Category: hmm… thoughts

Discovered in 1427 by Cardinal Joseph Cran, the cranberry is useful for many things. It is delicious. It is tasty. It is tart. It is good mixed with various other fruits. It floats. It is from heaven. It’s amazing canned shape invites my gobbling. It’s juice keeps away urinary tract infections.

Cranberries are magical.

But they are also medicinal.

11 Hidden Medicinal Properties of Cranberry, America’s Favorite Holiday Fruit*

1. Many know that cranberry juice helps to fight urinary tract infections, but few realize that it’s the tart flavor that empowers the urine to literally scare the infection out of the pee.
2. Suffering a sunburn? Apply the tannin of cranberry skins to rejuvenate burned skin, leaving behind perfectly healed, while slightly deeper red, skin.
3. Historically, Quakers in Pennsylvania invented frozen cranberry pacifiers for teething babies to suck on. The original Gerber baby was sucking on one prior to this famous shot.
4. Non-clinical trials among undergraduate dropouts at the University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station have shown that cranberry is a natural alternative to Adderal for college students who procrastinate studying.
5. You can lose 30 pounds per month on an exclusive cranberry diet. Eat all you want!
6. Many people in Maine tape a cranberry behind their ear to prevent the common cold.
7. When suffering from acute oversharingitis on social media, therapists recommend slowly chewing on raw cranberries prior to commenting online.
8. Twice daily bathing in cranberry is an effective, all natural pregnancy prevention.
9. Brushing your teeth with cranberry paste removes plaque build up and eliminates bad breathe.
10. Mixed with moderate amounts of vodka, cranberry juice is commonly used to treat social shyness.
11. Consuming large quantities of cranberry in its gelatin form relieves irritable bowel syndrome.

via GIPHY

*Adam McLane is a cranberry enthusiast. He is not a scientist, medical doctor, or even very good at anything health related. Please do your research before trying any of these treatments. 

There’s no reason to sugar coat it. The past few weeks have been full of stress.

On top of a normally busy season, work-wise, there have a been a few unexpected curve balls thrown my way.

I’m OK.

I’m going to be fine.

In fact, none of the things causing additional stress are actually bad. So don’t freak out on me or get imaginative about what these stress points might be. A couple are very, very good. But lots of things are happening at once and the simple truth is I’m under a lot of pressure. It’s the kind of pressure you can feel run through your veins– adrenaline, anxiety, fear, excitement, fatigue, on and on. That’s a new and unwelcome feeling for me.

The result is I’m not at my best. Which frustrates me and causes stress all it’s own because I pride myself at being at my best during crunch time.

But I’m not sleeping well.

I’m fighting to stay in a somewhat healthy routine.

And with a lot to juggle I have a very hard time– concentration-wise– knowing what to do right now, what to do next, and what should wait until later.

Share Your Tips

This actually isn’t normal for me so I don’t have a big bag of tricks for coping. I continue to do things like regular walks at night, shorter walks or errands to clear my head throughout the day, staying hydrated, taking time off during the weekends for rest and recreation… stuff like that.

But that leaves me where I’m at today, needing ideas. What do you do to take care of yourself when you’re under a lot of pressure or stress? Share your tips in the comments.

I find that some people cannot dream about “what’s possible” because they have layer after layer excuses to peal away before they can truly dream about “what’s possible.”

With these layers their dreams are too small.

Without these layers they find fulfillment. 

As a result, usually their dreams are not only unfulfilled… they are unidentified.

The image above are the layers I think you have to set aside in order to get to the final layer of giving yourself permission to dream.

Here’s the layers explained:

• Energy – I don’t have the time to pursue something else or new. I’ve got responsibilities and life is getting in the way. You’ll need to set aside this “reality” to conceive of something new. The reality is that a new dream will unleash new energy all to itself.
• Economics – I can’t think about something new because the new thing might cost money I don’t have. Or, I can’t even breathe because of the financial situation I’m in, there’s no room to dream about doing something new if I can’t pay my bills today. The truth is that a new dream will reshape your economic reality.
• Education – I don’t have the education I need to do what I’m dreaming of. Who has time or money to go back to school? Yup, if your dream requires new education it’s the cheapest and most accessible it’ll ever be today.
• Experience – This thing I’m dreaming about– I don’t even know where to start. Other people are already doing it and they are so much further ahead than me. Reality? Experience is overrated. And if you start today you’ll be more experienced than if you are just worrying about if you have enough experience.
• Embarrassment – If things don’t turn out right I’ll be right back where I started. Plus, since I don’t really know what I’m doing I’ll make a lot of mistakes. Reality? You look better failing at something you really want to purse than you do just sitting there doing nothing. Trying and failing is way less embarrassing than never trying at all.
• Expectations – I only want to do something new if I can be great at it or make a lot of money or get recognition. Worse, if I don’t become successful at this new thing right away the people around me won’t support me. Reality? Pursuing this new dream will recreate what your expectations are. Chances are high it’ll be vastly different than you think anyway, so just let go of expectations.

