"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed."

— Alexander Pope

Thursday 5:37 a.m., sipping coffee by the fireplace, my Queen is tucked safely in our bed.  It’s cold outside; it’s dark, it’s a little how I’m feeling.

In the past couple of weeks, one of our team members has lost her father-in-law, another one almost lost her mother-in-law, and finally, one had a major house fire. I was talking to my operations manager, and he said, “everybody has shit,” I said, text me that, that’s my blog tomorrow.

I arrived at the office about 9:20, chatted with a few team members, and then had a pretty contentious meeting with one of our teammates. My season of sunshine, puppies, and rainbows is over; it’s time for the storm.

I’m ready, I’ve been preparing for this, it will rain, hail, and maybe we will have some wind damage, but once the storm passes, I’ll be stronger. Mentally I’m ready for this season of destruction.

I’m getting on a plane later today; we are flying with some friends, we are hosting them at our mountain house this weekend, I’ve got a day of meetings tomorrow and then plan on hiking, eating, and drinking my way through this weekend.

Speaking of drinking, I’ve been managing my consumption well, after taking off the month of October, I have found a rhythm, I have rules I follow, so far, the rules are working, I am now moderating my alcohol consumption, it’s nice to enjoy a libation and wake up fresh-minded and clear-headed. I’m on the spectrum but have found peace in the management of my personal frequency.

I had a nice chat with my daughter last night: not the one I didn’t birth, but the one I made with my ex-wife. We met after work to catch up; she’s getting married next year, I listened as she shared her plans, I’m excited for her and can’t wait to welcome her fiancé into our family, I think we hit the lottery with this draft pick. 

My daughter was saying how I’ve changed recently, how my heart has opened, how I seem to be different, and she asked what happened. I told her when you about die, you begin to rethink your life, your priorities, and begin to reorganize the pieces on the chessboard. There are some things I need to say to those I love and those I don’t, not sharing those thoughts before I pass would be a travesty. 

Allowing silence to exist when a firm tone is needed is something I learned with my fall. I’m not an emotional person, but as I age, my emotions seem to be rising to the surface. My father is an emotional being. I’ve often wondered why I was spared or not given that gift, I think “emotionalism” might be something that comes with age and wisdom.

I’m heading back up to Beautiful Parker City for the fourth time this week, I’ve made it to my office 4 straight days, I don’t spend a lot of time there, but I had some work that needed to be done, some meetings that had to occur in person, I’m taking one of our new teammates out today to meet some long-time clients and friends.

I’ve got a couple of projects that need my attention; I’ll knock those out and then meet my Queen and then head to the airport. Once we land, we have to organize our visitors, get them to our home safely and then prepare for tomorrow. I’m speaking to a group, I’ve yet to pen my thoughts, but I’ll do so I can share a message worth hearing. I’m talking about how to publish a book; I think I might change one or more folks lives tomorrow, it’s always the hope when I speak to a group of more than one.

Cheers, I hope these words find you in a good place, a place of warmth and happiness. I’m one of the most blessed men you will connect with today if only you do so through the reading of my words. I was stating how lucky I was recently, and I was corrected, a friend said “Anson, you are not lucky, you are simply blessed.” I’ll take that adjustment in words; I prefer to be blessed over lucky and won’t make that verbal mistake again.

"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed."

— Alexander Pope