How do I know if this is the right path for me?

I woke up on this lovely Saturday morning with plans of doing one thing and then ended up doing something completely different.

Part of that emergent plan took me into a small, bustling local bookstore. In the process of leaving with 5 books to add to the ever-growing pile of future reading material, I found a new quote that I very much enjoy.

"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt." — John Muir

It can be extremely difficult at times to trust that the path that we are on is the right one. There's no way of knowing the consequences and repercussions of making a left turn instead of a right turn 47 days ago. I could have won the lottery or gotten hit but a bus with every other multiverse in between. So why sweat it?

That quote opened up this internal dialogue of inviting in more trust. Of course this is the right path because I am on it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be on this path. I'd be on different one.

Also. Bonus points to this emergent Saturday for allowing me to experience over a dozen animals in their natural habitats including dolphins, elk, deer and some badass hawks and birds. I have this loose theory about a dozen animals correlating to a day well spent.

Before I even knew that this quote existed, my path was making room for the dirt paths. Just another example of the future me laying the groundwork for the present me. How fucking cool is that?

What happens when heroes become human?

Tim Tebow.

There's something about that guy that always felt super human to me.

I remember watching him win the Heisman Trophy and two National Championships with Florida. The speech he gave, which was quickly turned into a plaque, is the stuff of legends. He then did some fun things in the NFL and even in professional baseball. Tebow is on the short list of the closest we have to a real-life super heroes.

I had a chance to meet him a few weeks ago. I said to a friend before the meeting, "I normally don't get excited about meeting celebrities or famous people, but come on, this is TIM TEBOW. I feel like I have to get a selfie with this dude."

And then, when I had the chance to get a Tebow selfie, as people were lining up to meet him, something strange happened for me.

He became human.

I wasn't expecting that. In that moment, I no longer had a desire for selfie. I didn't feel the need to shake his hand or even ask him a question. It was enough for me to have listened to him share so passionately about what he was up to these days.

It was a strange feeling to have this larger-than-life inspirational celebrity figure transform in a few moments into another human on his path trying to do some good in this world.

Looking back now, I can now appreciate that this unlocked another level of empathy for me. I am forever grateful for that moment with Tim even though it will never be documented in the halls of Instagram.

What's the best way to spend time on your birthday?

Today is my 37th birthday. This was by far the most fascinating and challenging year of my life. As I was falling sleep last night, I started to think about what I would do with an entirely empty day for my birthday (side note: Saturday birthdays are the best birthdays!)

The answer became clear almost immediately:

Design your birthday to be exactly how you would approach every day if there was nothing else in the way.

It got me thinking about the design of my perfect day.

Be intentional about the design of your time. When you design your perfect day, it becomes a moving towards goal. It's not something you flip a switch and magically start living that way every day. You integrate what you can, try it out, see what you like and then either add more or remove what you don't like. It's a giant experiment in what it's like to be you.

My perfect day starts with yoga and mediation to gently welcome my mind and body to this new day. Then some reading and writing. Conversations with people I love, sprinkled with delicious and healthy food, all while working on things that are important to me. Add in some time for reflection and some time for play, and it's a wrap. (Connection to nature would be in there as well, but my current options in NYC are limited so we're skipping that today.)

Figure out the design for a perfect day that would be desirable to live over and over again, and that's exactly how you should spend your birthday.