Sometimes Commitment Hurts

Meloxican.

15 milligrams once per day.

“That’s should help with the inflammation.”

I’d never taken Meloxicam before. But I’d never been in such pain. A perhaps-overly-ambitious 10k run through the streets of my hometown eventually lead to a doctor’s visit. The tightness on the inside of my right knee kept getting tighter, especially when I finally finished my run. Walking had become an unexpected casualty as I hobbled my way back to the car.

Ouch.

I’ve run this particular course several times, although it had been a little while since I’ve done so. I wasn’t as prepared as I had hope to be, but I did commit to running this run and I decided to honor that commitment.

Sometimes commitments hurt.

I’ve got a good relationship with commitments these days. Especially with the commitments I make to myself. Those were the types of commitments I had a hard time keeping. One of the most significant growth milestones I’ve achieved upon my meandering life’s journey was embracing those promises I would make to myself. I was no longer willing to let myself down. I deserved better from me for me.

Commitments are a vital component of growth. Without it there is no growth.

Sometimes commitments do hurt. Growth often comes with a price, and often that price is pain. With my run, the pain was decidedly physical. But growth can come with emotional pain as well. Some may not understand the process you’re willing to put yourself through in order to achieve a goal Continue reading “Sometimes Commitment Hurts” →

Unmute Yourself

8 billion people in this world, but you are the only one who can do this.

Creation is always intentional. It doesn’t dabble in random. All that has been created has a divine purpose within it, and that purpose was intended to be nurtured and fully expressed. That purpose is a voice, our own voice, and we are the only one who can bring it to the world.

If we chose to.

Sometimes we chose not to.

Sometimes we may feel our voice is unimportant, insignificant. We question our worth and even our worthiness of having been given anything of importance to offer the world, especially if others may have somehow planted any seeds of doubt within us which may have taken root. So we play small, and when we do we silence a voice only we are qualified to express.

Our own.

Your voice? It takes the form of the unique collection of talent, gifts, and abilities only you have been Continue reading “Unmute Yourself” →

Perhaps Life’s Most Significant Choice?

“Energies are contagious. Choose carefully. Your environment becomes you.”

It’s a Sunday tradition.

Meal prep.

I have a love/hate relationship with cooking. I love to cook, and I hate to clean up after I do. Especially when it takes longer to clean up than to actually eat.

A few years back I discovered meal prep. Each Sunday I’ll make a big batch of something and will pre-portion my creation into four matching containers. Lunch for the week is done. Sure, it’s the same lunch four days in a row, but the convenience outweighs any boredom from eating the same thing all week. It’s just one less thing to have to deal with each day.

The preferred protein is grilled chicken, usually marinated with olive oil, lemon juice, and an improvised combination of spices and herbs sort of just thrown in together. Like with any marinade, the longer the chicken soaks in its surroundings the more it becomes what it is soaking in.

It works for chicken.

It also works for humans.

The world around us acts as sort of a human marinade. What we are surrounded by will influence what we become. It will shape our views, opinions, actions, and possibilities. And the longer we soak in Continue reading “Perhaps Life’s Most Significant Choice?” →

Your Children Are Watching

It’s my greatest joy. Being their dad. It’s less common these days to have them all together in the same place, but Father’s Day and here we all are together.

Yes, my greatest joy.

But also my greatest responsibility.

As their Dad, I am their example. While I hope they listen to what I say, what I do is always more important than what I say. And I know they are watching.

They’re always watching.

How I choose to show up in my life will impact how they show up in their own. Will they see me taking responsibility for my life? Will they see how I honor the commitments I make to others and the commitments I make to myself, how I speak to others and how I speak to myself? How I handle failure and adversity, how I rise to overcome, how I live with intention, how I respect myself, how I am willing to Continue reading “Your Children Are Watching” →

A New Tradition Of Authentic Self Expression

Donuts.

I’m not a big fan of rumors, but when I hear one about donuts my ears do perk up just a little bit.

I’m at Alexa and Juan’s wedding. And there they are. Donuts. An entire table full of donuts. Some stacked high, others displayed on large platters. Donuts.

Having attended a fair amount of weddings over the years, I’ve never had donuts at the reception. Donuts took the place of the more traditional wedding cake. I do love cake, but donuts are as perfect as a dessert could ever be. As I munched on yet another donut I scored at the donut table, I started thinking about the traditions which make up what we’ve come to expect at ceremonies like weddings.

Weddings can often be pretty formulaic, almost an assembly line of sorts taking two committed people and merging them into a married couple. An assembly line built around a framework of traditions which are almost always expected to be upheld as part of that process even if those getting married perhaps didn’t honestly want to celebrate the most significant of their days in that manner.

