What Really Matters ?

Sometimes in life, situations can lead us to think disparaging thoughts.  We can then dwell on those thoughts until we find ourselves visibly angry.  The simple power of an idea or concern repeated in our self-talk can raise our blood pressure, increase our heart rate, and even clench our teeth or fists in a building rage or disappointment.  If left unchecked, this can eliminate positive thoughts entirely and destroy relationships or personal progress.

Yesterday I was in that very place, thinking those very negative thoughts, and finding myself righteously indignant toward a certain person whose words and actions justified (note the sarcasm intended here) my angry mood.  I couldn't focus on my work.  I couldn't generate any motivation to clear items on ANY of my To Do Lists.  All I could focus on was the growing anger and resentment toward this person and their actions.

I tried to vent my frustrations to my loving wife, who has I assume willingly listened to more than her fair share of these mini-tirades in our many years together.  But it didnt help.  In fact, it seemed to make things worse.  The more I spoke, the more angry and hurt I became.  I began to question the value of anything I was investing my time in.  Why does any extra effort matter when something so tiny can negate all of that positive performance?  It was rough, and my wife doesn't deserve to hear such harsh language, so I walked away.  But being alone didn't help either.

A small amount of time passed.  The kids were sent to bed, but my youngest son, Spencer, just over a year old, seemed unwilling to go to sleep in my wife's arms.  This is unusual because he always wants her to put him to sleep.  Realizing that she might need a break, I softly took him from her arms and went to his room to sing him to sleep.  He immediately stopped fussing and began his put-me-to-sleep humming sound.  After a few Harry Connick Jr songs (he seems pretty partial to "I've Got A Great Idea" from the We Are In Love CD), it hit me ... THIS is what really matters.

After laying him down, I went back in the family room to chat with my wife.  She mentioned that Spencer must have just needed some 'daddy time' but I don't think that's true.  I think daddy needed some Spencer time to remind him what really matters.


Song Of The Day:
I knew that I would be writing this blog today, but wasn't sure what would be a good song to accompany the post.  Then this morning, a work friend's Facebook post reminded me of a song I love that I haven't heard in years.  "Seven"  by Prince* is not a song about kids, but it is a song about love and it also makes me think of my seven children and how they (plus my wife of course) are what really matters in my life.
*Sadly I could not find a link for the original song by Prince, so this one is performed a capella by the Brown Jabberwocks.  It's pretty good, but I LOOOOOVE the original Prince version.

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How Do You Wear The Apron ?

Every year, Progressive sponsors a contest for employees where the selected winners are awarded an opportunity to travel to the Opening Day baseball game at Progressive Field in Cleveland Ohio.  The requirements to be selected as a winner vary each year.  This year's contest asks each person to answer the above Blog Post Title Question in 200 words or less.

I was extremely fortunate to attend Opening Day 2012 (our 75th anniversary year as a company) and now that I am eligible to attend again (every other year to make sure more people get the opportunity) I will be re-applying every year I can.

Here is my entry for this year ... wish me luck

In 1998, a young man left a promising career in retail to join a company he had never heard of before: Progressive.  There was no apron then.  Just a progressive company growing fast while changing everything anyone ever knew about insurance.

Fast forward to 2014; Notice that this not-quite-so-young-anymore man has an even more promising career at Progressive (and how grateful he is!)  There is an apron on his chest every day, as he dons one of his dozens of Progressive branded shirts.  But it runs deeper than that.  The Thread of Progressive flows through his veins and he could not be more pleased with this symbiosis.

This man and Progressive have grown together over these years and their influence on each other is unmistakable.

From the Blended, WFH, and Sales Academy teams he leads to strong performance success through application of the Core Values, to his support of our Diversity and Inclusion initiative through leadership in various ERG functions, this man and Progressive are linked.

So what does the future hold?  At least two things are certain: Progressive will continue to thrive and this man will grow old wearing his love for all things Progressive prominently on his sleeve.

 

 

Song Of The Day:

It is probably a BIG stretch to say that winning the opportunity to go to Opening Day 2014 would be "The Best Day Of My Life" but the song by American Authors is too good not to share as soon as possible.  This linked video version is super cute too, as it features the song from the perspective of a dog who needs to be adopted. 

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Why Do I Feel So Blah ?

It doesn't happen often. I've never tracked it, but I would guess its only a few times a year, if that many.  It also doesn't last very long, usually anyway.

I never really know what starts it and there never seems to be a common solution.  I am the kind of person who pays attention to those kinds of trends and patterns, but this seems to have no rhyme or reason.

I just feel sort of blah.

 

It's been this way for almost a week ... and I have no idea why.

I've tried all sorts of things that have worked in the past: exercise, playing games, reading scriptures, listening to uplifting music, date night with my sweetheart, going to bed early, getting up early, prayer, play wrestling with my kids, blogging, finishing a project, cleaning, making lists (including one of all I am thankful for), etc.

I'm still kinda feeling blah.

I am certainly not the only person who ever gets this way, but I'm not a fan of it (not that other people are either).  I just hope it goes away soon and I can be my normal (well, normal for me anyway) self again.


Song Of The Day:
Perhaps the recent re-realization of my age and stage in life has something to do with the mood.  I  recently calculated that I have around 30 years until retirement.  That's not good or bad, it just is.  I'm well on my way to goals I had in mind for this time in my life, but sometimes 30 more years of work sounds like f o r e v e r ... so here is "Forever Young" by Alphaville for your ThrowBack Thursday.  It's just a good, yet melancholy tune, and when you're feeling blah at least you can enjoy some good melancholy tunes.

