Happy 85th Birthday to My Mother

 Everyone has a story.  My mother is at her best when she's listening to you share your story.  The most recent example I can offer you is from yesterday.  She said, "Let's go meet some people."  We entered the pool and waded over to the bar where a cluster of guests were socializing.  Within minutes mom knew their stories.  Not the superficial stuff that people offer on a first meeting.  I'm talking about the deep dark fears that we want to hide because we are afraid to be vulnerable.  I watched in amazement as my mom offered comfort and joy to complete strangers who needed to be set free from their worries.

Please send good thoughts to my mother today on her 85th birthday.  I'm thankful to be celebrating this day alongside my siblings.  Happy birthday, mom.  You are my hero.  Thank you for inspiring us to be the best versions of ourselves we can be, even the strangers we met yesterday who needed someone like you to listen to their story.  Have a great day.

Navigating Exchange Rates in Mexico

 The first time you see a price tag in pesos you may freak out.  On the surface, you may feel like the inflation you've been experiencing stateside is much worse until you figure out how to calculate exchange rates.  Let's say you want to buy some steak and the menu states 500 pesos.  Do you buy the steak or go for something else?

The exchange rate is 18.20 meaning that steak is going to go for $27.47.  A quick way to calculate the exchange rate in your head is to divide the 500 pesos by 2 and take off a zero.  500 divided by 2 is 250.  Take off the zero and you are at 25 US dollars.

When it comes to time, there is something to consider no matter where you wake up in the world.  Every morning when you wake up you are trading time for experiences.  If you want to maximize the exchange rate, consider who you are spending time with.  For me, when I'm with family and friends, I add a zero and multiply by two for every hour I'm with loved ones.  Waking up in a new environment is priceless no matter what the exchange rate happens to be.  My hope for you is that you exchange your time for your most important priorities.  Have a great day.

Recharge and Refresh Mode

 It's official.  This is birthday week for my mother.  We have gathered together to celebrate 85 times around the sun.  This year mom chose Puerta Vallarta.  This is a great time for all of us to recharge and refresh.  So far so good.  

My first night sleeping in Puerto Vallarta yielded a 96% restfulness score.  This family reunion is bringing me great joy.  Number one on my to do list is the lazy river with family.  Have a great day.

Time to Celebrate Mama Bear's 85th Birthday

 Today is a travel day.  Mama bear invited her cubs to celebrate her 85th birthday in Puerto Vallarta.  Most of us will be with her to watch her blow out the candles on her cake.  I'm packing super light.  It's shorts and bathing suits.  Nothing beats family time.  Have a great day.

Sharing a 12 Minute Yoga Nidra Full Nervous System Massage

If you're curious about the benefits of Yoga Nidra, a full nervous system massage, look no further.  Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation designed to give your body and mind restoration.  I've been doing this daily for three days in a row.  The results are stunning.  Take a look at the YouTube video below and see for yourself what happens when you try this out.  Have a great day.

 

Dodgers Fight back to tie Padres 2-2 and Force Game 5

 Despite the Padres losing last night in game 4, we had quality family time.  Game 5 is tomorrow night.  Winner goes to the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.  The silver lining is that the Padres hold a better regular season record than the Mets.  Should the Padres beat the Dodgers on Friday night, they will have home field advantage in the next round.

No matter what happens on Friday night, we will always be Padres fans.  This team is explosive.  They stick together.  I'm thankful for all the excitement they bring to my family.  They do well when they face adversity.  Make sure you tune is for game 5 on Friday for an epic battle.  Have a great day.

Padres Beat Dodgers to Take 2-1 Lead in Playoffs

 The San Diego Padres beat the LA Dodgers last night in a prime time game our family will never forget.  The 8:08pm start time in my central time zone was personal for me as I publish daily at 8:08am in the pacific time zone where I resided for 22 years.  Despite the Dodgers hitting a grand slam home run to narrow the gap to 6-5, the Padres held on to win and take a 2-1 series lead.  