Marriage is a sacred tradition. Not from a dogmatic standpoint. It’s far more significant than that. The voluntary union of two willing hearts committing themselves to each other for all their living days, no Continue reading “A New Tradition Of Authentic Self Expression” →

You Are A Superhero And Love Is Your Super Power

I’m not sure if I saw this coming. My daughter’s infatuation with super hero movies. It wasn’t something ever expressed when she was a child, but now you can be certain she has seen the most-recent Marvel release more that a few times. And she already knows when the next one will be released.

Super heroes have come a long way from the days of Superman and Batman from when I was a kid. I guess the world of super powers is a highly competitive one, with superheroes needing to step up their games in order to rule the box office.

We tend to think of super heroes as mythical beings gifted with unique talents, gifts, and abilities which can impact the world for good.

You don’t need to be mythical to impact the world.

Each of us is a superhero. Because each of us has the capacity to love.

Love is powerful. It heals, it saves, it protects, it creates, it soothes, it warms, it accepts, it restores, it Continue reading “You Are A Superhero And Love Is Your Super Power” →

Maybe The Answer Really Is Blowing In The Wind?

It would be such a convenient way of getting rid of my problems.

It’s Wednesday. Which means keep the windows closed. Hopefully that will keep most of the noise down.

Wednesday is the day when the landscaping crew shows up at the office complex. A team of hard-working men and women cut, trim, whack, rake, and edge, then comes my favorite part.

The leaf blowers.

They’re not just for blowing leaves.

Any pieces of grass which find their way onto the sidewalks or asphalt don’t stay there very long. The team of leaf blowers, with the machines strapped to their backs, make quick work of those rogue pieces of landscape debris.

Outside my window I have a bird’s eye view of the process. Essentially, the stuff which you don’t want to see is simply blown Continue reading “Maybe The Answer Really Is Blowing In The Wind?” →

An Unexpected Source Of Clarity

Mention their names and you’d swear that they wouldn’t be good together. Polar opposites, most would agree. Yet, it’s that very polarity which can make them important partners.

For most of my life I’ve sought a level of clarity, of trying to understand who I am and what I am here to do with this one life I’ve been given. This inner journey has taken me in many different direction, each path directly or indirectly leading me closer to the clarity I’ve been seeking.

On this long and meandering quest I’ve learned a great deal about life and about myself. Paradoxically one of the key components on my path to clarity has been the introduction of doubt.

Doubt. As in uncertainty. As in compassionately questioning what it is I’ve been willing to accept about myself and what’s possible for me. My beliefs shape my identity, and my identity shapes how it is I allow my life to unfold.

What if what I believe about myself isn’t really true?

What if it actually is?

By introducing doubt into the equation of who it is I tell myself I am – or am not – I create the space for an inner dialog where a Continue reading “An Unexpected Source Of Clarity” →

Unpacking The Gift That Is You

You simply cannot escape the wrath of this man’s kindness.

A spontaneous left turn sent me off in an unfamiliar direction. As someone who appreciates consistency of routine, I will at times resist its very pull and venture off on a different path. Sometimes life uses those alternative routes to show me what it hopes I will see.

I’m heading south on Brayton Avenue and there he was. With determination and purpose in each intentional step, he walked as if he owned the sidewalk. He was there for a reason. That’s when I noticed The Wave. As each northbound vehicle approached him, up went his right arm, fingers fully extended, his hand enthusiastically greeting every driver passing by, making eye contact with each one. He was happy to see you, and he made sure you knew how happy he was to see you. Judging by the smiles on their Continue reading “Unpacking The Gift That Is You” →

An Emotional Spring Cleaning For The Next Season Of Your Life

It’s an annual ritual. As the seasons change and with warmer weather on the way, the content of my closets will also change. Down from the attic come the bins of the lighter clothing. Heading back into the attic are the heavier clothes needed to get through those colder months.

Swapping out the seasonal clothing allows me the chance to look at each item being unpacked. Does the item still fit? Is it something I actually want to wear again? Is it still in good condition? The items I am going to be putting away for the season undergo the same sort of evaluation.

Spring is a great time to reset and re-evaluate.

Not just when it comes to clothing.

It’s also a great time to look deeper into the emotional things we carry with us which we may have outgrown.

No matter the season, we carry our emotions with us year round. Emotions are important barometers which reflect our inner world. I’ve come to appreciate the ability to notice my emotions. To simply step back and observe exactly how I am feeling in any moment without judging myself for having the emotions that I feel.

I discovered that I, like every human, experience a wide range of emotions. Happy, sad, angry, disappointed, bitter, frustrated. Thoughts of doubt, fear, and unworthiness can often arise as well.

Like my process of evaluating my clothing at the end of each season, I also conduct a similar process with my emotions. A sort of an emotional spring cleaning. Through this filtering out process, I will look deeper into my emotions and see if any of them no l Continue reading “An Emotional Spring Cleaning For The Next Season Of Your Life” →

Peter Mis LivingHalfFull.com

Lessons From A Life Unfolding