I watched this video last week and it has consumed my thoughts. Watch it.
How are you spending your time? If I look back at my last year, I would say that I spent most of my time working. If you read any blog about old people giving advice to the younger generations, one strain of advice is common, "I wish I would have spent more time with my loved ones." Nobody wishes they would have worked more, especially a job they didn't enjoy.
There are 2 quotes that I live by: "It's all about the relationships" and "People are the best part of life." I feel when I have this perspective, I am a lot happier and truer to myself and what's important. Lately, I feel as if I have been off track and focused more on money and work. This video came across my path at the perfect time and I am thankful for it. I feel like work has consumed my life and it is time to take a step back.
Ask yourself how you would feel if you died tomorrow? I know that might sound morbid, but really reflect and be honest with yourself. How would you view your life on earth? Would you have any regrets, and if so, what would they be?
For me, I would regret not spending more time with people and slowing down my life. I would regret not sitting down with my mom and dad and asking them how they are doing, rather than rambling on about my life. I would regret not enjoying sunsets more or taking time to really enjoy nature and my surroundings. I would regret that I spent more time in front of a computer instead of with people. I would regret hours that I spent watching sports and not playing sports. Ultimately, I would regret my time and more specifically, time with my loved ones.
Good news. You are still alive and you are not dying tomorrow. Use your regrets and turn them into action. Consider this a second chance. Life is too precious to continue living how you don't want to. Spend more time with your family. Turn off your laptops. Appreciate the simple things. Enjoy the conversations and relationships. Find the joy in your work and if you don't enjoy your job, look for something that you do enjoy. It's time we appreciate life more. If you don't know where to start, start appreciating the people in your life. They are what makes life great.
You see, time is so precious, because we can't get more of it. It can't be bought, only used. We can't control how much is allotted to us, but we CAN decide how we spend it.
I had the opportunity of seeing Google a few weeks ago and I know how unusual an experience it was, so I thought I would write down my experience. Thanks to my buddy Ryan, I was able to go on a tour on Saturday and it was awesome! The day before, I went to the headquarters with my friend Junkyu and we just walked around the campuses in admiration. I posted a photo of myself and reached out on Facebook and the rest is history. Thank you social media . . .and Ryan.
The first thing I noticed was how beautiful and well kept the grounds were! It really felt like I was on sacred work ground. Every building had bikes for employees to use, called "G-bikes". They are colored in the famous Google primary colors and thy aren't particularly special in anyway, but the fact that they are from Google makes them awesome. I had the privilege of riding a G-bike and it was smooth as butter.
In front of every building, they have electric car charge stations and the cool thing is that they are being used. We weren't allowed to go everywhere, but we did go into a few buildings and unfortunately, we weren't able to take pictures. Every 150 ft. there are food stations that look like fully stocked kitchens filled with healthy snacks. Fresh fruits, the best cereals, the best drinks. It's all free!
Even the cafeterias are free and they have 2 that I know of. One is made of all organic food and the other is a normal cafeteria. Pretty amazing. My friend said that he hasn't bought groceries in 6 months ha ha. How amazing is that?
The air quality is the best in the world. The CEO and Co-Founder, Larry Page, is a big believer of air quality and wants his employees to breathe in the best air you can possibly breathe.
We went to the main amphitheater where they have their big announcements every Thursday (they call it TGIF, but it is held on Thursday, for offices that are in China, since it is Friday for them). All of the chairs and tables are in the Google colors.
The building where Larry Page's office is fun more than anything. He has a slide that goes from his office to the main floor. The setting where he meets with "important people" is furnished with drink coolers, snacks, pool tables, arcades, and a foosball table.
Outside, we saw their swimming treadmills and they are free to use whenever. It truly is an amazing place and would be so fun to work. My friend absolutely loves working for Google and he had nothing, but good things to say. He works with amazing people from all over the world and their working stations are more communal than anything. He has done well for himself and I am happy for him!
The only downside to seeing Google was the depressed feeling I had when I left and realized I had to go to back to my job, which I actually loved before I saw Google ha ha.
It is no wonder why it is ranked the best place to work in America! God bless you Google.
TIME & MONEY. Is it possible to have both? Which is more important? Which brings more happiness?
