Staying In Your Lane, August 31st

I was never much of a music groupie. Growing up I liked certain bands, but I never understood the concept of traveling around the country to see the same act and over and over again like Deadhead diehards. Or getting tickets four nights in a row to see the same concert much like Springsteen fans used to do. Because… yeah…

Last year I was so ultra busy doing my own thing and trying to stay in my own lane that I totally forgot to post this mood for 2025. But I think it’s a carry over to 2026 too. And for that matter, I like the whole idea going forward…

Is it not a well kept secret that not everyone is so sensitive to what you might be going through or why you have your head down. You might be on the verge of a gigantic decision. Or building something amazing and you need to pour all of your time and emotional capital into that project practically to the exclusion of all else. Maybe you have stress from work overload and you’re so tired of complaining about it that you feel you’ve lost your empathetic audience. Not true. You might be battling a health issue that stubbornly will not go away. I’m sorry for that. You might have financial issues that continue to plague you. I’ve been there. I hope the next few months improve. But most importantly…

Just a little levity to help lower the temperature on such serious issues that might be boiling over right now. Here is a virtual hug. And I mean it.

I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to a new word that I just learned. And that word is sonder. I’ll give you a minute to read and ponder the long definition below before I launch into a full on comment or two because of course I have thoughts…

I don’t know who from the crowd follows Adam Grant? But he is a smarty pants worldly genius with amazing thoughts that he shares on the regular. And he loves sonder, too! The fact that each of us carries a whole world of thoughts and hopes and dreams and fears and lists and to dos and things we are excited about and also things we dread and heartaches and the tremendous capacity to love is mind blowing to me. And we so rarely acknowledge that each of us is so complicated. And of course we are similar in so many ways, but all people across the board have huge differences.

So with the realization that we are all on our own path, doing what we do, leave it to one of my faves, Mel Robbins, to highlight what we can do about our busy, complicated lives. With one of her guests that she’s famous for, they point out the idea that maybe life doesn’t change you– it’s that once you see your life, you can yourself. Whoa. Deep thought on a Monday, right?

And we all know that change is not always so easy. Neither is setting some goals, being proactive about meeting the challenges associated with hitting those goals, and staying in a good mindset the entire time. Because setbacks are a given. Waiting on hold for what you might consider an emergency is probably going to happen. Not getting in touch with the right person about a particular issue is common. Being bounced around on service calls seems to be the norm. I’ve been having an issue with my apartment that I pointed out prior to moving in– that was in March. I’ve had no less than twenty follow ups (polite ones mind you when I really felt like screaming from frustration!) and still the issue is unresolved. Ugh. They thank me for my patience each time (ha) and they promise that they are working on it. Are they?? I honestly don’t know.

Often times periods of difficulty make everything seem uncertain. And I wondered why uncertainty is such a negative jolt to our systems sometimes. Shouldn’t it just a neutral unknown? And then I read this and now I understand the concept of overlooking the fear to focus on the ambition instead of considering the uncertainty a viable threat. I guess it’s an internal version of ignoring the haters, right? Wow.

And speaking of outrunning something you fear, I look to this inspirational Japanese marathon runner because his story is one for the ages. This is a master class in determination, patience and focus. Way to go!

The very opposite of patience is stereotypically an impatient New Yorker. We do so often get a bad rep! Some of us are nice to tourists, but many have absolutely no time for your questions, especially around gridlock alert days. So if you’ve ever traveled to the Big Apple during the December holidays, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Gird your loins!

So we are right back to square one if we all felt this way. Thank goodness we don’t! But this next one dovetails into focused folks who detest distractions.

The net result of all of this is to fear the challenge or face the climb while being respectful of your lane and other travelers. Your life is your own. Live it like you mean it. Being intentional feels so great. And hats off to Doritos who set a monumental challenge for themselves and according to this picture (please don’t ruin this for me and tell me it’s AI!) they did it. Proof that a good snack and serious determination can really change your life!