Have you ever thought about all the good things that you have in your life? I bet if you really dig deep down inside you’ll realize that you don’t give yourself and those around you enough credit for the happiness that you DO have in your life. You probably spend too much time on that one person that doesn’t treat you the way you treat them, or only wants to visit you at the shore, and most likely arrives empty-handed but that’s a whole other story. (I’ve nipped most of this in the butt LOL)
My company hired me to show our customers love. My bosses words, not mine. But if you even know me a little bit, You’ll know that I built the band around the simple phrase, feel the love. I was not hired to sell anyone anything. I am simply there to make sure our customers feel appreciated. Perfect for me huh.
When I was in the interview process at five or six IT companies, I looked up customer success manager on Amazon in the book tab. (Yes Amazon still sells books) It sounds simple enough and something I think I might like to do. One of the top responses was a book by John Kralick. His best seller was called “a simple act of gratitude.” So I bought a used copy and it came in my second week of work. One day in the onboarding process my boss had a lot going on, I devoured it in an afternoon.
The author was having a rough life. Divorced, younger kids, older kids, money issues with his business you name it. One day he received a thank you note that changed his life. He decided he was going to write 365 thank you letters, So that he could reflect on all the good things that he had and the people in his life who touched him in so many different ways. Of course this is not an easy thing to do. On April 30 I decided I was going to do the same. And the first couple are easy and you can use people that have done something nice for you, etc. but trust me after about 10 days it gets harder and harder. It took him 15 months to finish 365 thank you letters. They changed his life. It took me 15 months to lose 100 pounds. That also changed my life. Speaking of that……
Well I wish I had a lot more off me at this point I am still down over 100 pounds. So maybe 15 months is that marker. At one point all I wanted to do was look the way I do now, I should be grateful for that correct?
So it’s easy to be grateful for “things”. Thank you for buying me dinner. Thank you for buying me a new Sonos SL speaker for Father’s Day because I would really like to have a few more around. I would really also like a Sonos Roam to for out by the pool or maybe on the deck at the shore. Sonos, a better way to listen. LOL. Yes I crack myself up.
Where was I? Oh yeah, thank you for taking me out on the boat, thank you for helping me with my waverunners. But at some point you actually have to get a little bit deeper into it. Gratitude is not something that comes easy to proud people. It’s just as hard as asking for help. Sometimes it’s easy to ask for help for things like moving a couch, but there are deeper things that are very much harder to ask for help when you’re struggling. Struggle.
I am trying to figure that out now. Am I struggling? Am I just lazy? Am I just going through something? Things that were very easy to me in this little fitness journey are not so easy anymore. I used to have this massive posse and now it’s just the two of us really. I am still here trying. It’s just a lot harder. I should be walking on cloud 9 right now but there is still this weird little pocket of anger.
Covid definitely took a toll on a lot of friendships. Everyone was all zoom happy hour for the first week or two and then it slowly fizzled out. Everyone just kind of fell into whatever they fell into.
I was driving home from a wedding late Sunday night and for some odd reason started thinking about what might be taught in schools if there are any in 40 years, what will people say about this period of time ?
What I mean is COVID-19 came in, it was literally an invisible monster. Nobody knew when it was coming, nobody could see it, but in the end it could kill you. And we all quietly hid in our houses. Some people are still hiding. Waiting.
Gratitude.
On that same ride home I thought about a lot of things. Nothing like a dark ride home to Bucks County through the New Jersey Pinelands.
Here I am 7 years later still promising myself that I’ll try, that i’ll do better. My wife bought me two cool tank tops for the summer. Came home from work on Thursday and they were sitting on my pillow. Size Large. I look like a stuffed sausage. BUT a little over a year ago I was almost in a medium. How the hell do I get back to good?
7 years ago all I wanted to do was look and feel the way I do now. Now I just feel like giving up.
But I won’t.
I think hitting 50 brought me a sense of strange mortality. Too many people around you at this age leave the earth too soon. You hear and know more and more people who just don’t wake up.
At 25 people kept telling me I wouldn’t love to see 40 and here I am I guess.
The summer god has the summer to get his shit together for the fall. Summer is just going to have to accept what this body brings.
So if you do anything this week. Thank someone in your life for being there. Let me know how that feels to you.
Thank you for being here!
Franco