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Are You Emotionally Attached To Your Car ?

Recently I was looking through old photos on our home computer, specifically those I had uploaded from my phone.  I came across the one at the left and it took me a few minutes to remember why I had taken it.

Then I remembered the conversation with one of my kids (I forget which one it was at the time) from this past autumn.  Whoever it was, said that our cars (Karen drives our minivan and I drive our compact car) were "dent buddies."  I didn't know there was such a thing, but the comment led me to snapping this photo, which led me today to think back on that animated short about "Susie The Little Blue Coupe."

If you've never seen the short, take a few minutes and watch it HERE.

I remembered seeing this for the first time long before I was able to drive a car myself.  And I remembered how I felt seeing the car go from new to old to unloved and then finally back to being loved again by her new owner.  At the time, I was just happy for little Susie, but now, I actually have an additional appreciation for this animation.  I'm quite attached to my car, and we've recently found out just how attached Karen is to her minivan (long story there ... maybe a future blog post).  I've driven Jazzmine (yes, that's her name) around for almost 17 years.  That's a lot of time together.  Over 170,000 miles if you prefer to measure it in distance.

So in honor of my first car (I bought her myself, all the others were borrowed or gifts), I present today's Song Of The Day which is "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" by Glass Tiger.  I am not sure how much more Jazz and I will be able to hang out together, but I know I won't forget her when it's time to finally say goodbye.

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Why Does It Always Take Three Trips ?

I'll spare you the boring and very self-indulgent rant about feeling as there is no end to the To Do List, and simply cut to the chase in this post.

No matter what the project is.  No matter how well it is planned out ahead of time.  No matter how much time you have set aside to complete whatever you're working on.  No matter how many helpers you have.  No matter if you set out all the tools you could conceive of needing to use.  You will always end up making at least three trips to the hardware store (or stores, isn't that fun when it happens?!) when you are doing a home improvement job that someone is often paid to do.

Today the task was reasonably simple: replace the kitchen faucet.

And yet, there it was ... three trips later (to two different stores, of course) before it was all said and done.

You can reason it out all you want.  Make excuses of how you couldn't possibly have foreseen the changes or additions to the original project.  It doesn't matter.  Life would be much easier if I could learn to just accept that I'll need to make three trips.  Then there won't be frustration when the first or second change comes up.  Instead I'd be elated that I only have two or one more trip to make!


Song Of The Day:
What could possibly be a better song for this post than Weird Al's ode to that manliest of manly places: the "Hardware Store" ?!

If you can't commit the full 5 minutes to the video (which was done by a fan and is pretty amazing in itself - it even has outtakes at the end), at least listen to Weird Al's ridiculously amazing list of available items at the hardware store beginning at about 2:30 (min:sec) into the video.  I promise you will NOT be disappointed!

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How Do You Make Dora Creepy ?

My daughter has a stuffed Dora the Explorer doll.  While helping her clean up her room, I glanced over and saw the creepiest looking Dora I had ever seen.

I assumed this was because someone had ripped her eyebrows off.  But my daughter quickly showed me that her hair was designed (for what reason I cannot begin to comprehend) to flip up or down.

        

Am I the only person who thinks she looks super creepy with her hair flipped up?


Song Of The Day:
In the song "Keep Your Head Up" by Andy Grammer, there is a repeated phrase that says you can let your hair down.  I think this is very important advice for this Dora doll.  'Cause if I ever see her in the middle of the night with her hair up, she's out of the house!  Creepy!

BONUS: There is a Youtube video for a fake Dora the Explorer live-action movie, which is linked HERE and is worth your 2 1/2 minutes.

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Have I Been Going About This All Wrong?

I've begun working out again (P90X) but decided to switch my workouts to the mornings, since everyone kept telling me working out in the evenings is wrong, etc.  Although that part is true, my real reason for moving the workouts to the morning is simply because my evenings are too busy with work, scouts, church basketball, and a little thing I like to call eating.

The thing is, since making the switch I've only been successful on getting the workout in about 50% of the time ... but I have uncovered success in another area that has been a challenge for me for many, many years - waking up earlier.

I may not get up to work out, but I get up and get started on the day earlier (if only to avoid guilt for not working out) and that is becoming easier and easier.  I cannot justify staying in bed when I know I need to work out ... but if I convince myself to do something else at that early hour, it's not as bad as just sleeping later.  Maybe I can become a morning person.

Regardless, I wonder if this is some small secret to making improvements in life that stick.  Perhaps it's not about the goal itself at all.  Perhaps we simply need to find something we dislike more than the goal we want to achieve and set a goal around that thing.  So instead of eating just salads, we set a goal to eat rice cakes ... and then the salads look pretty tasty.  Instead of painting the living room and kitchen, we set a goal to paint the whole house ... and so on.

I'll let everyone know if that keeps working for me ... so far, it has.


Song Of The Day:
I haven't featured a song from my favorite group in a while, so here is "Sunday Morning" by OMD.  I know Maroon 5 had a recent popular song of the same name, but they are not the same tune at all.  Take a listen and let me know what you think.  The only tie in to my post today is that it's talking about the morning and this kind of tune makes me think about a lazy morning when you don't rush to get going on anything at all.

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