All the small things
Fridge Philosophy: Look at the trees instead of the forest
Note: Since 2018, I have placed these short quotes on our refrigerator at home to provide subtle hints for successful, thoughtful, and purposeful practices in hopes my teens would internalize them. Along the way, I found them helpful in my own life.
We live in a crazy world. There is war, famine, disease, oppression, and more. I am privileged to live in a country and a neighborhood where I have the freedom to decide my day and my life without relative worry. This Substack is a benefit of those freedoms. I won’t be jailed and prosecuted for putting my thoughts and opinions on this screen.
Even when the Olympics bring nations together, understanding the world’s problems is overwhelming. It’s easy to get caught up in climate change, oppressive regimes, terrorism, and our own nation’s politics and feel insignificant in relation.
I recently read a sports psychology article that applies to all of us in everyday life. (Importance of Focusing on What’s in Your Control) The article not only details the negative impacts of focusing what’s outside your control - Anxiety, Anger, Mental Exhaustion - but shares the true benefits of focusing on what you can control, namely a sense of personal power, increased motivation, improved performances. In an article in Psychology Today, Caria Shuman Ph.D. shares how just focusing on the controllables can improve mental health. If we can direct our attention to our thoughts, our reactions, our network and our coping skills, we take control of our mental health in a more substantive way.
After the elections in 2016, I was in shock. I felt the world I knew did not exist. And I didn’t feel like I could have an impact. But I was at a conference, and I listened to Arthur Brooks, the noted business and leadership academic talk about connecting with people, one on one, and building grace and understanding. He spoke about his visit with the Dalai Lama and world leaders, but he didn’t share their insights on a global scale, but on the personal level.
Inspired, I read the Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, where they show the essence of joy. And they don’t talk about the joy they feel when thousands of people are together for a common vision, they talk about creating individual joy, the benefits of producing joy in one’s own life.
At the same time, my children were moving onto adolescence. I began to understand that the greatest impact I had on society was to help my children be good people. I wanted them to be productive, empathetic, hard-working, and focused. If I could share wisdoms to help them navigate life and to be a productive member of society, then that would be my impact.
But as every parent knows, there is a shift of influence. As my children became teenagers, it was no longer, “Do as I say.” I had to find new ways to instill important life lessons that didn’t manifest an eye roll. And that’s where the Fridge Philosophy came from. I knew if I verbalized these ideas to them weekly, they would tune them out. But if I shared these lessons through the voice of other people, then maybe it could be a third-party validation. Further, sharing them on the refrigerator, where they passively open the door 4-10 times a day, perhaps they’d read it 1-2 times a week. And maybe one every couple of months would resonate. Over the course of years, that could be real impact.
At this point, I think my two children have lived up to my hopes. Both are in college after working hard, overcoming adversity, and are focused on their academics. As they move past college and into life, I hope that the lessons they learned not only from Fridge Philosophies but from the lessons my wife and I will resonate.
Side of Mustard - Two Golden Weeks
A sports nerd like me loves the Olympics. It’s an opportunity to watch a set of sports once every four years with a true rooting interest. We also get an inside (albeit sanitized) look at the host country, bask in the pageantry of it all, and for two weeks, come together for a common cause.
I have Peacock streaming, and I thought I would be glued to all of the sports. I thought the television would be on for two weeks straight, going from one sport to the next. But then again, I have a job and my rooting interest in American skeet shooters didn’t overtake the priorities of the regular job. Also, I found it odd that the Peacock broadcasts didn’t have the NBC announcers, and they were kind of boring. So, inevitably, we went to PrimeTime in Paris to watch the big-ticket items - swimming, gymnastics and track and field with a few volleyball, basketball and diving competitions to fill out our evenings.
Just like the rest of the US, I marveled at how Snoop has been embraced as America’s uncle. I was in college when Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Snoop’s Dog Pound were released. I don’t know if my mom in 1994 could listen to his lyrics then and then be amused by his segments with Martha Stewart thirty years later. That’s what turning your life around can do.
If NBC/Universal is listening, this is how I’d tweak the coverage:
Have a channel where all of the human interest resides on Peacock.
Increase visibility of Gold Zone. I learned about this feature way too late.
Share the featured sports for the primetime coverage.
Better announcers for Peacock
Keep the parade of nations as a running entry as the artistic elements of the Opening Ceremonies are performed
Provide the viewer better context to the artistic elements of the Opening Ceremonies
In two years, the Winter Olympics head to Milano Cortino, followed by Los Angeles in 2028. But for now, I’m ready for the games to end and get ready for Premiere League Soccer and College Football.