I went to an International Dinner last week and one of my former professors, Ali Cook, spoke. She brought up the point that in life, in regards to traveling, you either have time to travel and no money, or you either have money and no time. Her point was that you need to travel when you have the chance and she put in a plug for studying abroad.
Anyone who knows me remotely well, knows that I love to travel. I think it is the greatest and you could say that I have the traveling bug for sure. The more places I go, the more I learn about other places I want to go. It is amazing! My entire life I have heard older people complain about TIME & MONEY. They say that when you have enough TIME to do things, you don't have enough MONEY. Or when you have enough MONEY, you don't have enough TIME.
5 years ago, I was living in Houston, TX. I saw the commercials for the Nissan Cube and I thought they would be fun to drive, so I decided to test drive one. There was a Nissan dealership near our apartment and I went over one day after work. I wasn't serious at all, I just wanted to experience the Cube. I had to drive it with a salesman, which kind of sucked, but it was still way fun. My brother was in the back and it was like driving a living room around ha ha - ultimate space. (does this story have a point . . .) After the test drive, the salesman said that the Manager wanted to have a minute with me in his office. I really didn't want to go, but I felt obligated and I was intimidated ha ha. I was in their for 3 minutes and I bought the car with the worst interest rate you could get ... ha ha. jk.
The Manager greeted me at the door and asked me and my brother to have a seat. He asked me what my interest level was and I told him straight up that I was just looking around and that I wasn't in any position to buy a new car. He asked me what was holding me back and I though about it and said, "Time and Money". His reply caught me off guard. He said, "Well neither of us can control time, but I can control the money." I never bought the car, but I have always remembered his response.
2 years ago, I was working from home doing online marketing. I was starting my business and wasn't making that much money, but I had time on my side and it was great. I was going camping and fishing nearly every weekend and golfing almost everyday. I really wanted to travel with all of the free time I had, but I didn't have that much money. I was having a good time, but I wasn't content.
Last year, I added a full-time career at USU on top of my online marketing business. I have consistently worked around 70 hour weeks since. I have had plenty of money (not rich by any means), but I haven't had any time. I think I went fishing once and I only play golf about twice a month now. Now that I have more money, I would love to travel more, but I don't have much time. I'm glad I'm working hard and have more money, but I am not content.
I ask again. Which is more important, TIME OR MONEY? Is it possible to have both? I have thought a lot about it over the years, especially this past week. Having been on both sides of the spectrum, I feel like I need both to feel content. I certainly believe it is possible. I would define a rich man as having both and this is now my ultimate goal. To have enough money to do what I want and enough time to do it in. Sounds too good to be true. Maybe it is wishful thinking.
Throwin’ down some real ish now. I just got back from a business trip to South
Korea. South Korea holds a special place
in my heart, because I spent a year and a half there at perhaps the most
crucial point in my life. I was debating
whether to join the National Guard or study abroad and teach English. As destiny had it, I received a scholarship
to Korea and the rest is history. During
my time, I never could have imagined the world that opened up to me. I met some of the best people from all over
the world and I am still friends with them today.
I kind of felt like Marius from “Les Miserables”, minus the
Kermit the Frog vibrato, when he sings “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables”. Not nearly as sad or depressing, nobody I
know has passed away or been killed, but I experienced a sliver of his pain ha
ha. I don’t know why I am laughing.
In a nutshell, this isn’t meant to be some life changing
post, but it was a great realization to appreciate the people in your
life.
I look back at perhaps the best
summer of my life. I was 23 and I moved
home for the summer with my 2 younger brothers.
I had a small Chevy s10 that had like 200,000 miles on it and no
money. My brothers, Sam and Jon were
poorer than I was and we drove around Logan like we owned the place. We didn’t do anything particularly awesome,
but our Winger and cinefour nights were pretty bad-a. I had a blast being with them, not because we
were in an awesome place or did tons of awesome things. I was with the best people and we had a heck
of a time.
I am sure we can all reflect times in our lives that were
amazing and realize, aside from the people, they weren’t or wouldn’t be as
great. So, appreciate your loved
ones. Something I learned last summer
that I kind of forgot lately was that people are the most important part of
life. Without people, we are nothing and
we have nothing. I truly believe that if
we love, appreciate and take care of the people in our lives now, that it doesn’t
really matter what happens after this life.
That is the most important thing we can do.
