Knowing is not enough; We must apply. Wishing is not enough; We must do. – Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe

I did not understand this quote when I was younger. I had always heard that knowledge is power. So, I gathered all the knowledge I could in the form of books. It doesn’t mean that I ever read the books, I just had them sitting on my bookshelf. Knowledge right there at my fingertips. It was powerful right? Please. What use is a book you won’t read?

Many times when I have found something new I want to learn I would buy a course or find videos to download on a topic. I am an auditory learner and, in my mind, it made sense that videos or lectures could be a very good way to learn. The same with audiobooks. I would happily gather the material… and never listen to it. second verse same as the first.

I think it may be that I like the idea of doing those things more than I really wanted to do those things. I wanted to gather the knowledge, but I never sat down and examined why. Why did I feel the need to collect the books or the materials to learn if I had no real desire to learn it? Was it that I didn’t want to learn? Or I was focused on the wrong things?

By contrast, there are many things in my life that I know how to do very well. There are many areas where I have excelled, if not mastered, the topics of study. (I use the word mastered very lightly here. There is always room to improve in any area.) These are things that I am passionate about or have felt the need to accomplish because it takes me closer to my goals. In short, the areas of my success are there, in large part, because of the things I’ve actually done, not just the things I’ve learned.

I give you this example. Growing up, my mother was to cook in the house. If I wanted something to eat she was usually the one that fixed it. (The only exception to this is that she taught me to bake when I was nine or 10. I could make some mean brownies.) If I was hungry for real food though, she was the one that made it. I am very thankful for her and the way that she took care of me, dad and Chris. There were tough times but I never went without a meal.

When Marixa and I got married I knew how to make two things: steaks on the grill and burritos…But most of the time I bought the burritos from Taco Bell. We learned how to fix a few more things over the years, but cooking was never one of those things I thought that I would be very good at.

One day I was watching a show called Mexico: One Plate at a Time on PBS. It was hosted by a wonderful chef name Rick Bayless. Rick and his wife spent many years in Mexico studying the culture and the food and he is now a world renowned chef. On the show that day Rick was demonstrating how to make salsa. I remember being captivated as I watched. The ingredients were beautiful. The process was simple. I could almost smell the salsa through the TV. He was so gifted at what he was doing he made it look very achievable. I was hooked.

Right after the show was done, I gave Marixa a hug and told her I was going to the store to get ingredients. She smiled and sent me on my way. Did I know what I was after? I had never bought a tomatillo before. The green leafy wrapper around it was strange, but I was undeterred. I paid for all of the ingredients I had in my cart and went home to see if I too could make a delicious salsa. Believe it or not, I did.

If I ever have the chance to meet Rick Bayless and shake his hand, I want to. I would love for him to understand my gratitude. Like he has with many other people, Rick taught me that cooking was something that I could do. More than that, he inspired me to not just learn about it, but to actually do it.

To me, that’s the difference between the two positions. There are things that we learn and do nothing with that, in the end, don’t hold much value. There are things that we learn and we immediately do. There’s so much power in that. As I write these words, my head is filled with so many examples of where this is true in my own life. For the good and the bad.

I am making the choice today to DO. I challenge you to DO the same.

For the the past few months I have been playing Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch with my boy. This is been made very special by the fact that he is very good at the game and I am somewhat of a novice. I have been amazed at the details in the graphics in the captivating nature of the story. In classic Mario fashion, it’s a very enjoyable game. More importantly, I have thoroughly enjoyed playing it with my boy.

It is made me think back to my first experience with a Nintendo. My boy tries to tell me that he’s been playing the game longer than I have… please… I often remind him I have been Nintendo since about 1988. (Maybe 1989 or 90…its been thirty yeas…that is the point.)

I remember when my dad took me to get that original Nintendo system. I remember walking through the store. I remember looking at the system and the games that were for sale. The only game system I had ever played games on was the Atari. (Who remembers Pitfall?!) From the pictures I saw on the Nintendo box the Atari was about to be old news.

One memory that sticks out very vividly is the game that I chose him to go along with the new Nintendo. Obviously, it came with Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. My dad offered to give me an additional game aside from those. I chose a game that had Mickey Mouse in it. My dad tried to talk me into something different. I’m not sure what game he had his eye on, or if he was just surprised in my selection.I was convinced and what I wanted. Incidentally, I enjoyed that game for quite a while.

