This is my third year volunteering at the Festival. It feels really familiar now. My nerves from the first two years are really reduced, and now I’m just looking forward to reconnecting with friends.

So I’m looking outside the window. The snow is visibly bare, but tomorrow a storm is suppose to come.

Tomorrow I begin my volunteer role. Tomorrow things kick off and I’ll get quite busy.

I’m going to do my best to post a blog here and there when I can–sometimes highlighting some great films, sometimes highlighting a great experience, sometimes highlighting a great lesson learned.

Even though they seem familiar now, these two weeks challenge me in such a unique way, and I’m so glad I have the chance to do them.

I grow from this little “storm” each year. I learn from so many of the incredible documentaries that I see and the stories they tell.

If anything, it reminds me that each of us has some form of story to share–some happy, some sad, but all worthwhile.

So tomorrow it gets busy. Tomorrow I see so many of the stories.

Right now, I feel like I’m looking at the cover of a book and I can’t wait to turn to the next page.

I like this feeling.

I hope you have a moment like this in your life soon : )

In the days leading up to the wedding, we were all wondering if it would work out okay. While there was no doubt that Debbie & Jason would begin their married lives together on Saturday, we were concerned if the weather was going to allow it to take place outdoors. In our facebook cousin group (yes, we have one), Debbie provided regular weather updates. I also checked, trying to insure that my suit would still be a good match for the ceremony. For quite sometime it looked like it was going to rain during the ceremony. There was an indoor plan B, but we were all hoping for outdoors. Even 2-3 days before the event, it looked like it was going to rain.

And then the winds came.

Huge, crazy winds.

Winds that shutdown the LAX airport and caused travel to be rerouted. Winds that toppled trees.

HUGE, CRAZY WINDS!

When we arrived in Pasadena on Friday night, we were surprised to see so many crews fixing traffic lights, moving trees, clearing downed power poles. At breakfast the next day, I heard many hotel guests discussing how they were hoping power would be restored to their home that day. On the drive to the ceremony, I counted 6 downed trees and many sidewalks and bike lanes lined with branches and debris.

The church itself had huge clumps of pine needles and branches in the parking lot.

But then we walked to where the ceremony was…

…and it was gorgeous.

Apparently, volunteers had helped clear the ceremony site of its storm debris. It was absolutely stunning.

The HUGE, CRAZY WINDS had cleared the sky of any clouds.

And so… my cousin, Debbie, and her husband, Jason, had the most beautiful outdoor ceremony.

Far too often in life, we stress out about things we can’t control. We have our own impending “rainstorms” that we worry will ruin our days, or we see the “winds” come into our lives, and worry about how they will destroy things.

But sometimes life is just beautiful and things work out.

There were still a few hiccups in the wedding–all weddings have them–but it still remained beautiful. During the ceremony and reception, it was so obvious that Debbie & Jason could handle the twists and turns the outside world was going to throw at them. They were enjoying the beauty of the moment and their time together.

Let’s try to do the same.

“CHARITY” HIGHLIGHT

As I mentioned in my Advent Conspiracy entry, I want to highlight some of the great charities out there. My first highlight isn’t for a charity, but rather a business that functions as one. Yes, we’ve all heard of TOMS shoes (which I love), but I want to highlight PAIX Clothiers. A few of my friends just started this company. Proceeds from the sale of clothes will help clean drinking water projects throughout the world. The clothes even have a cool interaction part with QR Codes on each item showing how the money is helping people. These clothes are a very cool idea for a Christmas gift. I’ll do a longer blog entry about them down the road, but in the meantime, I encourage you all to check out PAIX Clothiers

I’ve seen the countdown to this qualification appear all year long. In August I was able to see if my remaining trips would requalify me. Even though I know my last trip qualified me (with room to spare), I still logged into the United website again to make sure it was indeed true.

And then the goal line was moved.

No, I still have my status, but the visual gauge which was almost filled had now been reduced again and a new countdown had developed until I could get the next set of bonus upgrades.

I have the highest status on United that you can earn (there is one more that they give to certain customers).
I’ve already earned some of the those bonus upgrades.

In other words, I now have a pursuit of something that is really pointless.

In truth, even my current 1K status is a bit pointless (although I do love the perks it provides me throughout my trips).

As much as I do like the United site with its countdown gauge to the status of my mini travel goal for me each year, there has to be a point where we’re satisfied–where we can enjoy the present.

I think a lot of us do this. We cannot celebrate our achievements along the way. We keep looking further and wanting more and more, and even when we reach a peak (like I did today with my 1K status), we extend the goal line.

Don’t get me wrong…

I believe goals are important
I think we should continue to challenge ourselves
I don’t want us to become complacent in our daily lives

But I don’t want us to miss out LIVING our lives because we move the finish line yet again and are unable to appreciate our present.

