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Tag Archives: family

The day a banner ad changed my life

I was going through a particularly tough time in my life.

That evening I decided to take a break from going out with friends, and went to check my hotmail.

What e-mail looked like in 2002

While browsing e-mail, I happened upon a banner ad. You know, those annoying things that most browsers block nowadays? It was something about a service called “MSN Chat”

This was chat

I thought to myself “Why not?” and clicked. There were a ton of different rooms, what to choose…

“20something” looked interesting. After all, I was a 20something and thought it would be fun to meet people my age. I clicked again, found myself in this virtual room with 50something 20somethings (see what I did there?)

Clicking profiles to see who was there, I noticed one from the Dominican Republic.

Hmm…

I didn’t know much about that country! I wonder what life is like there?

So I introduced myself, asked a few questions.

Julia and I started talking, had a nice conversation. Added each other to IM…thought it would be fun to talk more.

I said good bye, signed off, and went to bed. Not knowing how that evening would change my life forever.

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“I think I just tooted”

Last night I went through the normal bedtime routine with Emma. We read our princess story, sang a few songs, then snuggled and prayed.

As I got up I looked at her and said “I love you so much Emma, I am grateful for every moment with you and thank God for you every day.”

Emma smiled and responded: “I think I just tooted…”

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Celebrate your failures!

 

“I didn’t catch a fish daddy!”

Emma cheered gleefully as she pulled the line out of the water. It was her first time fishing. She sat intently at the edge of the dock, fishing rod in hand, peering over the edge into the water. This was, without a doubt, the highlight of her weekend!

I watched her repeat this and wondered to myself why she was so excited for producing nothing, until it hit me. The aim for Emma wasn’t to catch a fish, it was to enjoy the moment and activity. At 4 years old, Emma demonstrated mastery of a concept Brendon Burchard calls “How to Slow Time”. (For more information about this idea I recommend checking out his post here.)

How often are we focused on the wrong definitions of success? It’s easy for failures to draw us into negativity. In this context they become false confirmation of negative self-talk. Failure can be an opportunity to reflect, to learn, and to grow.

The next time you encounter failure will you enjoy this moment, or will it fuel a negative spirit? My hope is that you will embrace the moment as Emma did, celebrating her catch.

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