2014 || Where Did You Go ?

BAMM !!! And 2014 is gone.

Where did you go, 2014 ? Well, it doesn’t really matter right now. Let’s just take an honest look back at 2014.

• What worked ?
• What did not work ?
• And what can we do DIFFERENTLY in 2015 ?

2014 || Facebook’s Movies – Year in Review – are all WRONG.

Those Facebook movies – Year in Review – are all WRONG. They show us smiling and happy – like this is all that happened during the entire year.

We all like to curate our lives and show the world our best pictures. Like all of our life is a constant string of “picture perfect” photo opportunities. Not !!!

I like to EDIT ALL of my pictures before I post them on Facebook. How vain and unrealistic is that ? It’s as if I’m pretending my life is a series of highlight reels when most of our lives are pretty average moments.

And we try to hide all of our failures. We try to hide all of those sad moments. Those moments when we fall. And then we fall again.

Why hide these moments ? Why deny these moments ? These painful moments are what make life real.

2014 || Maybe you’re measuring the WRONG stuff.

Just look at your Facebook page and what you want your friends to see. The new home and the new car. All of those Christmas presents. And those great abs.

What I really want; and what my children/grandchildren really want are fun memories. Just think about what you say when you are remembering a friend. You say, “Do you remember when we …?” You talk about the “good times.” Not all of your cool new stuff.

With your family, you can go to the Dollar Store; buy some $1.00 puzzles and have several evenings of entertainment. All for less than $10.00. Versus the hundreds  (maybe thousands) of dollars spent on all of the newest electronic toys. Electronic toys that will be outdated in six months or less.

My children remember (as our best times) when we went to grandpa and grandma’s house at the lake and slept underneath their pool table and made a tent with sheets and blankets.  Like we were camping indoors.

And grandma’s house was not extravagant. Grandma’s house was an extra wide mobile home on a wooded lot by Table Rock Lake in Missouri.

Looking back at 2014 – maybe you’re measuring the WRONG stuff.

2014 || Where did you FAIL ?

Cherish these “failure” moments. Celebrate your “failures.” Your “failures” represent those times when you stretched yourself. You tried something outside of your comfort range.

In 2015, fail some more.

• Fail forward.

• Fail often.

• Fail faster.

Sometimes your celebrated goals just represent “playing it safe.” Maybe you succeeded because you weren’t as bold as audacious as you could be. Your “failures” may represent your BOLD and COURAGEOUS  moments.

How fast and how often will you FAIL in 2015 ?

Let’s talk about this next time we meet.

Thanks.

Alvin Weiss || America’s Grumpiest Grandpa