Today, I received the following email from Jeff Goins.
Welcome to Day 14 of the My 500 Words Challenge!
Tell us about food: what you ate today, your perfect meal, your favorite seasonal foods.
You can talk about junk food or health food. You can rant and rave or even apologize for over-indulging at dinner last night.
You can confess an addiction to sweets or a nasty drinking habit. Of course, this isn't about just what we imbibe and consume; it's about life and conversation and the people we meet around the table.
Don't just tickle our taste buds; invite us into the experience.
Jeff (bold and italics are mine)
Actually, no.
I'm either lazy or a perfectionist. Or overwhelmed.
Have you ever felt that way? Overwhelmed?
I do. Every. Day. Much of it is my own doing. I dream of things and then get stuck in the details, not flexible, like Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com fame.
I get home from work (did I mention that I'm a teacher?) and I am just plumb exhausted. I have been rebuilding a music program in a local middle school from the ground up. It started with band, orchestra, and mariachi. This year, I handed off the orchestra to someone else and I took up the choir program. So, yeah, I'm all tuckered out.
I frequently get stuck in the details. It's a good reminder to not do so. However, I biffed it with the guy who subbed for me today. I get so detail-oriented that I scare people off. Admittedly, I do run a pretty strange but tight ship. So, I had to apologize when his email to me left me feeling like I'd been punched in the kidneys. I deserved it. It's not the first time I've heard someone say, "Ya know, I'd love to come in and volunteer. I'm just not cut out to be a sub." Ouch. He is not to blame. "I take full responsibility!" And, I do. I have to. As my dear friend (I wish), Darcy Vogt Williams says, "Your program is a direct reflection of the director." That leaves me with fewer subs to choose from when I need to take a trip to the big city for this or that reason.
...wait, what are we talking about? Oh, yeah - food!
Truly, the two subjects, as distant as they are from one another, are actually quite connected with me, which is why I started the way I did. I'm sorta that guy that, when having made a bad choice throughout the day, gives up all hope of keepin' it clean and goes off the deep end.
My oldest and I went into the city today (hence the sub) and let's just say we...uh...didn't let good nutrition spoil a good day. Great pizza (gluten free?) and an Arby's chocolate shake to end the day. Oh dear. My. Head. HURTS. As with everything in my life, if it doesn't feel cozy (my sons' words, both of them), I don't do it. Name it. I don't like to sweat, hurt, sacrifice, nothin'. Sitting down to be creative is quite a sacrifice for me.
Gosh, why do I even try?! Well, I'll tell you. Clarity. A bit more sanity. I started this journey because I needed a place to process, uh, stuff. How do I feel about church? It depends. How do I feel about the state of theology in our world? This needs a separate blog posting. How do I feel about the Hawks' win over the Raiders?? Actually, kinda disappointing. I like good games. I thought the semi-final game in 2014 against San Francisco was more of what I expected to see, not the near blowout win against Denver.
Ahhhh- see what I mean?! My problem is that, once I get started on something, I devote LOTS of energy to the task, which explains my exhaustion at 3 PM.
So, what did I eat today? Humble pie. Lots of humble pie. (Thanks for the email, Jeff!)
Best,
Jeff
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