Hiking with High-Level Energy People, Introducing Tucker Burris, The 38 Year Broken Record, Optimism in a Dumpster Fire Year

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

— Oscar Wilde 

Good morning, Sunday, beautiful Sunday. Your sunrise is fantastic, sit a spell whilst I make some soup for those hungry for something more than today’s usual flare. I’ll try and not trigger those with thin skin.  

We went on a 3-mile hike yesterday; we were joined by some smart, accomplished, and motivated people.  Duane and Lynn joined us from Indianapolis; they were in town visiting their daughter. Roger, a fellow Midwesterner from IL, now a CO resident, showed up. Robin, Joseph, and Rob rounded out our crew. It is amazing the conversations that can be had by highly functioning humans.

We left the group and had lunch with Duane and Lynn and then headed to watch some live music at the Well. We met Jay, a local guy; we had a couple of drinks before coming home and watching some more live music. We wound down the night on the bean bags and got to bed early. Today we are going to hang at our mountain house; we will leave and visit Parker with our friends Anna and Dave; Anna is a professional horse rider; we will watch her ride then hang with our friends at their house tonight. I love we celebrate labor with a day off of work. Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Joesph and I were talking about the law of attraction while on our hike. I stated that happy people with a sense of humor attract other happy, funny people. Joseph chimed in that there are people he connects with that suck his energy, he does not know it’s happening, but after a few conversations, his power is significantly reduced.  He tries to avoid those types of conversations, but when connecting with other humans, a few will suck your energy dry.

I’m convinced that we all have a frequency of energy we exude. Some of us have good energy, and others have negative energy; it seems to me people like to commiserate with others that share their positive or negative view of life. Every person on that hike yesterday had a very positive outlook on the goings-on of society. Yes, there are problems, but we collectively shared positive stories and good vibes for the happenings of 2020.

I know folks like to say things like 2020 is a dumpster fire, look at all the things wrong, the pandemic, the racial tensions, things are just out of sorts. But if you take a step back, 2020 has been a gift. It has shown many of us how to get off the hamster wheel. It’s enabled the saving of hours with the adoption of virtual meetings. I’m working smarter these days; I hope you have found your new rhythm.    

The economy seems to be bouncing back. Rob shared with our group that his company was thriving, a light switch had flipped, and they were busier than ever. Their issues, it seems, is finding good people to help manage the growth. The unemployment numbers came in Thursday, and people are going back to work. I predicted a V shape recovery (it was a WAG); I have not idea what’s going on; I try to be optimistic in my predictions, and this time I guessed correctly.  

Not all areas of the country are recovering; the cities of New York, Los Angles, and Chicago are all struggling. There is a common thread there, but I’ll leave that to you to figure out. I don’t want to trigger some of my friends. Most of these cities are still in a significant lockdown mode, while the rest of the country is open for business.

In Rochester, New York, they seem open for business. I watched a video of folks eating outside enjoying their dinner. Well, that was until a group of BLM showed up and began yelling at their folks, telling them to leave, that “their party was over.” Imagine dining outside with your family, and a mass mob shows up screaming and throwing things at you for the simple act of, well, eating.  I don’t know when this tantrum will end, but it’s not a good look for enacting change. 

In Portland, a man got lit on fire; I think this might be night 100 of the riots there, I’m not sure their end game. The violence and looting continue. I saw a tweet of a man spray-painting “kill press” that was taken by two different people in the press; I wonder how it feels to cover something that wants to kill you?

The mayor of Portland was forced to move from his condo when people began attacking his building, putting the lives of others in danger. He supports the violence and looting; again, helping and supporting people that want to kill you is not on my bingo card.

We have some new squirrels visiting our house. They are black, a new breed, and they are noisy little buggers.  I think they might be alerting their tribe we have a water pit with clean water; regardless, we have some new friends.

Thirty-eight years ago, Ron Braun, the current coach of the Monroe Central Cross Country team, ran a sub 17 minute 3.2-mile run. That record stayed on the books for 38 years, until yesterday. Yesterday, one of his runners beat his record. Tucker Burris ran a 16:27:30 yesterday, and our team from our small rural school topped 22 other teams. I reached out to coach yesterday, got in contact with Tucker, and will be interviewing him on my podcast this week.  It’s a heck of an accomplishment, a sign of good times ahead for this young man.

As he passed the finish line, he threw his hands up and was greeted with a hug by Kyle Parkinson, a former runner who, along with my son, reached the regionals seven years ago.  “KP” is now the athletic trainer for the team, and his wife is the girl’s coach. I am so proud of our little community; some amazing people are thriving and driving East Central Indiana.

I hope you are feeling optimistic about the goings-on of our world. We are living in the best time in the history of humanity, there is more opportunity today than yesterday, and I trust tomorrow will bring more good fortune. If you are down, broken, or not feeling in tune with the fantastic opportunities present these days, find some people that are leaning into this time. There are pockets of people thriving and jiving during this so-called dumpster fire of a year.

One of the things that are stated here in Colorado is, “you have good energy.”  I hope you have good energy, and if not, you might want to consider changing where you are, who you connect with, or maybe get a new vocation. You are in control of you, and if you are not happy, look inward, and figure out what ails you. I promise many of us are living our best lives and don’t like to hang with negative nellies. Cheers, I’ll see you tomorrow!

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

— Oscar Wilde