Quotes of the Week from Me:

“Commit to process first. Process first, then outcome.”

“Be grateful for closed doors and closed windows. You were probably trying to enter the wrong house.”

“Acknowledge your closest, healthy relationships. Best friends are simply the best.”

“Eventually, you just have to go for it.”

“The calmer you are, the clearer you will think.”

Quotes of the Week from Others:

“When a child is learning how to walk and falls down 50 times, they never think to themselves: Maybe this ain’t for me.” – Michael Jordan

“Don’t let others decide who you are.” – Dennis Rodman

“We meet no ordinary people in our lives.” – C.S. Lewis

Quick Optimism:

Be serious about accountability while also staying self-aware. Being sure of yourself 100% of the time often leads to complacency; the confidence in your own comfort is detrimental to growth.

Momentary doubts are normal and healthy, especially in the face of new challenges. Eventually, you just have to go for it. And then keep going for it.

Questions of the Week:

What is one fear you have overcome?

The details are a bit fuzzy on this story but I’ll tell it how I remember it. Every part of the story is true and happened at some point, I just can’t remember if all the parts aligned on this exact day.

In middle school, field trips were the best. Hands-on learning. Exploration. Fun. It was the best way to see some of the many things that growing up in Vermont had to offer. On a particularly rainy day back in the early 2000s, our class was scheduled to attend a dairy fair. We would get to learn about milking cows, about different types of cheese, and there were no classes. Animals, games, and outdoor activities. My favorite combination.

While I was waiting in line to milk a cow for the thousandth time, I saw a bunch of kids bouncing on a trampoline. There was no other option but to duck under the rope and join in on the fun.

At first a handful of kids were all jumping and rolling around at the same time. But then someone decided we would go one by one. It was time for a trick contest. One thing I always appreciated about playing back then was that everything became a competition. And I wanted to win.

The first few jumpers did spins and handstands. And then someone did a back flip.

Have you ever done a back flip on a trampoline? I hadn’t.

I had seen them before. They always looked so effortless and cool. I also wondered how people just decided they could do it.

I got up on the trampoline. It was my turn to follow the back flip.

What else are you supposed to do in that situation? Some might say nothing, others might say a double back flip. I decided to match it. Well, try anyway. But I was shaking in my shoes.

Zero gymnastics background. “Don’t be stupid and get hurt,” circling my mind.

I bounced a couple times and threw my feet out in front of me on the third jump. As I tilted back in the air I knew I wasn’t going to finish the flip.

I ended up folding myself like a lawn chair. The back of my head and my toes hit the trampoline at the same time.

How do you know when you are ready?

Fast forward roughly 20 years later, I landed my first back flip on a trampoline this past week. I was embarrassingly proud of myself and probably did 15-20 of them for the hour my family and I were at the trampoline park. I really can’t explain how excited I was.

To answer the final question of the week directly, I knew I was ready to try again because my wife had become my final reminder that it was “easy to do a back flip.” While laughing she said, “I’ve had two kids and I can do it.”

In all seriousness, I had done dozens of practice back flips into the foam pit. I was reassured that I could at least avoid injury or landing on my head again. It still took two trips to the park to try it on the actual trampoline.

Eventually, you just have to go for it. 20 years. I can promise you I have been on a few trampolines since middle school. It has always bugged me that I couldn’t do a back flip. Well here we are. 29 years old. Mission accomplished.

Make yourself embarrassingly proud this Monday.