Freedom to Dream

When you set aside all of that internal dialog– most of which may or may not even be true– than you’re capable of dreaming about a new reality, new possibilities, new directions, or even just fresh perspectives on what you’re already doing.

Vision? Goals? Mission statements? All of those things are fine but until you know what you’re dreaming about… unconstrained by negative voices… you’ll be held back.

Maybe I’m just sentimental? And maybe I’m having a hard time recognizing that our beloved dog is getting older? But this video got me all misty-eyed.

How have you said goodbye to a favorite pet? 

The fact that I have hobbies interests you. But the fact that you don’t concerns me.

Yes, I work hard. But my life isn’t defined by my work. My identity is more wrapped up in who I am than what I do. I’m not an inanimate object defined in a sentence, I’m a person.

A person made in the image of God. Made in the image of a God so big He can’t be defined; a God so big generations dared not whisper His name, a God we can describe better than we can identify.

I’m made in that image, I will not be narrowly defined to a one-sentence bio for your convenience. My life won’t fit in 140 characters either.

I am complex and simple. I’m a dad who still likes the input of his dad. I see myself wholly adequately inadequate. I’m perfect to my 4-year old, impossible to my 11-year old, worthy of an eye roll to my 14-year old. I’m still giddy when a woman I met 20 years ago holds my hand, that she still likes me, shocked that she still loves me; I’m inspired by her daily. Amazed that together we still like doing today together. But a single word I am not, cannot, will not. I am less. I am more. I am simple. I am complex.

The fact that I have hobbies interests you. The fact that you don’t concerns me.

It’s crazy to think that I’m in year 11 of this blog. (Just passed 4500 posts!) After a few years of life on a plateau– statistically speaking that is– 2013 and 2014 saw massive growth in the readership.

And with that growth came a couple growing pains.

1. With thousands more eyeballs per day, I’ve felt pressure to publish less. I don’t know why… in some ways that’s counter-intuitive. But I think it’s a natural sphincter-ing that happens when you realize that what I’m writing, usually over a cup of coffee as I start my day, might get read by more people than the local newspaper by the time I sip a cup of tea at 8 PM before bed.
2. With the growth, out came the trolls and haters and thieves. I’m 100% human and 120% fallible. So with the increased readership also came mean things that were said to me, about me, done to me, etc. I’m not crying foul… I’ve learned to deal with it. But this has been a growing pain.
3. With the growth of work for the Cartel, so have come pressures I never saw coming. It’s more than time… it also means that I’m out representing the Cartel as I speak and write, meaning I’ve actually had less time then ever to write for my own blog. And that’s eaten my soul a little. I really need this outlet more than I think anyone can understand.
4. I spent a lot more time on the road in 2013 – 2014 as a result of this blog than I could possible understand. On the one hand, I absolutely love going on the vision trips I’ve been on, speaking in schools and churches… truly love it… but I’ve also had a hard time writing consistently while I travel. Truth be told, if I’m going to be stuck in an aluminum tub for 5 hours flying across the country, it’s hard for a dude of my shape to write… it’s much easier to watch a movie on my iPad, enjoy an adult beverage, and maybe read a little.

Three Important Changes

• Starting last week I’ve started using a little framework for my writing, both to keep myself within some boundaries and to help readers better understand what I’m trying to do. (Long story short, less random.) This is for both of our benefits… I have TONS more to say and write on more topics, in 2015 I’m hoping to find more appropriate homes for that content on other blogs, magazines, etc. Here’s what it looks like:
  • Motivation Monday – something that is about getting off your butt and doing something. could be helpful, could be tips, could be a quote, inspirational story, etc
  • Tech Tuesday – social media, tips, did you knows, learn something techy.
  • W is for Weird – Weird. What more needs to be said? Just something random and/or fun.
  • Throwback Thursday – A look back at something, anything really. Could be a picture or video or memory or whatever I think I want to look back on.
  • Friday is for Friends – Guest posts, interviews, guest reviews, product plugs, deals, etc.
• Even more ways to subscribe!
  • RSS used to be a big deal… I used to thousands of RSS subscribers. But it’s clear people are using RSS less than ever. Just know I’m not turning RSS off, but as of right now I’m not doing anything to make RSS better.
  • Email subscriptions are growing. You can sign-up for my email list and get every blog post delivered right to your inbox. In 2015 I plan on dropping a few “special” things in there that only email folks get. Deals on stuff, early notice on things, reader surveys, you get it.
  • Push notifications for Safari users. Starting last week I added a way for Apple users on the Safari browser to get notified of new posts. If you’re on Safari, just agree to it and you’ll get that… it’s super cool.
• Hang out with me! In all seriousness, I love to hear from folks who read the blog, to put a face to a name from comments, etc. But there are also specific things that I do that you can join in on and be part of the blog somehow.
  • Go to Haiti with me in April. If you’re a ministry leader, it’s totally free and we’ll get to hang out and hear about stuff that I’m passionate about.
  • Come to Open Boston or Open Grand Rapids. These are events, all about youth ministry, and they are ridiculously cheap at just $25 per person.

