With the season of New Year’s Resolutions in full swing, I thought it might be worth sharing a thought or two on goals.

In general, I’m not a big fan of such things, at least in an explicit sense.  I don’t make “New Year’s Resolutions,” not sure that I ever have really.  I know the major things that need to happen this year.  In the case of our family and what’s important, it’s so obvious that it doesn’t require a separate exercise to articulate what matters and I don’t see much point to creating a tangible list other than announcing to the world things that most of my close friends would consider quite obvious.  It could also be that a number of years rife with adversity and change has tempered my expectations of what’s reasonable or possible in a short timeframe.  I’m ok with progress at this point.  No one reaches the summit of a mountain worth climbing in one step… we’re out to advance our base camp a level or two and acclimate from there for the next steps of the journey.

That being said, I do believe in the power of inspiration and commitment when it comes to achieving meaningful things.  Looking back over the years, I have very proud moments associated with accomplishing things I was told were not possible by others.  My general reaction to being told something can’t be done (assuming it’s worth doing) is “Oh yeah?”… the nature of the challenge itself becomes motivation to accomplish the goal.  I like the idea of breaking new ground, disproving critics, and showing what’s possible when people joined around a common purpose and vision set their minds to get something done.  It can be magical and inspiring in every way, and I don’t mind all the hard work that comes with it.  Certainly, the older I get, the rougher those hours have become because I have other priorities and want more balance, but I still find that the statement “do what you love, and you’ll never work another day of your life” is somewhat true (at least to a degree).

So, understanding that many friends are in the process of identifying their goals for 2014, I’ll simply say that I’m hopeful everyone does what works best and achieves everything that matters to them (and possibly others they didn’t anticipate) in the coming year.  For my part, I simply want the inspiration to engage, participate, and make a positive difference, in whatever ways I can.

What I have learned over the last few years is the importance of that inspiration in the equation for me (and certainly for others as well).  I’m sure there are studies out there to confirm or refute the point, but believing in what we are doing adds purpose to our actions, and thereby makes them more focused, directed, effective, and productive.  It shows up in the results, or it simply doesn’t show up at all.  People invested in what they are doing outperform those who are just trying to get by.  The question is whether we’re paying enough attention to understand the importance of this underlying motivation and what we do about it.

So, I’ll end with a simple statement that I’m looking forward to what changes 2014 will bring.  To the extent I need to take more of an assertive position in seeking them out, that’s ok.  The inspiration and ability to make a difference is well worth the investment.

-CJG 1/1/2014

With the advent of a new year, it’s a good time both to reflect and look forward.

In thinking back over 2013, I had the phrase “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” in mind this morning.  Beyond the snippet, I wasn’t aware of much else, so I looked up the actual quote, which led me back to the first paragraph from Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

It’s an odd, but fitting way to summarize 2013 for me.  We tend to evaluate a lot of thoughts and experiences in life as extremes. I’m not sure that’s a good thing (particularly on the downside). In practice, we can only take one day at a time, and too much energy is wasted on events of the past or worries about the future. In many ways, it was a very difficult year.  In others, it came with good things and our family managed to persevere through a lot of adversity.  We’re stronger and more prepared for the journey ahead.  All in all, I’m very glad it’s over and we can turn a new page into 2014.

The year ahead will bring even more change.  In all probability, both Kathy and I will be doing something different professionally, we will have our first high school student, and our youngest will depart grade school for the one-way hallways and additional rules and requirements of middle school.  Something about it is both encouraging and overwhelming at the same time.

What hasn’t wavered is the hope and faith I continue to have in the path before us.  It will be a high paced 2014, one way or the other, and I’m excited for the change.

We will celebrate tonight as we have for many years, with a very special dinner.  Regardless of the circumstances, we have much to be thankful for, and every reason to be optimistic about the New Year to come.

A Happy New Year to all… and the best for 2014.

-CJG 12/31/2013

I suppose it’s best to start with an introduction, right?  About an hour ago, I had about 1,000 ideas going through my head and a lot of motivation to get started… at this point, not so much.

I don’t really have much of a goal in mind in starting this out, beyond having a means to express some thoughts as and when the ideas come.  Writing has always been a source of catharsis, and hopefully this will serve as a healthy outlet.  Whether useful, insightful, or particularly helpful, I have no idea on or control over that, and will leave it to be what it is.  If something written here is helpful, fantastic, it’s nice to make a positive difference where possible.

My thoughts, observations, and experiences are just that.  I struggled mightily with what to call the blog in the first place, and landed on “Structured Chaos”, which is pretty representative of how I like things.

We’ll see how this goes. It could very well be that this will be short-lived, but time will tell.

-CJG 12/31/2013