I swung a full 180º and back today

It’s been a long day. I swung a full 180º and back today and am now both exhausted and exhilarated. It took a while to get rolling, but better late than never. The sun was shining and the peaks of the surrounding San Gabriel Mountains were clearly visible. It was a nice change of pace after four days of overcast skies and damp weather.

After an early lunch I began my journey to Anaheim to spend the day at Disneyland. As I pulled out of the McDonald’s parking lot, I decided to take a quick detour to a local CompUSA that was going out of business. Thought this would be a good opportunity to scout out the mic that I’d been planning to buy for my iPod, especially since it was likely to be on sale. And then the wheels began to come off of my cart.

I got a call that one of my projects was in trouble. After a series of phone calls we got it back on track, but I was really bothered that I’d not been more on top of things and had left room for an issue to pop up at all. Being bummed like this, I was ready to return to the hotel and crawl back into bed.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for a call from my wonderful wife Christina. Being aware of the situation, she was checking in on me. She encouraged me to go to Disneyland anyway and in the process, kicked me in the proverbial butt. What I realized while sitting in that CompUSA parking lot, feeling sorry for myself, was how supportive a group of family, friends and extraordinary co-workers I had surrounding me.

After my trip to Disney’s California Adventure that afternoon, I had come a full circle. I had gone from upbeat to the dumps and back to joyful and inspired. It was quite exhausting, but a very rewarding experience and a day worth sharing with all of you in my blog.

It reminded me that JOY and FUN live in how we're being, and not in the space or circumstances surrounding around us. While the environment might help us along, the real joy comes from deep inside of you and can exist at any time, in any situation and under any circumstance. When we realize that and let it happen unconditionally, the world is a better place.

I got it. Thanks to all, especially Christina for helping me to see that again.