So that’s the scoop. Thanks for reading my little update.

You know it’s only Wednesday when…

• Kristen put her morning coffee in a travel mug so she could drink coffee in the shower.
• I put the half & half in the kitchen cupboard where the cups go.

Breathe in, breathe out.

The weekend is coming. 

We’ve lived in San Diego for 6 years.

Moving here from Detroit I had little doubt we’d get access to great Mexican food. Truth be told, Detroit was mostly lacking in ethnic food options, so moving somewhere with a lot of ethnic diversity was a big win.

But a pleasant surprise in moving here has been discovering the incredible food from Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam.

I’m in love with pho. (pronounce like the first half of the “f” word) Pho is a simple Vietnamese dish, the base is a bowl of hot vegetable broth and noodles. You flavor to your personal taste with a plate of veggie condiments and a cut of meat. I like raw beef, the thinly sliced steak is served raw but cooks in the hot broth at the table. I’ll let Anthony Bourdain explain to you why it’s one of the best foods in the world.

The star of the show, in my opinion, is rooster sauce. Formally known as Sriracha by Huy Fong Foods, rooster sauce helps you flavor relatively bland pho as hot & spicy as you’d like it.

Sriracha is a Thai chili sauce that is a perfect mix of flavor and heat. Yes, it’ll absolutely make everything it touches hot. But it’s full of flavor, too. A small streak of Sriracha in my bowl of pho is just enough to bring all of the other flavors, the broth, the meat, the basil, the fresh jalapeño, and the sprouts together.

Settling Into Mid-Life

I’m 38 years old.

When I was 19, half a lifetime ago, I remember my psychology professor at Moody explaining the mid-life crisis. “You start to approach 40 and you realize… life is half over… and it’s not turning out the way you’d hoped. And you panic.”

And you know what? I can look around at some of my cohort, folks I graduated high school and college with, and think: Yeah, they are settling.

By your late 30s you’ve experienced some triumphant moments and tasted true failure, maybe even the depths of misery. Maybe a marriage didn’t work out? Maybe you screwed up professionally? Maybe you thought you could live like the soul-less cast of Friends into your mid-30s without ill-effect?

Plenty of people sail through their 20s without curve balls. But no one gets through 38 years of life easily.

I understand settling. I do. I know it’s easier to find a manageable job, a mortgage, and look forward to a bi-annual trip to Florida.

But I didn’t dream of that as a 16 year old. I didn’t wake up for work at 3:30 am and go to class until 9:00 pm so I could settle for less.

Screw the mid-life crisis. I’m not settling any more now than I did then.

I don’t want to be a greying dork in my 40s who buys a Corvette to look cool.

Settling might be for some, but it’s not for me.

The Fight for Spice

Over the past few years Huy Fong Foods, the maker of Sriracha sauce, has been in a fight for survival. Their plant in Irwindale, CA had been under attack as residents complained about the odor produced in the manufacture of the famed rooster sauce. In response to complaints the local government labeled them a public nuisance and reserved the power to force them to close their doors.

The plant has been there since 1986.

It wasn’t that they were doing anything new or different, though their sales have increased every year.

It’s that they had new neighbors.

See, the problem isn’t the success of Sriracha. The problem is that their community has become inundated with settlers with nothing else to do but complain about the smell.

Their lives in the suburbs are disturbed by the success of rooster sauce to the point that they wanted the plant closed. 

And you know who won? The spice.

This is the problem of the mid-life crisis: When you wake up and the smell of where you are living is making you crazy you need to know something important: The smell has always been there. 

Don’t blame others when you’ve settled for something less, that’s misplaced care.

Instead, go after the dreams you had in 1986.

Fight for your spice.