This past weekend, I went on a trip with my friend Junkyu to the San Francisco area. I had never been before, aside from the airport and have always wanted to go. It was a short trip, but it was amazing. The first day, we drove over to the Google headquarters and that was an incredible experience that I will write about later. The point of this post comes from my drive down to Pebble Beach through Monterey.
In between Monterey and Pebble Beach is the famous "17 Mile Drive". I could have driven this for days. It was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. I love golf more than anything and I pulled over like 100 times to take pictures of the courses, homes, forests, and the ocean. Pictures and writing will never do it justice, it is just incredible and must be viewed in person.
While driving, I thought to myself of what it must be like to live at a place like this. I definitely want to someday. I think most people do. It was everything I want in a neighborhood and life when I am older and much more successful. A vintage, classy-one of a kind home nestled in the woods, next to the ocean and a golf course. Sounds like heaven. I sure hope heaven is like that ha ha, but serious. The more I drove, the more I thought, "Well, if this is what you want, are you on the path to get it?" I feel like I have worked hard and I am grateful for where I am at now, but to be honest, I think the answer is "No". I'm sure we all feel like this sometimes, maybe it is just me and the 2 readers that I get a month are thinking, "This guy is an arrogant son of a gun". But . . .here it goes . . I am just going to write as it comes . . .
You know in Disney movies, where the main character (the awesome hero) has that moment when he/she feels like there is more out there and feels like he/she is meant for something more? I felt like that during this trip. It is funny, because I feel like my life in Logan, UT is awesome. I love working for Utah State University and doing my design business on the side, but I just felt like I was exposed to more out there this past weekend! I FEEL like there is more out there. Most of my friends got their degrees, got married, got a stable job, bought a home, and started having kids. Not that there is anything wrong with that. That is the American Dream! I'm happy for my friends that have done that and sometimes I wish I was on that path, but I haven't truly wanted that. I've wanted to be different, stand out, and do something big. Not because I feel like I am better, but just because I was never interested in that life. I want to do something big and different, and my own. I want to make an impact on the world and make a difference. I can totally see my mom telling me, "And you think having a family isn't going to make an impact on the world?". Yes, I do. I'm sure it's the best thing I can do. I would love to fall in love, get married, and have children . . .but . . .I want to travel, meet new people, experience new cultures, AND . . . I want to do or be a part of something big. I believe that I can do it all. For someone who is truly not gifted at any one thing, I must sound like the ultimate jackass, but why not? I want to live the best life I can.
My biggest fear is settling. I can't stand people that settle. One big frustration I have working for a university is that they don't fire anyone. If people suck, they just get shifted around. If you work hard and excel, you don't get rewarded. At times, I feel like it is the ultimate workplace for people that want a safe bet. I don't want a safe bet. I want to take a gamble on myself. I think we all should. I believe the man upstairs wants us to be successful. I truly do.
My favorite character in any movie is William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) in Meet Joe Black. William is at the end of his remarkable life and Death comes to take him, but before He does, He wants to learn from William and walk in his shoes. Death comes disguised as a human (Brad Pitt) and names himself, Joe Black. Joe follows William around and learns from him for a few days. At William's last night before he dies, he looks over at Joe Black and says, "Do I have anything to fear?" Joe looks at William and says, "Not a man like you." That gives me goosebumps.
That's what I want! I want to live a life with no regrets. To make a difference. To look back at my life and be so proud of what I have left behind. I want to be challenged, proved, and I want to conquer. I want to push myself and do something great. Is that too much to ask?
I feel like this every now and then. Restless. It usually comes after I have traveled. I try to learn something from every trip I go on. This one feels different. We'll see. Ultimately, my strongest desire is to reach my potential and do God's will. I guess if I have this mindset, that is the most important thing. There is no way I can settle if this truly is my desire.
(By the way, while I was writing this last part, I was listening to Farewell song from "Pocahontas". It is the best! It's my journal jam. If you want a good ponder song, I highly recommend it.)
