Welcome to the Week: Where Are You?

This week’s message is personal. It’s about presence and the sometimes elusive challenge of actually being where we are, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.

I keep a particular photo on my iPad, a reminder of an important lesson I learned. It was taken in March 2022, during a family trip to Joshua Tree, California. My family and I were hiking through the stunning, otherworldly landscape, surrounded by ancient rock formations and the serene beauty of the desert. It should have been a moment of joy and connection, but my mind was somewhere else.

At the time, I was grappling with several business and personal challenges. My head was full of “what ifs” and worries about situations that felt overwhelming.

Although I was physically on that hike with my family, I wasn’t truly there. I was missing out on the experience, distracted by the noise in my head.

When I look at this photo, I see a family on an adventure, but I also see a reminder—a commitment to myself to not let those moments slip away again.

The lesson? Be here now. When you’re at the dinner table with your kids, really be there. When you’re having a conversation with your spouse or a meeting with a colleague, be fully present. Don’t just show up; engage, listen, and appreciate the moment for what it is.

I was recently reminded of this during a lunch with a friend and a new potential business connection. Every few minutes, my friend would get up to greet someone else who walked into the restaurant, as if to say, “Look at who I know.” Each time, it felt like he was telling me—and our guest—that he wasn’t really with us. It brought me back to my days at Outback Steakhouse , where one of the most valuable lessons I learned was that the most important customer is the one right in front of you. The same goes for life: the most important person is the one you’re with at that moment.

This past weekend, we celebrated my son Zach’s Bar Mitzvah. It was a weekend full of love, joy, and celebration—an event Zach had prepared for over a year. As we gathered with 180 friends and family members, I kept this lesson close to my heart: Be here. Be present. Not by forcing myself to be “in the moment” but by allowing myself to genuinely enjoy it, free from the distractions that can so easily pull us away.

As I look at that photo of Joshua Tree on my iPad, I see more than just a beautiful memory. I see a reminder of the importance of being present, of appreciating the here and now, and of not letting worries steal the joy of the moment. There will always be challenges and stressful situations in life. But most of the time, they are not as fearsome as they seem. Often, the stress is a product of FEAR—False Evidence Appearing Real. We need to do what we can, when we can, to prevent those situations from consuming us, so we don’t lose sight of what really matters.

So, as you go through this week, ask yourself: “Where are you?” When you’re with your family, be with your family. When you’re at work, focus on your work. And when you’re taking a moment for yourself, be with yourself, without guilt or distraction.

Let’s make a promise to ourselves to not just be somewhere physically, but to truly be there. Because in the end, it’s not the places we go or the things we do that we’ll remember, but the moments we were truly present to experience.

Go Feed Your Journey,

David

P.S. I wrote this on Friday so I could truly be with everyone this weekend. ??