I am at this moment sitting on a beach on a Thursday morning at Cayucos, CA. I’m sitting on a rock at the beach while my phone is recording the crashing morning waves for posterity. I’ve got my laptop a few feet above writing this while I monitor the phone to make sure it doesn’t fall in the water.

In these few minutes I wanted to capture a fleeting thought I had as we were driving up here for this brief escape from LA.

With 2 kids, two mortgages, and multiple other obligations, life has certainly become more expensive – but I realized that something was happening to my mindset as I was getting all of these life expenses piled on. A new house, a new car, a kitchen remodel, a trip to this place and that, baby expenses, mom expenses, daddy’s dental expenses, etc. all slowly eroded at a mindset that I once treasured. This was the mindset of greatness.

I describe it best as a mindset that focuses on possibilities, new vision, new ways of doing things, and an openness to explore the world. I find a core part of that is also to develop and forge new relationships of growth. It’s a place that I once thrived in, but then admittedly that I allowed myself to slowly lose sight of. What happens when one loses sight of this mindset of greatness? One can forget what it is like to live on the edge of chance and risk for great return. One can forget the thrill of life that comes with accomplishing new endeavors because they are too focused on paying the bills, or minimizing expenses. It is certainly all too easy to get caught up in the morass of daily routine (not that routine is bad) and try to ease into a place of comfort, stability, and minimized risk. It feels tranquil, almost as if I took a sedative to ease the pain of trying to achieve greatness. These are all factors that contribute to a constrained mindset – one that makes one forget that great potential they are capable of if they truly try to go for it. There is definitely an inertia that goes either way, and I’ve experienced both. I would easily say that I’ve gone the wrong with my inertia, and am realizing it while sitting here on this beach.

But deep down I know that this is not my place.

I yearn for that mindset of greatness. I yearn for achieving big. I don’t care for the 401k or the next corporate promotion. I could care less about who looks good in front of whom in the rat race. I certainly do not care for the 9-5 day in and day out when I know that this time can be used to experience LIFE!!

I’ll be back.