beBetter 

This Christmas and holiday season, I wanted to share one of my favorite songs for celebrating Christmas. In December each year, millions of people celebrate religious and spiritually significant holidays, and universally, humankind continues to look for morally good virtues to live by and love is central to all of them.

CeCe is passionate about several variations of barre and loves her daily workouts. Frequently, I get a riveting (hehe) recap of these workouts for the day as we visit before dinner. Tonight, she is expressing her frustration with her ability to bend her left knee sufficiently to hold a certain position properly. She had a total knee replacement several years ago and has worked really hard to restore her full flexibility.  

As I walk into the living room, CeCe is in her chair, scanning Facebook or shopping on her phone and my entry goes pretty much unnoticed. Well, let’s be transparent — totally unnoticed. I admit, it’s a real downer as I was hoping that my arrival might peak the slightest bit of excitement, joy, happy greeting or at least an expression of curiosity. Don’t we all look for that recognition and acceptance from our close family and friends?  

Our world is spinning faster than the teacup ride at the amusement park and most of us are feeling pretty dizzy. That was always the one ride that always made me woozy. And 2020 sure feels like the new teacup ride. COVID-19 continues to disrupt our lives and will certainly affect how some of us gather, or if we will gather at all, for Thanksgiving. Mix in some divisive politics, contested elections and social unrest, and we have a year that has been filled with disruption.

CeCe and I have spent a lot of time at home together with the COVID-19 shelter in place orders, as I am sure you have with your family. So when the Governor opened up the restaurants for 50% dining capacity, we were the first in line at our favorite spot. It was delightful, and we reflected on how much we had taken this privilege for granted when we were able to go whenever we wanted.

One of our family traditions at Christmas is to host the kids and grandkids a couple of weeks early so they can stay home on Christmas Day and enjoy Santa and all the festivities that we are blessed to enjoy. My favorite time is when I read the Christmas story to our grandkids as they listen so intently. (I’ve also learned they are even more attentive when they know the gift exchange is up next. Ha!) They love seeing the pictures of baby Jesus in the manger. And for our family, it is really important that they understand the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

CeCe and I are settling in on the jet boat with our guide Kerry as we embark on a bucket list wilderness fishing excursion. We are on Lake Harrison in Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada, and Kerry is sharing that we have a 44-mile boat ride to reach the river we will navigate to fish in some pristine areas seldom frequented by others. Thank goodness, the winds are only 1 to 2 miles per hour and the lake is as smooth as it can be. 

Church service has just ended and I see our good friend, Andre, making his way out of the church. “Andre, can we give you a ride home today?” “Sure, Joey!” Today, we also have our next-door neighbor and family friend Jan attending church with us. Jan doesn’t know Andre, who is blind, and Jan is talkative so I’m thinking it should be an interesting and fun ride home.

“I thought I was cool and knew my abbreviations but you’re proving me wrong!”  “#IDKWTHTI” “What does #YSL mean?” “Man, the millennial here is trying to figure out #WTH #YSL means? Ha!” “What is #YSL?” “I’m GenX so I’m googling your #... ha”; “Don’t know what #YSL is, but keep rollin!” “I am way not cool, what does #YSL mean???”

Just a few of the fun texts from my friends coming in after my Fourth of July text message to them. My original text was, “Happy 4^th! #YSL.”  This hashtag originated from a blog I wrote four years ago, You So Lucky, which you can click for a quick read on the origin of #YSL.

How important is it for us to relax? How often do we really prioritize time that allows us to fully relax? I know that being able to relax is key to our health, happiness and prosperity because it provides a level of contentment and peace that we do not find in our busy schedules. 

A few weeks ago I was jogging (liberal use of the word) in Naples, Florida, around 9:30 a.m. It was a beautiful day and about 2.5 miles into my run I went into my self-talk rationalization. 

“30 minutes is really enough today. I know I wanted to do a full 40 minutes but heck, you can walk the last mile. Walking counts. And some say it is better for weight loss. As soon as you get to the top of this bridge, just call it a day.”

Some people hate to get on a treadmill because you walk or run and never arrive anywhere. Sometimes, we get on a similar treadmill in life where we chase success (as we individually define it) in order to be happy. The problem with chasing success is that the bar is constantly raised as you arrive. And the effect is that we are never happy.

I love the commercial of Charles Barkley walking in the airport with his two buddies and as a mother and baby pass close by, he inquires if she would like for him to kiss her baby. The baby immediately starts crying and I start laughing out loud every time. We know the commercial is a comical look at Barkley’s sizable ego and that scene is intended to show his two buddies how important and loved he is rather than making a special moment for the mother and baby.