Our youngest son hosted the watch party at his home last night.  Our oldest son joined the fun.  All I can say is it was one of the greatest games we have ever watched.  Game 4 is tonight starting at 8:08pm CST.  Should the Padres prevail, they will advance to the NL Championship Series and be only 4 wins away from the World Series.  It's worth tuning in even if you aren't a huge fan of baseball.  These players are inspiring.  Have a great day.

Lessons from Your Gratitude Journal

 My mind seems to thrive when one of my first actions of the morning is to open up my gratitude journal on my laptop.  I've read stories about people who prefer to hand write.  Some purchase exotic bound journals because they place high value on the words they inscribe.  All of these ideas are worthwhile.  For me, a digital gratitude journal is simple and easy to access as I'm also using my laptop for all of my writing projects.  

Something special happens when I review thoughts about gratitude from previous days.  My heart is filled with joy.  Anxiety decreases.  I get excited about the new day ahead.  It's really easy to get distracted when you don't record your thoughts about what you're thankful for.  Although daily journaling about gratitude is still relatively a new part of my routine, I see myself continuing this practice for life.

Cultivate an attitude of gratitude in your life.  Write or type at least three things you are thankful for.  By the way, if you happen to be a San Diego Padres fan, the next two playoff games vs. the Dodgers begin at exactly 8:08pm, central time.  All I can say is I'm thankful to bring you stories daily at 8:08am, Pacific Time.  Whether the start time is a Divine sign from above for those who still keep the faith or a coincidence, I'm thankful our beloved Padres are giving my family something to be thankful for.  Have a great day.

Non Sleep Deep Rest Experiment

 Here I go again.  Another experiment for you to try that may help you, especially if you're recovering from jet lag or a poor night of sleep.  It's from my favorite neuroscientist, Andrew Huberman.  According to Huberman, "10 minutes of this feels like 8 hours of sleep."  He coined the term, non sleep deep rest, to remove any possible connection to mysticism that is not science based, although he discovered this idea when experimenting with yoga nidra.  He says he has tremendous respect for those who practice yoga nidra.  He is simply taking a scientific approach to NSDR.

If you are wishing to increase the dopamine up to 60% by doing this exercise any time of day or night for just 10 minutes, why not give NSDR a try and see what happens?  I will share more about this in future posts after I have experimented with this technique.  Consider this story as a sneak preview.  If this works for me, I'm going to add it to my growing stack of habits designed to make me the best version of myself I can be.  Have a great day.

Actual Sleep Time Hits 95% – A New Record

If there is an achilles heal in my sleep time, it's related to the percentage of time I'm actually awake.  According to my smart watch, anything above 10% of wake time is in the red zone.  I'm doing my best to calm myself down at night and minimize distractions that keep me from falling back asleep should I wake up in the middle of the night.  It helped that I was active on the tennis courts yesterday participating in my first league match of the new season against a powerful opponent from the Quad Cities.  I showed up early for an extended warmup before watching my teammates.  Our number one singles player dominated in a 6-0,  6-1 win on court one allowing my doubles partner and I an opportunity to play our lag match at #4 doubles in the Men's 40+ division.  We won in a super tiebreaker in front of our teammates who wrapped up all their matches before we finished our last match.  I attribute my improved backhand to all the slow motion two-handed backhand videos I've been watching.

23% of my sleep time last night was in the the deep sleep cycle which is above average for my age.  This is the cycle that promotes physical recovery.  My sleep report tells me my physical recovery came in at 93%.  I'm discovering from the data that intense exercise sets up increased time spent in the deep sleep cycle, especially during the first sleep cycle of the night.  

It appears my brain is listening to all the instructions I'm giving it.  Yes, the brain does listen to everything you say during the day which influences the quality of your sleep at night.  Sleep better and you will live better.  I have a long way to go to further raise my sleep scores.  All I can say is it's worth the effort to increase your sleep quality.  Just be careful about the thoughts you give your brain and keep them positive for positive responses.  Have a great day.

Why Sleep is Vital

 Your brain is doing something critical during sleep mode.  If you're thinking your brain is resting you may be surprised to learn your brain is actively rewiring the trillions of neurons while also removing toxins in your brain that build up during your waking hours.  Should you short change your sleep, you will deprive yourself of the opportunity to organize your thoughts and memories.  You will also short circuit your ability to consolidate all the information you accumulated the day before. 

