Gratitude - Through Thick and Thin
Mike McGee
Mugsy - Director of Stores & Operations; The Post - Founding Member, Collegiate Swimmer
read on:?game-on-2.kit.com
read time: 5 minutes of gratitude
Welcome to Game On, a weekly newsletter where I share my journey as a former collegiate athlete, e-commerce operator, husband, father, and man of faith.?
This Week’s Agenda:
Where’s My Head At - Inspiration
We're in the home stretch of 2024. The holidays are here. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are looming. Christmas and New Year's are 30 days away. Time moves too fast, in my opinion. As we get into these weeks, there's not a ton of time to stop and really reflect thoughtfully.?
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm turning my attention to gratitude today.?
Why Gratitude? In a world riddled with stress and anxiety,?gratitude is the antidote. Gratitude and anxiety cannot live in the same thought; we can only hold one thought at a time. Anxiety, while gratitude comes from lack of what we don’t lack. I've found a few ways in the last few weeks that gratitude improves our health:?
Brain chemistry
Gratitude activates the brain's limbic system, which controls emotions, memory, and bodily functions. It also triggers the release of neurotransmitters and hormones like dopamine and serotonin, which can improve mood and reduce depression.
Negative thinking
Gratitude can help combat negative thinking patterns by keeping thoughts focused on the present.
Resilience
Gratitude can help you become more resilient to emotional setbacks and negative experiences
Personally, my mind can very easily seek to hone in on all that I want to achieve: how I want to grow, where I’d like to be - status, money, stuff, etc. It's very easy as a former athlete to seek where I need to improve, as a husband and dad to see all the areas I'm messing up or lacking in patience, kindness, selflessness, etc.?
It takes me way more effort to shift to what’s present, what’s good, what’s right now. So let’s practice! What am I grateful for this year??
Firstly my family - My wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage earlier this month. We've grown from college athletes to parents of three little humans. Our relationship has changed and evolved, from college parties, early adulthood and engagement, and young marriage, to real adult decisions of school for kids, where to live, how to save, how to sacrifice, how to maintain our love and grow it while the person we fell in love with changes. It's no longer us two, it's us five. We've grown in our faith together, and weathered storms both together and apart. I'm grateful for how she guides me every single day from who I am to who I'm called to be. We added another life to the crew this year, and parents of three have felt like a mountain I was not equipped to climb. She's taken the lead and picked me up whenever I've struggled. She is always the voice of reason.?Lesson: find a great partner and grow with them!
领英推荐
Mugsy - I slipped and fell into an insane opportunity to jump aboard a rocket ship, and I couldn't be more grateful. We have an amazing leadership team who knows when to push and pull. Our team truly enjoys working together. I'm amazed at the doors that have opened in my personal and professional life through who I work for and what I get to do. We opened two new stores, traveled to Europe and Africa, I spoke at two conferences, broke a ton of things along the way trying to figure out operations and customer service, and most importantly have huge momentum going into our biggest time of year. Lesson: find a great place to work and great people to do it with. Don't settle for an unfulfilling job or people who don't raise you up.
The Post - family and work can consume the majority of our days, but where else can you find a community of like-minded people? The group that Christian Ponder is building has given me a huge sense of gratitude this year. This community pushes both personal and mental growth, understands high expectations, leans into the athlete mindset that most do not understand, and seeks to get the most out of life regardless of status or circumstance. My team The Post has helped me navigate negative thought loops, difficult work situations, physical challenges and mental hurdles. Summit will now be a yearly getaway, and the doors that the team has opened sometimes feel surreal. I'm grateful for Christian Ponder, Ashlan Ramsey, Drew Shore, Murray Watts, Craig Fels, Pendleton Bogache, Charlie Ruiz, and way too many others to name.?Lesson: find your tribe.
Struggle - This year has had way more hurdles than I'd care to admit. The stress and anxiety have been overwhelming at times, but those obstacles lead to growth, endurance, and perseverance. I've questioned myself on every level and challenged my status quo - but I'm grateful for the valleys, for the lessons learned coming out the other side of worry and fear. I learned this week from someone who did a 10-day silent retreat, and the idea that small pains, itches, and frustrations always seem to come and go, how transient life truly is when we zoom out. When I look back at the year, there have been days that felt like months, but on the other side of those days was always a better day. I'm grateful for those experiences to shape my faith, my character, and my perspective.?Lesson: embrace discipline as a way to endure and grow our mind and faith.?
Finally God has my eternal gratitude for all that he's provided in my life, my faith, His sacrifice for us all. In my faith so much more has made sense. I've leaned on Him to provide when I couldn't see a way out. He has give me peace in the darkness and contentment in my struggle.?Lesson: find faith, there is literally no downside to surrendering yourself to our Creator.?
Feed the Spirit - Words From God
Psalm 119:11 - I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you - study the bible, know what God has said and done over time and how it still lives today.?
Hebrews 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.?And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. - run your own race, find your focus, and persevere.?
Movement is Medicine
Three ways ago I posted about getting back into running, starting with one mile and slowly ramping up. Mission complete. This week I ran five miles at a slow/easy pace, then did two back to back tempo workouts of five miles and a 10k.?
21 days ago I could barely muscle through a single mile mentally.?Lesson: commit and execute.?
Who’s Taught Me This Week
Danny Miranda / Nick Sweeney - Vortex Breath Work - check out this?podcast?with Danny and Nick. I'm trying this?breathwork?for the next 30 days.
Mr X - a friend of mine did a 10-day silent retreat and talked about it on a?podcast. Great listen on disconnecting and learning from our inner thoughts.
Adam Grant - great thought from the habits guy: "Progress doesn't come from waiting for our circumstances to change. It comes from changing our circumstances. We don't need confidence to take a leap. We gain confidence by taking the leap." Taking this one into 2025!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!