Here we go, again...

Here we go,again…My son was sitting across from me at dinner the other night and I was fresh off watching one of my latest Netflix shows, Everest, which is a reality TV show about the wide and varying skills of the crews and people who risk their lives to achieve the summit of the world’s tallest peak (some 27,000+ feet above sea level). As I started to talk about Everest, at dinner, my 10-year old says, “here we go again”, with a Cheshire cat grin on his face and the whole table erupted. Two immediate observations from his comment; 1) I tell great stories at dinner & 2) My dreams are not always simple; they are riddled with challenge, test and stretch, so it’s not uncommon for me to think up crazy and whacky things to dream about, but when it comes to seeing all of them through…I lack follow through, fair point. As I mentioned, my son’s comment broke the entire table into laughter, and because we were surrounded by my family at the dinner table, all of whom know me well, our laughter was even deeper (hell- they’ve all heard my ideas; food trucks, living off the grid, mountain climbing, writing, CEO roles, etc.). I dream, incessantly. If I see a cowboy movie- I’m movin’ out west, watch the Godfather- I’m starting my own organized crime family, you get the point. Here we go, again… Why do I dream? Part of the reason is that I believe I’m going to live a shorter life than most people. Not sure why, but I’ve always believed this to be the case and candidly, regardless of another 5 years, 20 years or 50 years on this planet, I’d like to experience more. Our time, regardless of how long, is all relatively short (when you use eternity as the benchmark), so I don’t let my time on this earth concern me, but that finite about of time does inspire and motivate me to sample life. As I reflect back on my dinner conversation with my family and I ponder my ratio of dreaming to doing, another observation cascades through my mind; DO THINGS & EXPERIENCE THINGS, end of story. From the mouths of our children come the most pure and truthful observations and my children have observed an enormous amount of dreaming from their father, but have they lived the bulk of their lives with a man who has become a bit routine? It happens to most of us at some point, right? What we used to do on the weekends, simply become great camp fire stories about “back in the day”, so as you move through life, don’t forget to keep that ratio of “dreaming to doing” in a fair balance. Here we go, again… It is very easy to be consumed by the daily routine of living, working, parenting and the list goes on…but I’m thankful that my son, inadvertently, challenged my ratio of dreaming to doing. New jobs, new restaurants, new involvement in the community, a hike through the neighborhood, a holiday overseas, a new book a month, a new dinner routine… so many things we can all do that might vary us from that daily routine. What I’ve learned, as of late, is that we aren’t all going to climb Mt. Everest, but we sure as hell better keep talking about it and pushing ourselves, because we have so many opportunities to explore life, this planet and everything that surrounds us… so my cry- please don’t get trapped in the routine. Keep experiencing and I challenge you to explore something new, this week. Yes, my son, “here we go, again” – after all, we’ve got some mountain climbing to do, don’t we?