I have a stickie note on my night stand that I read before going to bed.  The note reads:  I am getting better at sleeping.  While I'm certainly not a sleep expert, my brain is responding to the note favorably.  The proof of this is displayed every morning on my smart watch.  

One more change I'm embracing is the idea of learning new things and then sleeping on them before implementing the change during my waking hours.  The idea is to give your brain one night of sleep first to consolidate and process before executing your new knowledge.  In the past I would watch videos of top tennis players playing doubles before a big match like today's Men's 40+ league play.  I have been watching slow motion videos of the best players in the world hitting two-handed backhands.  My brain has been processing the information during the night for the last week.  I will walk onto the courts later today with a backhand that has been refined during my sleep.  The one thing I know for sure is my confidence is building.  My belief is the confidence is coming from improving the quality of my sleep gradually over time, one brain cell at a time.  Have a great day.

Lucy in the Sky Van Build Project Reaches Milestone #1 Today

The most challenging steps in any endeavor are the first ones.  This happens to be true for my boldest goal of 2025, building a dream home on wheels for me and the Mrs. to enjoy future adventures.  I knew when I set up the timeline which includes seven checkpoints leading up to 8/08/25 when we pull the trigger on our van purchase, that the targets bordered on the impossible.  

Today I'm celebrating that the van build is now 41% funded.  The next check point is 11/29.   If we avoid setbacks, reaching milestone #2 on budget means Lucy will be 50% funded.  All of you reading this are my accountability partners.  I don't want to let you down as I believe walking the walk is more important than talking.  Daily perseverance is necessary to reach bold dreams.  Thank you for the opportunity to share my dreams with you.  There is much work to be done until the funds are raised.  I will be spending free time learning how to be a van builder in time for the Lucy adoption in August.  It feels great to reach milestone #1 on target.  Have a great day.

 

Spread the Happiness

I completed "The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People" this morning three months ahead of schedule.  The idea was to read one chapter a day until the end of the year as part of my quest to make daily reading a permanent habit.  Something changed.  I couldn't put the book down.  Although it was published in 2001, the ideas about happiness remain constant.  Now the book is in my wife's hands.  She will give me her copy of a book she is reading regarding the same subject when she is finished.  

I'm discovering that the pursuit of goals brings me great joy.  If you want to multiply your happiness, focus on being generous.  Have a great day. 

Day 14 Gratitude Journal

 On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your level of gratitude?  Does it change day to day?  The best way I know how to measure my sense of gratitude is by recording what I'm thankful for daily in a gratitude journal.  Today is day 14 which means I'm half way to making daily journaling a permanent habit.  

Most people probably wouldn't consider listing activities they despise on a gratitude journal but I beg to differ.  I'm having great success with the increased endorphin levels that come from activities such as standing outside in the cold facing the morning sun or the cold shower that follows.  It's not the activities I'm thankful for; it's the results of doing things I don't want to do but do them anyway.  I'm thankful for the rush of endorphins which remain hours later.  Happiness and gratitude are from the same family tree.  Start your morning with a notation in your gratitude journal and happiness will show up throughout your day.

It's worth noting that some activities are missing in my daily routine such as too much time on social media scrolling mindlessly.  By the way, the frivolous activities you cut out set you up for the necessary time it takes to do important tasks like gratitude journaling.  Start you gratitude journal today.  Read in on days when you feel like you're in a slump.  Have a great day.

Approaching Checkpoint #1 for Lucy Van Build

Approximately 60 days ago I set up a detailed timeline for adopting Lucy and turning her into a vacation second home on wheels.  Checkpoint #1 is Friday, 10/4.  My hope is to follow all the checkpoints and reach our fundraising goal for the adoption by the target date of 8/08.   As long as no emergencies come up between now and 8/08, the adoption fund will be complete and we can move forward with our van purchase.

In order to complete the van build by Thanksgiving, 2025, I'm spending time daily learning from the pros on YouTube about how to build our dream van.  So far so good.  I'm finding great joy in the learning process.  Have a great day.