• Day 54/90 – Just a Good Day

    Day 54 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? It was just a good day overall!

    This is a photo from Ignite Phoenix #17 - yes I'm skipping. It embodies how I felt yesterday. (Photo by Joseph Abbruscato, used with permission)
    This is a photo from Ignite Phoenix #17 – yes I’m skipping. It embodies how I felt yesterday. (Photo by Joseph Abbruscato, used with permission)

    I had to think about what made yesterday awesome. There were so many good things to choose from. There was nothing especially extraordinary about the day but it had good flow and energy:

    • Went to the office – fourth time being the first person in where I didn’t set of the security alarm!
    • Cranked on client work – for many lawyers, summer is a slow time. I’ve had the opposite this year. I’m surprised that so many new and returning clients have asked me to do work for them.
    • Went to therapy – we’re all better people because I sit on my therapists couch every week.
    • Picked up a new water bottle at Runner’s Den – I wanted one that straps to my hand to help me stay hydrated during evening walks and runs.
    • Took Rosie with me to Fellowship Under the Stars – everyone loved her and it was a great meeting.

    By the end of the day I was exhausted and I flopped into bed and purposely didn’t set an alarm.

    In case you missed it: Day 53 of the 90 Days of Awesome – no cavities at the dentist!

  • Day 40/90 – AA Under the Stars

    Day 40 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I went to the Fellowship Under the Stars Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting.

    Tempe AZ - Tempe Town Lake 10th Birthday by Dean Ouellette from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
    Tempe AZ – Tempe Town Lake 10th Birthday by Dean Ouellette from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    I’ve been in recovery for a few 24 hours, and my therapist recently suggested that I go to more 12-step meetings. I was feeling of bit lonely tonight, so I jumped on the Phoenix AA website to see what meetings were in my area. On the list was a meeting that I had never heard of: Fellowship Under the Stars. It’s an outdoor meeting that meets on the north bank of Tempe Town Lake.

    Sometimes it’s nice to go to meetings that I’ve never been to before. On one hand, it gives me a way to be quiet, shy, and avoid connecting with people (behavior that is not encouraged by my therapist). On the other hand, when I go to a new meeting, I get to just be a person. Nobody knows what I do for a living, my talents, or my accomplishments. I’m just another guy in the program. When I go to meetings where people know me, I get to connect more; however, people also ask me about my work and my projects, and it’s too easy to get caught up in talking about what I do rather than how I feel. And one of my challenges is allowing myself to be a human being, rather than a human doing.

    The meeting was fabulous. I loved that it was outside in the fresh air and under the increasingly darkening night sky. It’s a speaker/discussion meeting, one of my preferred formats for AA meetings. We kept the bugs away with awesome smelling citronella candles, and some people brought their dogs. I really enjoyed it. The next time I go, I hope I can bring Rosie.

    In case you missed it: Day 39 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I Love My Clients!