I had a hard time sleeping last night. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. I sat in bed thinking about how amazing my day was and why I was feeling the way that I did and I relived the events of the day in my head. To the outside eye, my day looked like this:
I woke up at 5:30am, showered and got ready to do an open house for work at the College of Southern Idaho. I met up with a representative from the Air Force, named Sheldon at Utah State University at 6:00am and we drove up to Idaho together. The drive was through the ugliest part of Idaho and I was super tired. I was bobbing my head for most of the trip, trying to stay awake. We arrived earlier than expected and went to Maverick to get breakfast. I bought a Krispe Kream donut that wasn't very good, chocolate milk, and a breakfast sandwich. The open house went well, nothing special. We met a lot of nice people and I made some great connections in the international office - relevant to my job at USU. We ate lunch at this Mexican restaurant and drove home. I purchased a 5 hour energy and figured that $4 was a fair price to stay awake and stay alive ha ha. I dropped off Sheldon and dropped off some items in my office and drove home from USU with my brother Mike. When I got home, I finished my taxes, figured out how to program my car remote, made my famous cake shakes for my roommates and played pool against my brother and went 1-7 ha ha.
The amazing thing about this day is that is was nothing special. I was super happy and it was great! Maybe to the outside eye, my day was normal or even sucked, but this is how I saw and experience it:
I woke up at 5:30am. I was nervous to meet Sheldon, because he's is in the Air Force and I didn't want to drive all day with a strict soldier - we would have nothing in common. When I met him, he was wearing a New England Patriots beanie and coat- we were best buddies. We talked about sports, life, religion, and traveling. He was great! Although the drive was not necessarily pretty, the sun was coming up and it made the few snow capped mountains look gorgeous. Breakfast at Maverick was not ideal, but the fact that I could eat any type of a sandwich with my braces was a big step for me! The staff at the Open House was fantastic and everyone at CSI was super friendly. My connections in the international office were super helpful and supportive of my recruiting efforts to USU. Lunch was at one of the best Mexican restaurants I have ever been to for the price. When I returned home, I reunited with my brother and he had a great day, which was nice to hear. I came home, finished my taxes, programmed a car remote that I have been messing with for about a week, made my famous cake shakes with a new ingredient - but the original is better, and finally beat my brother at pool after losing 7 times in a row ha ha. Persistence paid off, just like Tom Brady being down by 10 in the 4th quarter - best super bowl ever ha ha ha. My brother scratched on the unlikeliest of shots and I was laughing so hard. The 1 win was all I needed.
That's it . . . that's my amazing day! (You are probably thinking . . . "This guy's life sucks!")
Not too long ago, a friend of mine asked me about the best days of my life. I didn't have to think about it too long before answering . . . St. Andrews, Scotland . . . traveling in East Asia . . . fishing in Alaska . . . spending a day at a resort in Mazatlan. I know I have had a blessed life, for which I am grateful, but I felt bad thinking that all of the best days of my life were far away, doing pretty cool things that I will probably do once in my life. She told me some of her best days . . . they were just average days (in my opinion) with her family. But, she cherished the simple things. I thought that night . . . the best days of this girl's life were the average, ordinary days we all live . . . everyday.
I thought about this all week and it is not like I was intentionally planning on having a "best day" yesterday, it just happened. I attribute it to my perspective. When I was a missionary in Toronto, Canada, I had the pleasure of learning from one of the best men I've ever met. His name is Brad Mahoney and he taught me that life is full of miracles, but the real miracle is being able to recognize the miracles. This perspective changed my mission and my life, until I lost sight of it when I returned home. I fortunately regained this perspective this week and the result was incredible!
It reminds me from a scene from my favorite movie, "About Time". The main character has the ability to travel back in time any day in his life and this is what he realizes at the end:
When I started writing, I had no intention of making this sentimental, but I guess it is a sentimental topic. How amazing life could be if you had this perspective everyday, enjoying each moment - good and bad, learning from experiences, and being grateful for the journey.
Kind of changing topic, but kind of not . . .
Last Fall, I visited a friend in New York. We had some great talks about life and she said that a lot of her friends are jealous of her life in the "Big Apple", because all they see are the amazing posts on Instagram and Facebook. They don't see the day-to-day events, feeling uncomfortable on the subway, the inconveniences of not having a car, the unsettling feeling that you are on your own in one of the biggest cities in the world. Social media tends to do us a disservice, because it is creating a false life that we portray to others. (As I use social media to explain this point ha ha). But, I am guilty of this too. I tend to only post things when I am traveling or doing something that is awesome. I NEVER POST ABOUT THE ORDINARY DAY, but I should. Think if we all posted about the ordinary day. There would be less comparing, less hating our lives, less depression. Looking back, the worst times in my life are when I have compared myself to others. I have learned the hard way recently that the people that I thought had the best lives, were struggling the most. Everyone puts on a front, and sometimes you need to, but let's stop comparing our lives and let's make it easier on each other.
