Own It

Two simple words can solve a lot of things.

I'm sorry.

Pretty simple, right? If you do something wrong, and the person you wronged calls you out on it, just say I'm sorry. And mean it. By doing so you have acknowledged your shortcomings and are working to be a better person.

You walk into my house, kick my dog. I ask you not to kick my dog.

There's nothing wrong with saying it. We are, after all, only human. We make mistakes. God knows I've made my very fair share. These days though, when I realize I've done something incorrect I try to self reflect, see my error, apologize for the action and do my best not to repeat it. God knows (again) that it's likely I'll make it again anyway. But at least I'm aware of it and I'm trying.

You were here a couple of weeks ago when we first moved into the house. My dog was barking incessantly while in his cage. I got frustrated and kicked the cage. My wife was standing right there when I did it. She looked at me and told me I was wrong to do that. I took a second, acknowledged what I had done and apologized to her. I said "your right, I was wrong to do that. I won't do it again". That was the end of it. Of course you were in a different room and didn't hear all that transpired.

Not owning it, trying to deflect it only makes the situation worse. It's the proverbial slap in the face.

When I asked you not to kick my dog, you immediately turned it around and said "and it's big dogs that get the bad rap." You owning big dogs had nothing to do with you kicking my 5lb chihuahua. I continued to ask you not to kick my dog. You then said my other dog bit you before. I responded with "yeah, I bet it tore you up". You left in a huff, sent a text to my wife calling me a hypocrite (for me kicking my dogs cage, even though you didn't know the whole story on that one).


A slice of humble pie can be bitter to swallow sometimes, but I guarantee it's good for the soul.

Gratitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It's more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It's more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you… we are in charge of out attitudes.

~ Charles Swindoll

I like reading this quote every once in a while to help ground me. I'd like to stress to each of you how beautiful today is and to embrace that. Yesterday was my wife's birthday. She turned 38. That's her third birthday since she was diagnosed with cancer. That's three glorious years that I've been able to spend with her that maybe shouldn't have been. You all know how close to not being here I was. That's two birthdays she's been able to spend with me.

Last week someone I worked with in the Columbus office passed away from an aneurysm. No warning. She was healthy otherwise. Today her husband (whom I also worked with) will be laying her to rest. She was only 50 and taken way too soon.

Please when you read this remember that you are here to read it. Take appreciation in what we have today because tomorrow it may not be here.