The clutter of joy.

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Daily writing prompt
Where can you reduce clutter in your life?
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….how many gigs do I have for this one?

I have bins of old clothes and such that are in the next phase of their trip to Goodwill. There are pictures that will never be hung again, so they can can be disassembled, the frames going with the clothes to GW and the photos being filed away. Some personal collateral needs one final encounter, then needs to either stay or go. After that, not much to be honest. Don’t really have that much.

While the physical things have been contained in about six or so bins, the most prevalent resting places for true life clutter are not consigned to the basement storage area. The things I once collected are what has been left behind and what is just not here yet.

You can decide to shred the old letters, college papers, credit card records and the like and use it to fuel the fire pit. But the mistakes, poor judgement, character flaws and ego won’t fit into one. Perhaps a compactor, or a roll off dumpster. Or two to start in my case. That collection just needs to be let go of, allowed to evaporate into the ether.

The disorder that has yet to arrive, wishes written on a “to do” or kept in a “bucket” list can become just as distracting as those left behind. Taking you away from where you are, what you need to do, how you need to improve and why you need to change things up. That assortment can collide with recollections of the mistakes, poor judgement and the like, confirming the ill will that has come to clutter your view of your true self. Talk about a mess.

And yet if you stay where you are, fully in this moment, you will come to accumulate some amazing things. Peace and serenity for one. A sense that this is just where I need to be right now, totally engaged in the here and now. You will accumulate well being. Belonging. A sense of self. And most of all, joy.

As that collection begins to grow, you will better understand how those of the past needed to be experienced and endured to bring you here. And fundamental aspects of things not yet here will become known so that what you choose to do now eventually takes you there.

Firmly ensconced in the present, you will begin to accumulate the things of a life well lived.

The clutter of joy.

We seem to be together.

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Daily writing prompt
In what ways do you communicate online?
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Back in the day, I used to frequent some social media sites. For the most part, I viewed it as an avenue to coach up student athletes away from the field. As life evolved, that went away, and business centered sites became prevalent as a way to communicate ideas. That has since been hibernated.

This platform has been pretty much a constant in my life and will remain so far as I know. Emails are “ok” for work, but nothing will ever beat a voice on the phone or a face to face somewhere, some time with some body. I think that is what appeals to me about being here, with you all now, on line.

We seem to be together.

I can sit in the kitchen, wearing shorts and a warm beanie, look out the window and watch Chris and Rich hop around the yard hunting for scraps, chat about the daily prompt or whatever else works its way into my bald noggin. As close as I am likely to get to having a sit down with each of you. You would prolly want to bring your own coffee. Mine isn’t to die for, but to die because of.

Letters remain the best way to connect. Nothing will ever beat a hand written note to another. They aren’t tucked away in some e-file, folder or drive. They get opened, read, and tucked away in a drawer that is entered and exited every day. There is great joy to be found in sharing yourself with others in that fashion. A part of you is left in the ink on that page, in that envelope.

Since I became acquainted with expressing myself here, it seems to be the closest thing I found to pen and paper. Not ever a replacement. But a genuine source of warmth and connection. Hopefully for the reader. Definitely for this writer. Despite the miles and time zones, one thing is for sure.

We seem to be together.

Authored in thanks.

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As I shared the other day, I have pretty much relinquished authority over determining my mission. My creation served its purpose. It lucidly defined what doesn’t work, where I needed to redirect my attention, who I needed to become and how I needed to live out my days.

Now, moving on with a more open mind, heart and soul, and some true fatherly guidance, I come across things on a day to day basis that affirm my chosen path. Bits. Pieces. Coincidence. Providence. Serendipity. Things said in passing. Words read. Every one connected to grace. Every one providing peace and serenity.

It’s pretty amazing what takes place when you no longer feel the need to be the sole authority of your story. When you get to that point where proving it is replaced by simply being it, then everything simply changes for the better. Presence overtakes rumination.

My sincere hope is that this and my other posts are taken simply as an expression of gratitude and genuine hope that others can find their way as well. I spent a great deal of time writing and speaking motivational pieces for student-athletes. Tomes, some say, on attitude, character, resolve, perseverance, faith and love.

Should they continue, they may retain a familiar Coach Hahn ring to them. But then again, I now hearken to a different voice altogeher. One spoken throughout every aspect of my life. They may now render a different tone.

A new found resonance.

Authored in thanks.

Presence truly is your present.

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“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present.

Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence.

Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms
of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”
― Eckhart Tolle

Presence truly is your present.

Towards postive, lasting change.

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“Things do not change; we change.”

– Henry David Thoreau

This is one of the finest lines in life.

That threshold between “the here and now” and where it is you are truly meant to be. And though the distance between the two might be infinitesimal, we can choose to make it an expanse as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon.

All by pursuing a stubborn, prideful and very painful tack. Clinging to the errant wish that things will just change – so we won’t have to.

Trying in vain to make things fit our present situation – rather than finding our true nature and purpose, and then taking command of that circumstance.

Yes, it is truly a fine line that separates us from folly and fulfillment.

Arbitrarily regarding it as an insurmountable obstacle keeps us forever on this side. But seeing it for what it truly is – a pathway – always takes us where we want to go.

Towards postive, lasting change.