I felt super bad when I was in England last fall. One of my friends on Facebook messaged me and said something like, "I am so jealous of your life man. What do you do for a living? You seem to be traveling all the time." Anyone who knows me personally knows I don't have any money, I traveled a few times last year, but that was an unusual year. I have a fun job at USU, but I don't make that much, my family is huge and super poor too ha ha, but I am happy with where I am at. I felt bad that I portrayed a life I don't have.
So, the point of all of this or a few points to learn: each day can be amazing if we have the right perspective. We don't have to spend tons of money and travel to the other side of the world to have "The Best Day". There is always something to be experienced, learned, and enjoyed. APPRECIATE THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY days you have and lets stop comparing our lives to someone's vacation.
For lunch today, the dream team (me, Lauralee, Shelby, and Fota) decided to go find out which place in Logan has the best donuts. Each place we went to, we asked which donut was the most popular. Here is what we found:
Lee's Marketplace. Lee's is a hometown grocery store, expensive, but clean and I like shopping there. The best part of Lee's is the lunch special. You can get 2 chicken items, 2 amazing sides, a roll and a drink - $6. It is the ultimate deal in Logan. I especially like the mashed potatoes and gravy - the best I have ever had. Since I recently got braces, I have taken advantage of their creamy goodness. Back to the donuts . . . the baker lady said that the plain old-fashioned glazed was the best seller, but we decided to go with a chocolate covered cinnamon roll (seen below). Since there were 4 of us and we didn't want to overload on donuts, we decided to get 2 donuts at each place and split them. My father has diabetes and it is not something that I want ha ha ha ha ha, but serious.
Shaffer House Bakery. This place is awesome. Right when we walked in, we could smell the fresh goodness. I was sold. They had delicious looking turnovers and pastries - I wanted to bag the donut search and just settle down with a nice flaky turnover. On to donuts . . . we found out the Bavarian cream bar was the most popular, so we got one of them . . .and 2 delicious looking Reese's cake donuts. Definitely excited to pound down those little homies.
Dunkin' Donuts. Brand new to Logan. Today was the grand opening, actually. It's like it was destiny for us to do our donut tour today. I have only had Dunkin' Donuts in Korea and I wasn't a fan, so I was skeptical. There weren't too many people for the grand opening, but there were enough to notice something was going on. The owner gave us a donut hole while we were in line. I think he called it a "Munchkin" and it was delectable. They said the most popular was the blueberry cake, so we got 2. Also, they were giving out free hot chocolate and coffee. I guess they are doing it for the next 3 days, ahh yeah. I had salted caramel hot chocolate and it was money in the bank. 8 ball corner pocket.
Johnny O's Spudnuts. I think this place is a few months old. I hear there are 7 potatoes in each donut. That's not true. This place has the coolest interior and decorations. There are lounges to chill and you would think that a young hipster started this business, but there were 2 old grandma's running the joint. They were nice, but when we said we only wanted 2 donuts, they seemed disappointed. They tried to sell us 6 or 8 ha ha. Geez grandma, I ain't gettin' any younger. We bought 2 fluffy maple bars.
Game Time! Look at this healthy lunch.
And the winner is . . .
They all sucked and I am never eating another f'n donut again. ha ha. Just kidding. I think we all agreed that the Bavarian cream bar from Shaffer House Bakery was the best, but we only had a small piece and it was just right. If I had to eat an entire bar, it would make me sick. But, a small taste was delicious! We were also torn between the blueberry cake donut from Dunkin' and the maple bar from Johnny O's.
Valuable Lesson Learned:
Don't eat donuts for lunch. We immediately felt gross and felt sick and definitely not productive at work ha ha. I can't feel my toes now and I'm experiencing frequent urination, headaches, blurred vision, and fatigue . . .
The real lesson is one of friendship and unity. The 3 co-workers that I journeyed with were my friends going into the donut tour, but now they are my brothers.
