Thanks Living

That's the theme of this week, right?? I was thinking about this week a lot. We all have our own Thanksgiving traditions. Maybe you sit around your table and tell everyone what you are thankful for. Maybe you spend the whole month of November focusing on what you're thankful for each day. Maybe you get together with family and reconnect. Maybe you're more concerned with the fact that not only are the Lions playing this year, so are the Raiders!! What's the NFL going to do next?? :):) Obviously, you can see where my head is. :) Regardless of tradition, this is a special time of year.

Courtney and I were able to reconnect with my family yesterday. And, in typical Nicholl fashion, we met at Ruby Tuesday's for a quick lunch. It was quick because I was late and I had to leave early. This is also very typical. While I hate to be late, so many things happen out of my control that I can't always help it. Anyway, our short time together was wonderful. Not everyone was able to make it, but it was still a good time together. It's important for us to get together and talk... to let each other into our lives. Life is to short to go through it alone. So, we get together to show how much we love each other. That was Thanksgiving #1. Thanksgiving #2 will be on Thursday with Courtney's family. That will be a special time as well. We have not been together as a family since last January. Courtney's grandma and Scott, Courtney's brother-in-law, won't be with us. However, it's going to be a great time.

But, is this what Thanksgiving is all about? Is it about family, and food, and quality time, and fun, and you name it...?? Yes, absolutely. So, why do we only worry about taking care of this stuff when it's a holiday?? Why do we let a calendar year dictate how we show love and affection to our family and friends?? There are a lot of excuses that answer this. But that's just it, they are excuses. We are busy. We all have plenty of stuff that fills our plates. We all have schedules that are not our own. That makes this difficult, but not impossible. We need to live lives that reek of thankfulness. Everyone that we encounter should be blown away by our thankful personalities. We've been given so much. We have no reason to keep it to ourselves.

-Just my thoughts...

Go Big or Go Home

That phrase is something I say a lot... especially when playing a game. It's a phrase that can be used as smack talk when playing a sport, or it's something that can be viewed as a challenge, but for me, it's a way of life. Go big or go home... or, if you're not going to do your best at something, don't bother doing it at all. It's a rather simple concept, but it's not necessarily easy to put into practice. Earlier this week, I woke up very tired for my workout. I didn't put my best into it. My numbers were decent for the day, but I didn't do my best. As a result, I felt unfulfilled for the rest of the day. That seems so trivial, but it's true. I was disappointed in myself for not pushing harder. I was disappointed in myself for not focusing. I was disappointed in myself for not Going Big!!

Going big can be difficult. In our human minds, we often rank levels of importance for the circumstances that we face. By determining what matters most, we often skip out on pouring our hearts into the stuff we don't really like to do. Is that right? Is that wrong? Is that just how it is?

We all put value rankings on what we do. For instance, I play in a fantasy football league. A lot of us are very competitive. My buddy, Alex, and I are probably right at the top in terms of competitiveness. It can be very frustrating when others don't share the same passions that we do. We actually just talked about this subject over the weekend. If you're going to do something, put your heart into it. Putting a little effort into something, I feel, shows a lack of committment. That's just a personal feeling. But, if something's worth doing, it's worth doing right. While others in our league may not make changes in their lineups or even remember to update their roster, we have to recognize that it's not a priority for them. That's just the way it is. I'm not wired that way. I want to see myself succeed in everything I do. It's important to me.

So, what does that mean for me? I could temper myself and try to be more relaxed with what I do... But, I think that would leave me unfulfilled and stuck in complacency. At least, what would feel like complacency. In everything I do, I wanna do it BIG!!

GO BIG or GO HOME!!

-Just my thoughts...

Andrew