T-M-I from T-I-M

Dealing with difficulty and the value of perspective

I've had a couple of "difficult" things happen to me this week.  What they were is not really worth mentioning.  It is worth mentioning that I handled most of them differently than I have in the past. 

I think one big difference is compartmentalizing the issues.  So, if I'm having a personal issue it has nothing to do with my business life.  Yet, that personal issue hangs over my head.  In the past I've used the "heart on my sleeve" guy excuse to rationalize misplaced ill treatment of others who had nothing do with it.  This week I avoided unnecessarily exacerbating difficulty by setting additional fires in my life because I was hot (emotionally speaking in this case).

I'm still a sensitive guy, I just am a little more measured and patient.  For example, when something tough happens rather than reacting right away, I pause, just for a moment and what a difference it makes.

In the past I also used to belittle the idea of problem comparison as a means to make myself feel better.  I see it now that I did that as a means to get attention and perpetuate a problematic pity party (boy if I could only get Daffy Duck or the stuttering lawyer in My Cousin Vinny to say THAT...).

Now I can say it does make a difference.  Today I volunteered at the Family Giving Tree.  It's an organization that connects kids to gifts during the holiday season.  So a gift would have a tag saying "Julie Age 9 wants a Barbie doll" or whatever.

As I was helping organize the gifts I came across a tag from a 6 year old who was on the waiting list but did get a gift. 

The gift request?  "anything fun"

It made me real grateful, real quick.  That the child was 6 certainly touched me too because of my daughter.

One thing I took away however was that I was glad that I didn't let the personal issues this week completely spin me.  I was able to genuinely feel the moment for that child who will get something fun for Christmas.  Call it perspective or compassion or maybe just maturity, it felt good.

And I can say with certainty that today I'm just a little bit better than I was yesterday and I can't ask for much more......

...except for a nano i-pod (yes Mom/Santa I know you're reading this!).

Kneeling on a physio-ball is fun!!!

Part of my new workout regimen now includes me trying to kneel on top of a physio-ball.  For those of you who may not know what a physio-ball is (and if you don't where have you been??? just kidding), it's a big bouncy ball that you can find in work out places.  You can also find a physio-ball in a hilarious bit in the Office when Dwight is sitting on one and Jim dispatches of it.

As you can see in the pic, I've lost a lot of weight and decided to become a woman (it was really easy, I just needed to go to work for the city and county of San Francisco...just kidding).  But that's a pretty good representation of what it entails (without the spotter in my case).

Well I was trying to do it and was being real serious about it.  Gritting my teeth, letting the affirmations fly, etc.  Evaluating and judging myself when I fell off.  And, of course I failed time after time.

After a while I started to think about how my 6 year old daughter would approach it.  I thought "I bet she would be having a blast trying to do this".

Next I thought about how the much younger version of my daughter would have attacked it (sort of like how she attacked walking).  She just kept trying, never getting discouraged because she knew she could do it.

I took both pieces of her teachings and put them into practice I started to relax, I was laughing, rolling around and having a great time.

Wouldn't you know it, next thing I knew, I was up, on my own, proudly riding my blue ball (insert tasteless joke here).   Score another one for the  tiny teacher in my life.

Movie Review: Enchanted

This weekend I saw Enchanted with my daughter and mom (a little 3 generation theatrical sensation for you!).  It's the latest for kids movie released by Disney.  It follows the path of a princess to be from an animated story who ends up falling into a live action movie set in New York City.

It was awesome!

It's really funny because Disney does a great job of making fun of itself.  The lead actress in the movie (the princess to be) does a hilarious job playing out the typical personality of the Disney princesses (lots of songs, never-ending hope, smiles, love, etc.).  Although I won't be surprised if it's the last time we see her in the movies, she kind of has one hit wonder written all over her.  Matthew Marsden was also funny as Prince Edward.

The movie was made, in my experience, by Patrick Dempsey.  Apparently he's the new hunk from a show called Grey's Anatomy as a character people call Dr. McDreamy, but for me he is forever etched in my memory as the pizza delivery boy for Senor Pizza in Can't Buy Me Love (a WAY underrated movie from the late '80's).

He was sweet, interesting, caring and funny when necessary.  It was particularly touching for me because he's a single dad bringing up a 6 year old daughter. 

The end was a little violent but it mimicked Sleeping Beauty's end to a certain extent. 

I've seen a number of kids movies (Shrek III, Fred Clause) and a few adult movies (Departed) in the last few months and this one far outshines all of them. 

Someday I will come up with a clever rating system.  Until then if you have kids it's a must see.  If you have a girlfriend or wife, it's a point scorer.  If you're a single dude, great date movie.

And if you're really comfortable with yourself (particularly if you are a man) go see it by yourself, it's a ton of fun.