Number 100

 Number 100

100 posts of great
sunsets.

Welcome to Blog Post Number 100!  We've talked before that the journey of 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, or 1,000,000 steps/dollars/miles/days/pages/etc starts after you make it past the 1st one.  This post represents the next milestone after the 1st, 10th, and now the 100th week in a row.  Over that time, I've enjoyed and learned much in the research and the practice of writing the posts.  The reflection and introspection that has come with 100 posts hopefully has helped you and your family grow closer to each other...and your life closer to the best life.  

And
holidays.

Throughout the two years that the 100 posts represent, we've hopefully held up our end of the bargain of representing the ideals of Teddy Roosevelt's "Standing In The Arena."  While these posts haven't been necessarily written for you, but perhaps more to help us clarify and sharpen our marriage and parenting skills and habits.  Along the way, hopefully, the posts have caused you to think, dig deeper, and become a stronger family as well.  As we continue the journey, we'll continue to work on...and hopefully, you will too...the leaning in with habits and actions necessary to take the baby steps to march toward being a better version of yourself in the roles of spouse and parent.  From there, hopefully, that same "better" in those parts of life can cascade to other parts of your life as well.  

And lakes.

These first 100 posts have covered a range of topics within the buckets of or lanes of life on Zig Ziglar's original Wheel.  In discussing the topics of family through the lenses of physical, financial, spiritual, personal, mental, career, and family...with topics around planning, protection, and a litany of others, hopefully, you've found ones that are inspiring, motivating, or otherwise resonate with you and yours.  The trends of planning, proactivity, just-starting, priorities, and others have made our family more intentional and we've become more of who God has called us to be over the last few years.  I think we've made different decisions than we might have otherwise done so, not because of the writing, but because of the conversations as a family in and around the writing.  It has focused and hopefully directed us...and you.  

And shovels...lots
of shovels.

The writing of these has taught us or perhaps reminded us in that "top of mind" way that we should work on this or that.  Like some old study had said, those parents who simply have parenting books scattered around the house are better parents.  Those of us who are reading/writing content about being better family members are likely taking action steps, subtle or overt, to be better spouses and parents.  As we move forward for the next 100, hopefully, the topics continue to make you think...and hopefully keep you inspired to take the actions necessary to live the life you've been called to live.  

And walks.

I wasn't sure in starting out that I'd make it to 2 posts, 5, or even 10...but once I was there...getting to 100 wasn't terribly surprising.  The routine one-foot-in-front-of-the-other habitual that led to 100 posts is the same set of "muscles" that leads to becoming a 100-aire, 1,000-aire, or millionaire.  They're the same skills that your family needs to raise awesome kids.  Any of the "marathon" type activities in your life require the stamina and habits that become ways of life as opposed to the "sprint" session that probably any of us can do once...but then abandon afterward.  In writing these articles..., the secret is that most big, worthwhile things in life are in the marathon, not the sprint category.  

And beaches.

In thinking about what I might have wanted this to be at the outset, I'm not sure it's what I'm glad it is now.  In other words, over the last two years, this has been almost a journal of sorts or a chronicling of the things we've been thinking about and working on as a family.  It's also hopefully serving as a letter to our children that they can consider reading when they're older.  With life being unpredictable and sometimes too short, this record will be something that our boys can look back on as a sort of "how-to" chapters that we've found helpful in life and that they might as well.  

Lots of beaches.

This post has been pretty full of the word "hopefully" and while we hope that you have learned something along the way...we perhaps hope more that you've been challenged and inspired.  There are a ton of resources out there for the "learning" or "how-to" out there from so many different sources.  In today's busy life, however, there may be a shortage of motivation at the forefront...and translating the ideas out there into useful actions.  As you move forward, feel free to use the keyword searches to find the posts that might be what you're looking for.  Feel free to let us know if there are topics on your heart or mind that you'd like to explore, as well.  

But mostly memories.

As we depart from the 100th post, we're looking forward to the next 100...and perhaps the next 1,000.  We're also looking forward to expanding a few of the key topics into longer-form writing pieces.  The seasons of life ahead as our children get older will hopefully allow for continued writing and sharing of some ideas on life that have worked for us.  As we grow...and hopefully you and your family grow over the time the next 100 posts represent, you're growing stronger, closer to each other, and closer to the family you desire to become.  

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out a couple of actions that you've found helpful in the last few years...and do a check-in with your family on how they are doing.  
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) in terms of what you've hopefully learned from us over the years.  

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- The first 100...