my shred of truth. I then use this shred of truth to develop an entire world around this shred of truth. It becomes the lens through which all other truth is filtered. It even tends to create some new truths of its own. The issue being, a shred of truth does not create new truth. 

A shred of truth cannot create new truth.

A shred of truth is not a lens through which I should be filtering life. 

A shred of truth is evidence.

A shred of truth needs other truths to tell a story.

When I use a shred of truth to tell a story, I create a lie. When I use a long series of truths to tell a story, the truth tells the truth. Far too often I sucker myself into telling a story based on a shred. I get too caught up into synthesizing a story to go along with the shred of truth I find. I spend more energy trying to tell a story of lies, than I do finding and listening to the truths.

How often do you stop trying to write the wrong story and instead read the truths of the true story? How are you doing at finding the truth? What story are you telling yourself right now about someone else?

Truth listening,

–JT

Compartments

in

Life has compartments to it. I do not get to stop that. I cannot stop teething. I cannot stop puberty. I cannot stop cannot prevent myself from growing hair on my chest any more than I can prevent the times when I have to fill my perpetual need for food. However, life has other compartments too. 

There is a preschool phase, a kindergarten phase, a elementary school phase, middle school, high school, college, post college for some, and maybe even some version of professional compartment. All of these then followed by retirement.

As I listed these compartments I think of myself in each compartment. How I might play on the playground or watch the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in kindergarten. Learning to write in cursive and learning my multiplication tables in elementary school. Even learning how to format a computer hard drive or play the bass stick out to me from middle school. 

There are many more memories to dig into; but, with each passing compartment, comes a certain set of expectations and allowances.

In the kindergarten compartment, you are only allowed to go so far from the house and cross the street under certain circumstances. The middle school compartment probably has a certain curfew. 

The high school compartment has certain allowances for community development. You are expected to be able to interact with people a certain way orThe college compartment has expectations about grades and friendships. Allowances for post college include healthcare benefits, finding a significant other, some possibly children, and preparing for life after career.

Nobody ever shows up and blends the compartments.

Nobody ever shows up and says, “While you are at college you can do anything else outside of college while you are here.”

Where is that guy? The guy who encourages me to break down the walls because I can. When does someone explicitly say, “These things to the left are the bare minimum and these things to the right are considered ‘extra.’ You can do all or none of these. Your call.”

Who is the guy who gets to set the expectations for each compartment?

When did the expectation committee meet? 

How come I was not invited?

Life’s compartments are only dictated by age. I cannot stop time from ticking. I can stop my time from being wasted on the bare minimum. I can set the expectations for myself.

What are the walls of your compartment? Which ones can you move?

Decompartmented,

–JT

Great Scott!

In case you missed it, today is the day Marty McFly went back to the future and stopped Biff. I think it will be hard to miss this one. I am sure every news outlet in the world will be reporting on it. They will be comparing and contrasting between these two worlds and how different they are. They will point out my lack of true hover-board, an absolute atrocity by my standards. They will show how I still do not have a flying car. They will be disappointed by the lack of continued Jaws sequels. 

However, will they question my expectations? 

Will they force me to be content where I am? 

Will they encourage me to pay attention and see what is going on around me?

Be content with my friends?

Be content with the world around me?

I do not want to encourage apathy towards growth; but, I do want to encourage joy in the moment. I get lost too easily in these high expectations I have for the future. I have high expectations for what life will bring me next. I have high expectations for what I can do in the future and where I can go. I have high expectations for the next Star Wars movie. 

When was the last time I stopped looking forward to the next thing and decided I could be content with whatever I am given? When was the last time I decided to not expect what I saw in main stream media in my own life? When was the last time I decided success is defined by my ability to enjoy the luxuries I have, not work for the luxuries I do not have?

When was the last time you said enough is plenty?

Enough,

–JT

Life in Percentages

in

I get to meet many people in my life. I am thankful to meet these people. Living in a highly transient community, I think I get to meet a higher variety of people than maybe most people might. Moscow & Pullman are two college centric towns within 8 miles of one another and we receive students from all over the world just for the state schools, not to mention the other schools present in the community.

l have to admit a downfall of mine is, I will often make assumptions about the people I meet. Or worse, I’ll make assumptions about the people I do not know based on very little information, time, or interactions with them. I pretty much hate that I do this. I know it is wrong and I try hard not to continue to do this. But every time I evict this habit, it still finds a way back into my life. My only true defense is to remember how much they have lived and how little I know them.

I am meeting these people after 20, 25, 30years, or many more. I am meeting these people and getting to know them for a couple days or a week and making decisions far too large about who I think they are based on the bit of information I am gleaning from them. 

If I build a case study, I can see what I am really doing to these people.

For instance, someone who is 25 years old has lived for more than 1300 weeks. So when I decide about the whole of who they are based on interactions over the course of two week. I am literally using a picture of 0.23% of their life to decide who they are.

How can I do that? 

What kind of picture can I actually develop?

Granted it takes time to develop these pictures and often times someone can be off putting. But does that give me the right to take a snippet that small and make decisions about their whole persona based on this brief interaction?

What percentage of a person’s life do you spend with them before you decide who they are?

Taking my time,

–JT