The Book of Open 05.02.2016

I aim to observe rather than judge.

Lessons

The world is a judgmental place full of judgmental people. I imagine there are cultural and evolutionary reasons why this is the case. I am liberating myself from judgement, slowly but surely. I have a long way to go but at least now I am aware of it. I make a conscious effort to observe people and situations instead of jumping to judgments. It allows me to be more objective and find the good in situations. It will take a lifetime of practice to become an expert at this habit.

It allows me to deal with people at work much more effectively. I never get upset even if I am dealing with someone that happens to be quite upset about something. I am calm and rationale and always willing to talk things out with people. It’s such a massive improvement over the conflict creator I used to be. I’m trying hard to be more effective each day.

Writing

I’m plugging away at Chapter 4 of my book on vulnerability. I printed off all the pages the other day so I could read what I had so far. I think it’s pretty damn good if I do say so myself! I wrote about a thousand words yesterday and I think they are compelling. I am having a lot of insights about myself too which is great. Insights that I can explain and will help anyone who reads it because they are not unique to me.

Networking

Larry made me an admin of Dead’s Edge private facebook group yesterday which was awesome. I want to become more involved in the community. In fact there are a few dads on there that have podcasts. I reached out to them to talk about my story and said that I want to help them. One of them just got back to me and told me he’d love to have me on so we’re going to set something up in the near future! Awesomeness.

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/me-myself-and-i

Exercise

I did 17 sets of kettlebell thrusters. I used the 44 pounders for sets of 10. This is a definite improvement. I worked out much later than normal and hated it. I worked out from about 7 to 8. That is not my time. I started feeling queasy and shakey near the end. I ended up going to bed right after but at least I got a great night’s sleep.

Gratitude

I am grateful that we don’t issue driver’s licenses to 10 year olds. I let Mel steer into the driveway yesterday. This was the first attempt. It was hilarious.

I am grateful for Thursday dinners because we have a friend of Mel’s over. I love seeing the dynamic between the two of them. Tanja’s dinners are so good and they are a wonderful offering to give to people.

I am grateful that I am making connections with people with the intention of helping them. I am confident that it will come back to me some day in some way. But right now, I just want to keep helping people. It feels great.

I am grateful for today. What are you grateful for?