How Far Off Are You?
Hi Friend
What a fun week! My wonderful wife surprised me with a date last night that took us to rooftop dining and then on to a Twins Baseball game. I launched an AI Podcast - not about AI, but using AI to discuss this letter (well, not this one, but last weeks). It's wildly cool and will start being released weekly. (Please Listen on Spotify). I love it.
I also put up peel-and-stick wallpaper in my office, as well as built a new round bookshelf. Unfortunately, I did the paper by myself and it didn't turn out that great. It has numerous bubbles and the first thing my wife said when she came in and saw it was "It's crooked". I hadn't even noticed that part, because of the design.
When I installed it, I couldn't get it to go seamlessly against the corner wall. It slightly angled. The next strip I added, I angled a little more to accommodate. Because it's a squiggly design, I couldn't tell the effect it was having not being trued up. Ugh.
Similarly when assembling the bookshelf, I'd have to assert pressure on one end, because the other was just a bit off. Thankfully, it all came together and the torque isn't noticeable. Isn't that just like life? Get a little off in one area and it drastically effects other areas down the line.
DEGREE OF OFFNESS
I used to teach a session with my friend Jack that referenced flying from San Francisco to Paris. If your gauges were just one degree off when you departed, over the 11 hour flight, you'd land in Morocco (or some place like that). I can see that in my life so vividly. One small decision here, one small decision there and all of a ..... nope, not sudden, but over the course of time, those choices led me to unexpected places, that I didn't really want to be at.
I'm incredibly grateful for grace and mercy which builds new roads enabling us to exit those dead-end consequences from our off-degree-decisions.
MINDSHIFT
Since we can't go back and change our offness, what if we accessed humility to build a new road to a preferred destination?
OBSERVATIONS OF TRUE
The phrase I used earlier to describe the wallpaper being aligned accurately with the wall seems to be layered with meaning: Trued Up. Even when I was attaching it to the wall, I kept thinking "this won't matter that much." I was kidding myself. Or worse, lying to myself. The minute my wife walked in, she told me the truth. Not "her truth". Actual reality: It's crooked.
As mentioned, I literally couldn't see it. Have you ever lived in your one-degree-offness for so long, that you couldn't recognize the crookedness of your own life? You just knew it wasn't the Paris you thought you'd be living in. Humility, let's us accept truth from someone else who observes without bias, more clearly.
MINDSHIFT
What if you invited a trusted person into a conversation evaluating an aspect of your life that feels off? Are you willing to hear their perspective without being defensive?
The holy phrase that truth sets us free is only true if we're willing to align with it. Society has formulated an approach to have truth align with our experiences. Of course we're the same species who has also declared we can manage time, though it exists beyond our reach. The hubris of humanity consistently tries to inflict itself upon unchangeable principles, because we humans are unwilling to change.
Let's be people who are open to shifting our minds so we can true up our lives in a way that gets us to destinations we desire to be in.
SHIFTING
I hope this week you'll explore what has created an offness in your life and consider a truth that would enable you to readjust towards Paris. Heck there may even be a person who cares about you, who is willing to help. #ShiftAway
