Category Archives: Lessons Learned

Lessons learned from my walks

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The Power of A Review

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Is this a shameless post asking you to post reviews of my books on Amazon?

Of course, that would really make my day but hopefully you’ll see why it would be a good thing to do when we look at reviews as a whole.

There are tons of TVs at the gym – and fortunately the sound is not on because the very loud music is..sigh. Thank God for audiobooks.

Lately at least one station a day is talking about what happened in 2022. So, if the news highlights the review process, it must mean one of two things, right? Either they think it’s important or they are just trying to fill up slots….or both.

Why do we review things? You’ve heard that history repeats itself. If it does, wouldn’t it be great to study what went on so that you will be prepared next time.

When you write a race report, it’s a review. When your boss evaluates your performance, it’s a review. When you look at your financial expenditures, it’s a review. When you get ready to send out Christmas cards, it’s a review. Etc..

What are you looking for when you review something. You’re looking to see what went right, what went wrong and what trends are identifiable.

When you share reviews, you’re helping other people know how to handle things. Or, in the case of a book review, you’re helping them decide if they should spend their money on that particular book.

Why look back a the previous year only? How good is your memory? If it’s like mine, good luck with that.

Why not do daily and weekly reviews – maybe you think that’s too much, then try monthly or quarterly. Use your calendars to see what’s happened.

This is a much better way to improve your life. You may not be happy with something that’s going on in your life but don’t know what to do about it. You have to recognize patterns and actions as well as thoughts and feelings. You can do that by reviewing each situation that has happened that you’re not happy with. If you review enough of them, you’ll see the trends and be able to identify what to change. Then you can either simply alter your behavior or perhaps get help with some change. But at least you know what it is you want to change.

Try the stop, start and continue process (daily or weekly is best for this):
Write down the things that if you stop them, it’ll lead you closer to what you want. For example, I will get a lot closer to editing my next book if I stop playing games on my phone all day.

Write down the things that if you start they will improve your situation. Example, when I had to stop walking and doing impact activities in November, I decided it would be a good time to start doing cardio at the gym every day. That included the stair climber which I had “intended” to start “sometime” to help me with the steps at Vol State. What better “sometime” than when I couldn’t do any other exercise.

Write down things that are working well and you want to continue. For example, my morning routine is perfect. It enabled me to read over 44 books in 2022.

Reviews are for you to see where you’ve been and where you might be able to go. If you choose to share your lessons, that’s great and will help others but it’s not essential.

And if you write a review of one or both of my books, it will help people realize they are books that are not just about running. And I’d be forever grateful.

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What is a Life Lesson?

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A lesson is something that you’ve learned. Although you hope it is, it’s NOT always useful in your life – how much of what we learned in school do we really use or has really impacted our lives?

A Life Lesson, to me, is something that has been learned by one person AND will help someone else not have to repeat mistakes or hard times. It’s intended to make life richer, more fulfilling and less difficult.

I have lived for many decades and have experienced a great deal in my life. But, it’s only been in the last few years that I have actually looked at what I learned and said to myself “I sure wish I had known that before.”

My Christmas wish for you is that the “Reflection Journal: Life Lessons, Volume 1” will help make at least some parts of your life easier.

Here’s a sneak peek as to what the format looks like! A picture really is worth a thousand words.

This is a great companion book for “It’s Not About the Miles” but it’s also the “down and dirty” synopsis of what I’ve learned through all my years on earth!

Get it today and start the year off right.

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Behind the Counter…

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It’s intriguing how the pandemic changed me. It’s hard, though, to figure out what is change because of the pandemic and what is because of retirement. But, that’s beyond today’s post.

I ventured into to not one, but two, retail stores this week – the kinds that are near and dear to my heart – a bookstore and REI. What else do we need in life?

I also had to go get some labs drawn.

I’m so glad I had these opportunities, not to shop but to meet at least two people that will stand out in my mind for a very long time.

They were the people “behind the counter”.

I wonder how much we think of these folks especially at this time of year. I ask myself, how would I handle all these different types of customers. You know, the ones that are always right, always in a hurry and have to be first. And boy, do they get upset if the store doesn’t have what they want – like it’s the clerk’s fault. I am positive I would be fired within the first week and most likely, the first day.

“You have to give a urine sample.”

The woman at the lab I wasn’t so sure of at first. Your number is called and you are called into the collection room into cubicles. Usually, like so many health care providers these days, they spend all their time looking at the computer. She did initially until she said: “You have to give a urine specimen”. I replied “That’s ok, at my age I can pee on demand!” Then I told her that wasn’t always the case because I could never provide a urine sample for drug tests because I couldn’t pee in front of someone. She started laughing and then began an animated confession about her recent dealings with hot flashes and we had a grand old time.

Now, after all these years I have absolutely no anxiety about blood draws but when I have to have human contact, I want it to be fun or nice anyway. That’s not asking too much, I don’t think.

I could tell she was having fun with it too, so we both came out happy. And I will remember her for a long time.

“Did you know this is a camera holder too?

REI employs many friendly people. But, this week, I met one of the best and you can bet, it will bring me back there (that’s the whole point isn’t it).

I bought a walking stick that was light weight – good to use getting back from my stress fracture. As she was ringing me up she said “did you know this has a camera holder?” and proceeded to take the top off and show me how it could be used to take a selfie. She was funny but you could tell she just wanted others to be as happy about things as she was. And it worked. Her attitude has to be the best in a sales person that I’ve ever seen.

These people are harassed all the time. What can you do to make their day a bit better. You know that what you give, you also receive so see how you can make a difference in the next week as the holiday hectic happenings are in full force. They are people just like you and they want to be treated with the respect and courtesy we “demand”.

How hard is that?