Yep. Almost a year.

I’m currently waiting on a flight home from Seattle after spending two days with a client.

Its been my first consulting gig requiring travel since last March when I finished existing commitments then put this part of my life on hold while I dealt with the fallout from my accident in February.

Ironically it’s the same client. The cycles of life never cease to amaze me.

I definitely had AV rage on 2-3 occasions. Traveling is a big trigger for me. Dealt with them all fine, and I continue to feel confident - just have to take a second every now and then to call b.s. on AV thinking.

I opened up the site page - newcomers - and felt my breath leave me a bit at all the despair in the titles of threads. I remember well my own desperate strategy of mind a year ago.

But I do find myself wishing peeps can see things from new perspectives. The more I practice this the more convinced I become that life really is what we make it - and that starts with choosing how we want to see things...and how humble and honest we can be with ourselves.

My latest focus is self-pity. I intend to build my ability to recognize when Im looking at the world through the lens of self pity and shift my perspective into a different point of view. For example, last night I felt that familiar feeling of missing out on something because I can’t sit at the bar and drink. I saw it as self pity- looking for an excuse or a payoff by being a martyr or something. Once I saw it I shifted - im the guy who sat at the bar, ordered a cranberry and tonic, enjoyed a nice dinner and woke up this morning and absolutely crushed it with my client because my head is clear and I sat there last night thinking of a game plan for today instead of turning myself into an ego-maniacal wastoid.

Its poison. Give it up and don’t look back. Stop being a martyr. Teach yourself a few things and learn to love and cherish the little things - a quiet morning with a good cup of joe. The ability to make promises to yourself and keep them.

Put a chip on your shoulder. Walk soberly with some swag and a bit lighter step. Trust me, the problems we think we have aren’t squat compared to others - or even to how bad we can make things for ourselves if we keep feeding our overblown egos.

Preach done.

A year is a big deal for me. I’m grateful for it.

Best-

​​​​​​—B