The second is also wonderful, but it’s the last line that gets me:

“Cuz It’s Worth It.”

Watch the video and then continue reading.

Yes, the video is cute. Yes, the video is hilarious.

It’s the final message that gets me.

This little shell has a pretty tough existence. Just getting from point A to point B takes a great deal of effort. This little shell lost its sister.

And yet, it smiles cuz it’s worth it.

I couldn’t agree more.

Life can be tough at times. Life can be stressful at times. Life can feel impossible at times.

But smiling is worth it. Smiling helps bring us some perspective.

So let’s smile today cuz it’s worth it : )

SPECIAL BONUS: So my birthday just took place. I was thinking about how in elementary school you used to bring “treats” in for your birthday, so I thought I’d give a treat to all my loyal readers. If you would like me to speak to your group in 2012 AND are able to book a 2012 engagement by the end of my birthday month, I’ll do that event for 2011 prices (a $250 savings). If you want to save even more, send me an email (pm@pmaurer.com) and I can give you more ways to get even more discounts.

Last night as we talked on the phone, I reread some of the messages to her. We laughed quite a bit. In remembering the beginning, we realized how much we like the fact that we are still enjoying our present.

And so I think we should all do this during this week. No, I’m not saying you need to find the first few texts or messages in a relationship (although that isn’t a bad idea), but rather, let’s remember why we began on our current path at all.

There is a reason why we joined a certain organization or ran for a certain position.

There is a reason why we have certain friendships or are pursuing certain goals.

So let’s take a moment and remember the beginning. Let’s get fired up about a start and get more excited about our present.

Oh and since you read the whole blog, here’s one of the messages:

November 21, 2010 4:33pm
I know it violates all “guy rules” to contact you before the “3 day rule,” so please forgive this quick text to say I had fun yesterday and I hope you have a “productive” Sunday ; ) talk soon.

So that brings me to last night.

My flight was almost an hour late in departing–not my longest delay, but a delay nonetheless.

Rather than flying on a regular size plane on the two hour flight back to Phoenix, the airline used a smaller regional jet. This took out my beloved frequent traveler section where I have more room, not to mention First Class where I’m often upgraded.

So I was in coach (this is where the girlfriend makes fun of me and my snobbery).

As I watch the other passengers board, I see a mom enter with a child strapped to her and far too many bags. I saw the flight attendant ask if the large child had his own ticket, and the mom responded by saying he was a lap child.

Yep, they sat right next to me.

For the two hours I was kicked, touched by sticky yogurt fingers, had my hair pulled, listened to some loud screaming, lost my reading light to the button experiment of the kids, and much more.

But I actually didn’t mind.

Okay, I minded a little bit–I was going to watch a DVD on this flight and just relax, but instead I had the chance to interact with the mom and her son.

As she sat down next to me, I thought, “okay, what if this was one of my cousins and their child?”

I tried to ditch my “snobbery” for the flight, and see if I could actually be a human being.

I’m glad I did.

Turns out that they were flying to attend a family member’s funeral. Not a fun reason to fly. They had already been on one flight that day, sat in the airport with that same delay, and still had a few hours to drive.

The mom was obviously exhausted, yet she was still doing her absolute best. When the kid would pull my hair (he liked the semi-spikey nature of it) she’d admonish him. She tried to find that perfect balance of letting him touch lights or the window shade to keep him happy without having him break out in screams. She kept her cool, maintaining right and wrong.

But the kid wasn’t even three, and he had been sitting around for most of the day. He, too, was probably doing his best.

I happened to have the “There’s a Monster at the End of this Book” app on my iPhone and was able to entertain boy for a few minutes during the flight. He thought it was pretty cool, and the mom thanked me more than she needed to.

And it got me thinking… like Grover in the book, I far too often would preassign a role to that “monster” who might sit next to me on my flight, and yet they might be a lovable “monster” like Grover. Yes, it wasn’t my most comfortable flight, but the kid was pretty hilarious.

So I guess I’m writing this blog in a sense to remind me and potentially provide a reminder to you to once again, not judge a book by its cover, and maybe put yourself in someone else’s shoes (or in their seat). We’ve heard these truths since we were little kids, but I had to take a moment and remind myself about them last night. I’m glad I did.

Otherwise, I would have just been a travel snob, and while my girlfriend might have had fun teasing me about that, the women sitting next to me would have had a much worse traveler sitting next to her than the one sitting on her lap.

The reds.
The yellows.
The oranges.

The fall leaves. Simply incredible.

In a few short weeks, the trees will be bare, but before the leaves depart they give one more huge bold demonstration of their brilliance. It’s incredible.

In a few short weeks, many of us will be taking out “winter breaks.” Right now, many of you are resting and recovering from extravagant Homecomings or your big fall leadership conference, but what if we didn’t stop right now?