I also remember that I once stayed home from school for a day so I could beat a game called Bionic Commando. (I remember telling my mom that I wanted to stay home because I didn’t feel good. She knew me well enough to know that I needed a break day. She has always been cool like that. I have no idea where I got a hold of that game to even play it, but I remember playing hooky and having the best day beating the bad guys.

My favorite times were playing Super Mario Brothers for hours on end. It was challenging. It was fun. For this 11-year-old boy, I really enjoyed that game. But now, I enjoy it because of my son. The old one was cool, but the new it’s so much better because I get to share it with him.

My younger self would hate me for saying this, but I love being up before the sun comes up. I don’t always enjoy getting out of bed at first. However, when I actually get off my butt and out the door for a morning walk I find the same thing to be true every time. This is amazing.

There are so many different sounds that the morning makes. This morning I hear the birds, the trees, train whistles, crickets, and even some annoying traffic off of the road not too far away. Everything is waking up and it is very nice to be out here with it.

I also fine when I start my day this way, my day usually goes much better. There are things that I need to do every day they really should be done first. If I don’t do them early there’s a good chance they won’t get done at all.

I read a book along time ago by Brian Tracy called Eat That Frog. In the book he advocated starting with the hardest tasks first. He advocated this for a few different reasons.

1. By tackling your hardest task first in the day, you’re able to bring your best energy and your clearest mind.

2. Your hardest task is usually the one that has the most reward. The task would not be hard otherwise.

3. When you finish your hardest task early, the rest of the day stands no chance. Your productivity is through the roof.

What tasks do I consider my most important ones of the day personally? Every morning I read my Bible, I exercise, and I write. Or, at least this is what I intend to do every day. Do I always accomplish this? Um…no. Just as the sun rises with each new day, there is a chance to start again.

I find when I do these things consistently over time that I don’t even notice how far I’ve come. I’ve been blogging now for about six months and I’m amazed at how many posts I’ve been able to make. I’ve read my Bible every day for several years and I’ve read it all the way through more than once. I started exercising seriously last May. I may not have dropped all the weight I want to, but I feel so much better than I would have.

It all starts with getting up before the sun comes up. Getting out and experiencing the morning as I start my day is essential. This is amazing in so many ways.

The older I get, the more I come to realize I do not like fake. I don’t like drama in relationships. I would far rather know you for who you are and have you know me the same way. Is it OK to just be real? What does sincere mean?

Sincere – free from pretense. Being genuine.

How do I interpret this? If you’re a nice person I wanna know that you’re a nice person. If you’d prefer to be a jerk, then do your thing. We can still get along if I know your intentions. If you are in your 40s and still love to play video games all day long, I want to know about it. If you still listen to Kenny G and pretend like it’s the 90s, there’s no judgment here. Whatever it is that makes you you, I want to see it. That’s the beauty of having a friendship with someone.

Only when we can admit who we really are are we able to make progress. We all have things that we love about ourselves. We all have things that were not so fond of too. It can be overwhelming when there is no one to share the good and bad with. But, we have conditioned ourselves to live with the Facebook filter. We only let people see a portion of who we really are. I’m not sure that’s OK.

I am in no way advocating over sharing. This is not a post about telling strangers too much about you. However, as we meet and encounter new people are there potential friendships that we overlook because of our insecurities and hangups? Are there people that need us that aren’t being honest with themselves? How do we cut through all the crap and just be sincere?

I’m going to shoot straight here, I didn’t expect to be in my 40s and it be hard to make new friends. I’ve never figured out why this is so. When we were teenagers, making friends was very easy. We accepted everybody, or at least the people that I ran with did…If I am remembering things the right way. I can look back over the years and I can identify a few friendships that could have been amazing that blew up over lack of sincerity or being real. it makes me sad.

I also have to express gratitude in this post. There are a few people in my life that are the best friends I’ve ever known. I know that one of the keys to these friendships is sincerity. We get to be who we actually are and it’s OK. If you are reading this, you know who you are.

It’s my hope that if you have called me friend over the years you have always found me to be sincere. If you’ve ever called me fake, or pretending to be something I’m not, I sincerely apologize. Do you need a friend now? Shoot me a line. Let’s be real.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. – Walt Disney