April 2017

Disappointment is a HUGE part of life and sadly, it happens on a daily basis. And this week, has been a HUGE disappointment for me, both personally and professional. BUT, there is a way to look it, complain or move on.

Personally, I have had a really good friend that has been in the hospital for the past week and things don’t look good for him. He had an emergency surgery and has just struggled since coming out of surgery. The doctors are not sure what the problem(s) is/are, but are trying to do everything that they can for him. But this is going to be a long road of recovery for my friend. He is going to have a hard time, but I just hope that he gets that chance.

Professionally, I have been given more to do at work. Most would say awesome to that, but when I am basically doing the job of 4 people, I can only do but so much. And I finally broke down last night and said that I wasn’t liking who I was becoming and a large part of that is due to stress of work. I don’t like feeling like I am bringing work home. I do not like feeling like I need a break before playing with the kids.

Adding fuel to the fire, I am beginning to think that I was passed over for a job that was a dream job, though I have not been officially told. Yet another large part of disappointment for the week. This could have opened new opportunities for me. This could have been the career path that I was looking for. But, it might not happen and I’m frustrated, no, disappointed.I have really struggled this week, more so that I can every really remember to be honest and I think that that is ok. I think that it is ok to be disappointed when bad things happen to you, but it is how we handle them going forward determines our real long outcome. Jobs will come and go, it is just a fact. And yes, I really thought that this was it. This was going to be the one and my next career path. But maybe it just wasn’t meant to be? Maybe it wasn’t where I was supposed to be long term, but for today, I am disappointed and that is ok.

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I feel like time is moving at warp speed and I’m watching the boys growing up in super fast mode. Last night, my my wife went out of town for a girls weekend and the boys asked to goto Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Cool, I love that place, so why not? But, I realized something, they were able to order their own food, they were able to ask when they needed refills, they were growing up.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I love that they have become independent, but yet ask questions. Over the past several weeks, I’ve really noticed a big change in them. They are doing more chores around the house, taking interest in new things, etc. And somewhere, my babies, are becoming big boys.

New dads, enjoy these moments when you can hold your child in your arms, because there will come a day that you can’t do that anymore. There will be a day, that they will be taller than you. And each of these stages in life are important and also hard too. Take the time now, mold your child and teach them all of the important life lessons now, because as they grow up, you might not have the chance.

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Changes, they might be in the future for us. I was recently and by recently, I mean less than 2 weeks about a job, literally 30 miles from where I grew up. This wasn’t on our radar for a possible move, but changes, they might be a coming.

This could be a huge career move for me personally and a great move for our family, but at the same time, it could present a few struggles too. Those changes would be a short term thing, i.e. I would have to move for 4 – 5 weeks and then my family would join me, but it could a short term sacrifice for a really good long term gain.

Changes can be both good and bad and after flying back home last night after a 23 hour round trip there and back. I was beyond exhausted when I landed and drove 45 miles from the airport back home, but I was fortunate to be able to put the boys to bed and it was exactly what I needed. I needed to be able to hug and kiss my boys, because in a few weeks, I might be flipping their worlds upside down.

 

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How often do you walk around saying that today is a good day? Probably not often, if you are really honest with yourself. But, I heard someone say it this past week at work and it totally changed my day.

This past Wednesday was a BAD day and it started before leaving the house. My wife asked me a question that frustrated me and it was not as much the question as it was the timing of the question, as I was trying to walk out the door. My commute, though is only 50 miles and on most days, takes over an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, took closer to two hours. I walked straight into my first meeting and was in meetings the rest of the entire day. ALL DAY!

As with anyone in a management role, especially in the IT world, they know that there are personal issues and technology issues all the time. And this was one of those days, that while in meetings, I had multiple texts about outages, a down server, etc. And I had a personal matter that was pulling me out of the meeting as well. And, if that wasn’t enough, my wife called in tears because of something going on.

As I wrapped up my day and ended my last meeting, I was beat down and frustrated. I loaded up my bag and was getting ready to head to my Jeep and looked at the map for traffic, and it was going to be another hour and a half commute home. I was beat and I was done for the day. I just wanted to get home, hug the kids and rest for a little bit.

And as I was walking through the hall of the hospital on the way to me jeep, I was on my phone texting with a friend and not really paying attention and then I heard children laughing. And then I looked up and saw a father pulling a wagon with 2 kids on the side of the wagon holding hands with a little girl who was sitting up and enjoying her ride. And I noticed that the mom was pulling the child’s IV pole and wiping away tears, but it was in that moment, the father turned and looked at his wife and said “Today is a good day!”

WOW! I literally stopped in the hallway and was completely speechless. Here is a dad, pulling his sick daughter through the hallway of the hospital, who is obviously sick and all he could do was focus on the good and positive, because they probably have gone through a lot of really hard times too. In just a brief 10 second moment, I got to see that everything that I saw and went through that day, did not even come close to what this father was going through and dealing with.

What had been a hard and very frustrating day, I was able to see that even in the hardest days, the hardest moments and the hardest times, that today is a good day. I truly believe, that God was tapping me on the head and saying, pay attention, your life could be a lot harder. And for that, I am truly grateful.

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