What if we took a page from the fall leaves’ playbook and produce our very best right now? Instead of simply shrinking away as we head towards December, what if we charged forward, boldly and beautifully?

Could we catch the eye of people in our campus and community?

Could we make them look at life again with a bit of awe?

I think we can.

I know we can.

So let’s do it.

Okay, it was only for a minute or so, but I was surprised I kept his attention that long. After all, he wasn’t even one (or at least that is what my “baby-dar” was telling me) and this was a pretty exciting aircraft.

Some freak out when a baby sits next to them on a flight. While I will admit I truly do detest 4 hours of a screaming child, I find those occasions are pretty rare, and more often than not–the baby can be pretty awesome.

So I watched this little guy and his parents held him and he checked out the world. A plane can be a fascinating place for kids. There are so many new people, so many new sounds, so many new things to see. The airplane window fascinates even the tiniest among us–or at least that is what my experience has shown.

I was glad this baby was near me as it gave me a quick pause in my crazy schedule to reflect. I’ve already been on 15 flights in less than ten days, and the repetition of it all often makes me just simply fall asleep. After about the seventh flight, I rarely even began conversations with those sitting around me, just trying to get in a few hours of sleep before I headed to the next plane.

But this kid was curious–he was fascinated, and it reminded me of my appreciation of this amazing thing I get to do in the fall–fly.

In a few more years, his curious glances will be replaced with curious questions. I could hear a toddler a few rows back bombard his mom with a rapid-fire investigation of such gems.

But then I looked at the businessmen around me. I reflected on my own habits.

Cell phones, laptops, a newspaper, and silence.

Curiosity wasn’t there.

Fascination wasn’t there.

It had been replaced with routine and boredom.

Rather than waiting to take off, the older people on the flight were already processing what we had to do when we get home.

The creativity was replaced with a to do list.

Our world needs more than this.

So today, add one more thing to your to-do list:

get curious

What?!?!?

No, I’m not quitting my job right now (I really do love what I get to do), nor am I going to go on a rant about what things I hate or my frustrations.

But I am going to write about quitting.

This isn’t a blog saying “don’t quit.” Nope, it’s a blog entry that is going to encourage your to consider quitting.

Why am I writing this?

On a long drive this week, I listened to an episode of Freakonomics Radio called “The Upside of Quitting.” I encourage you to listen to the episode via the link or download the free podcast on iTunes. One note: the episode does reference a few mature topics and may not be appropriate for my youngest readers.

An upside to quitting? Yes.

Don’t get me wrong–I believe in perseverance. I believe in working through adversity. I don’t believe life is overly simple, nor should it be.

But there can be an upside to quitting.

While we need to work through certain struggles and difficulties, there are other times where we might be better off quitting and walking away.

I was super active and super involved in high school and in the first part of college, and while I remained active throughout all four years of college, I found that my junior and senior years were better and I reduced the quantity of activities I did (quitting some organizations), and improved the quality of my involvement.

In order to do this speaking career, there reached a point where I quit pursuing teaching. I had already earned a credential & invested a great deal of money in that path (not to mention TONS of late nights and long weekends planning, preparing, and grading), but ultimately I had to step away. While I do miss my former colleagues and my daily interaction with “my” students, I do love my current job.

I could create a pretty big list of “big quits” (teaching) and “little quits” (my Netflix account), but the point is that quitting can be beneficial.

It’s just a matter of knowing what you truly love, where you truly find purpose, what really brings you happiness, and then summing up the will to struggle through the tough times or knowing when to cut your losses.

Sometimes I open up a leadership training by showing my GPS and its “Where To?” screen. Far too often I think we get caught up in the twists and turns of life without really focusing on our destination. Far too often I see young leaders who participate in activities for a “college resume” rather than a real love for what they are doing. Passion shows through in applications. We can have a resume of 30 activities, or we could have 2-3 activities where we really thrive and contribute.

So take a few moments and figure out if you need to say, “I quit” today.

Still, I didn’t have to think much about it.

I picked up a prepackaged asparagus, onion, mushroom mix. It ended up being a really nice blend of flavors, but as we sat down to eat, I thought about how much I overpaid for this simple assortment. I would have actually put in a few more mushrooms if I had bought each ingredient individual, but I didn’t.

I didn’t think hard. I thought quickly.

I made a simple and tasty dinner.

But if I had spent just a little bit more time planning–just 5 or 10 minutes brainstorming, I probably could have come up with a better menu that would have cost less and tasted better–even if I used similar ingredients.

Do you ever do this? Do you ever worry so much about being quick that we don’t necessarily go deep?

Ever rush a project? a paper? an event?

Imagine what 5-10 minutes of thought could do for you.

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

The answer is simple: Because I didn’t spend the time needed to actually THINK.