Month: February 2020

Building Forts

Where we grow up can really influence the person we become.  I grew up in a small town, so that colors everything about me.  More specifically I grew up with a woods behind my house.  The woods was small, just one of those woods you end up getting inside a town, but to Young Nehemiah it was a world of mystery and fun.  I am so grateful to have grown up with this woods and real nature to be in.

This woods was perfect for building forts, for sledding and the general use of imagination.  I spent a lot of time out there when I was young.  I think there is an age where a young person needs some nature to play and explore in.  We weren’t far from home in the woods, but parents couldn’t watch over us too closely out there.  We got to be kids out there and play without the aid of screens or other civilized comforts. 

I can’t tell you that this woods made me the man I am today.  I can’t tell you that this woods gave me so many benefits.  I can tell you that this woods made my childhood a bit richer, more fun, and that is enough.  I think its good as kids we had a little space to be kids.  I am grateful I had a chance to grow up with such a nicety right out the back door.

Breaking Records

Getting some victories in life matters.  There are so many ways to be victorious.  We can win across so many areas of our lives.  Something great that can happen in addition to winning, is that we can break records.  We can break records in just about anything we can measure.  I am grateful there are so many ways to break records and push myself.

The cool thing about trying to break records is that it pushes me to another level.  I go harder, I’m more focused, and I become more persistent.  Trying to win and break records really elevates my performance.  This mindset is something I try and use across all sorts of stuff.  I am happy there are records to break in so many areas of life.

I try and break word count records with my writings.

When it comes to things like reading the Bible, I try and put together strings of consecutive days reading. 

When it comes to workouts, well it’s all about that weight on the bar.

Records can be about streaks, about hitting bigger numbers, or about speed.  There are so many metrics to play with.  I find it awesome there are so many ways to break records, that I have opportunity to do it almost daily.  I think there is great value in trying to break records daily.  I believe it builds a mindset I want to have about life in general.  I’m just so happy there are like millions of records I can break instead of like 10.

Helping Strangers

We all need a little help now and then.  Some of us need more than a little help.  We’re likely to get help from our family and close friends.  There are times that we get help from people we don’t know real well too.  I am grateful for all those people I barely knew that helped me.

In the gym so many people have helped me lift better.  Some have spent so much time helping me become better.  I didn’t even always know their names.  They just helped me.

I was given a job by a guy I barely knew with barely an interview.  I needed a job bad at the time and that helped me out so much and helped my career. 

A kid a barely knew welcomed me into his crew when switched schools.  I had barely to that point talked to anyone at the new school.  I was at that point welcomed in as a friend for no reason I can really determine.

A guy I haven’t talked to in over a year helped me edit a book I’m writing.  He pretty much just said “sure I’ll take a look.”

I don’t know why these people were kind to me and helped me.  I’m sure if I thought long and hard I would come up with many more examples of people I barely knew doing good things for me.  This kind of kindness can really give a guy an optimistic view of the world.  It does make me wonder how I measure up to their examples.  These people have really helped me, but I wonder how I am helping others.  I know I should help more people, whether I know them or not.  I’m grateful I have gotten help from these people, they are examples to follow in my own behavior.  These folks provide both an example and a hope to me.

The hope I get from these people is that if these almost strangers helped me in the past, it is likely to happen again.  These people helped me in some deep ways.  This has to lead me to believe that the help I need with current and future struggles could come from anyone.  This is a beautiful thing to think that the help we need can come at any time from anyone.  We don’t have to know where the source might be.  Not having to know everything is something I can very grateful for.