Quotes from Me:

“Life is too short to be at war with yourself.”

“Implementable generosity most often begins with a question about the needs of others.”

“Even the people we know best, the ones we interact with most, face challenges invisible to us.”

Quotes from Others:

“I dream. Sometimes I think that’s the only right thing to do.” – Haruki Murakami

“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” – Rilke

“Resist much, obey little.” – Walt Whitman

Quick Optimism:

The truth does not mind being questioned. Stick to the truth.

Question:

Have you accomplished more than you realize?

One of my readers, a close friend and former baseball teammate, made my day with a funny text the other day. We have been exchanging different workouts and jokes and ideas, as we typically do, but his text the other day really made me laugh and reflect.

“You’re a god unit,” was his reply to a workout I sent. He followed with, “Father of two, happily married, successful, god unit in the gym. You’ve reached peak human existence.”

Although hyperbole, the wording made me laugh and made me proud that he thinks as highly of me as I do him. We both value family, exercise, and I guess “peak human existence”. We also used to kick each other’s butts in the gym back in college.

Funny enough, it reminded me of a completely different goal of mine in 2025, which is to get better at math. All kinds.

I don’t use math as much as I had to in school and I recently realized how poor my multiplication and other math skills have gotten recently – I will never master geometry, tried that again the other day.

As I hone in on more experiences and credentials in 2025, I also took a look at my old transcripts and old projects from graduate school. In the fast paced, rat race of life, I had forgotten how much quantitative ability I had a handful of years ago. I remember very little, but I survived it then, which means there is hope again now!

So, in the words of my close friend, pursue “peak human existence” with your family, spouse, career, and of course the weight room. Joke about it. Laugh about it.

I’ll also leave you with one last tip this week: surround yourself with as many friends like this one as possible.