100 Things That Made 2019
/I am proud to say I’m a man of lists. I love making lists, whether shopping lists, to-do lists, books I read lists, books I want to read lists, miles I’ve run or biked lists, summits I’ve hiked, blood pressure and heartrate measurements, body weight, passwords, calendars, goals and dreams lists, and, as you can see, lists of lists.
I agree with the sentiments of Sheldon Cooper, from The Big Bang, who once said, “If there were a list of things that make me more comfortable, lists would be at the top of that list.”
For me, having a list is relaxing, because once something is on my list I don’t have to fret about remembering it. I can let my mind wander off into something fun and creative knowing the list will do all the heavy lifting.
This is my fifth year to make a list of things that made my year. It’s a practice I learned from Austin Kleon and started doing myself in 2015. I don’t do it to brag about life, but to remind myself of the best that happens.
The world we live in is scary enough; we don’t need to be reminded. It’s easy to remember the worst that happens because we had to deal with it, survive it, expend energy and money because of it, to overcome it.
But we do need to remind ourselves of the good things that happen, the grace-filled things, the influential things, and the things that make us human. Not just because we’re lazy or forgetful, but because the Enemy steals them from our memory.
Living with gratitude is the secret to a meaningful life, and this exercise of listing people, events, and things that made the year better is a powerful move toward having a habitually thankful heart.
I encourage you to put together your own list, and don’t stop until you can identify at least 100 things. You may have to find help in order to remember the best, so dig out your journals, comb through your calendars, review your reading lists and music purchases, and ask those who are close to you. It won’t be easy, but it’s worth the effort.
And when you do, I hope you share. A big part of imbedding gratitude in your life is making it known.
(By the way, this list has been randomly sorted using the mathematical magic of Excel. Trying to decide which item is more important than the others is paralyzing.)
1. Movie: The Man Who Invented Christmas
2. Bombas Socks.
3. “Few things cripple creativity like thinking everything you create has to be wildly successful.” – Jon Acuff
4. Sharing my cartoon collection on Facebook
5. Teaching adult Bible study in the Compass Class
6. Summiting Guadalupe Peak for the 22nd time
7. Playing Words With Friends with Cyndi, Byron, and Joe
8. Our large tribe of clever, intelligent, Godly friends
9. Finding my books on the Local Author shelf at the Centennial Library in Midland
10. Playing in the FBC orchestra and Metro Big Band with Cyndi
11. Book: Dreyer's English, by Benjamin Dreyer (Who knew a book about grammar could be so entertaining)
12. Heard on a radio interview: “I’m sure you could disambiguate that point.”
13. Playing trombone next to my new Hungarian friend and amazing jazz musician, Krisztian Csapo
14. Base Camp Gathering in Colorado with my Noble Heart friends.
15. The Kindle app on my phone that has revolutionized all my sitting and waiting.
16. Walking around the ponds across from our house.
17. Book: The Art of Neighboring, by Pathak & Runyon
18. Fleece pullovers
19. Regular phone calls from my brother, Carroll
20. Writing at riverside in Durango, Colorado
21. Sitting with Cory on the back row of our church orchestra.
22. The phrase: Peregrinatio Pro Dei Amore = Pilgrim, Seeker, Wanderer, self-exile, stranger … for the love of God
23. “Cyndi: Oh, you’re leaving tomorrow. It’s so sad.
Me: You’ll be so happy with me after this retreat.
Cyndi: I already like you just the way you are.
Me: We are all changing, all the time, for better or worse. It’s thermodynamics.
Cyndi: I’ll take better.”
24. Reading in my rocking chair outside on our piazza when it’s raining
25. After our evening concert in Budafok, Hungary, a man named Angel Laszlo stuck out his phone so I could read the screen. I suppose he had a translation app on the phone. His screen read, in all caps, CAN I PRAY FOR YOU?. Well, the answer to that question is always YES. He put his arms around me and prayed for about two minutes, all in Hungarian so I had no idea what he was saying. The pastor said Laszlo was a prayer warrior and must have sensed something about me. As far as I know, I was the only one he prayed for.
26. “Learning to play music is a long exercise learning to be kind to yourself” – Liz Danzico
27. Lunch with the Bewley family during the Thanksgiving holidays.
28. Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, my summertime reward for each bike ride greater than ten miles and 95* F
29. "We may not be changing the world dramatically, but we're improving it one note at a time." – Sammy Nestico
30. “No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.” – Daniel Kahneman
31. Reading about cycling adventures by Alastair Humphries
32. Cyndi playing the congas
33. My Facebook post 2-20-2019 … “This morning, while I was still in bed, I could sense my biorhythms all askew, biological markers whacked out, and instability in the gravity waves around me. And then I reached over and put my hand on Cyndi’s knee, and everything calmed down, data returned to its rightful place, the graphs aligned, and all was right in the world. If you noticed harmonic convergence this morning about 6:30, you’re welcome. It was me.”
34. “Stories only happen to the people who can tell them (survivors)” – Allan Gurganus
35. Book: The Second Mountain, by David Brooks
36. John-Mark Echols and The Field’s Edge ministry with chronically homeless in Midland
37. Visiting and eating and boating with Jeff and Dana Andrechyn
38. Stephen Curtis Chapman concert in Midland with Aaron and Malia Hodges.
39. My Whataburger Yeti mug
40. My first gravel ride in Coahoma
41. “If you are going to try to be perfect you won’t take the risk of doing it at all … If you allow yourself to suck, it can be a pathway to new things.” – Karen Rinaldi
42. Book: Meditations from the Breakdown Lane, by James Sapiro
43. Cyndi Simpson in yoga pants
44. Talking about engineering, music, theology, and family, every day with Bob Liem
45. Bear Trap Ranch
46. Watching Cyndi pour her heart and creativity into the young yoga teachers at her studio.
47. The 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing
48. Movie: The Peanut Butter Falcon
49. “Fresh understanding changes us.” – Bob Sorge
50. Eating sausage street-dogs in Vienna
51. Playing with the Midland College Jazz Band
52. Daily writing practice
53. My Panama hat
54. Watching the movie Muppet Christmas Carol November 1st
55. Sam Payne telling the story of a saxophone prayer, in Jonesborough
56. The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee
57. Trombone lessons with Ethan Wills.
58. Energel Liquid Gel Ink Metal Tip 0.7mm ball pens
59. Katie taking ownership of the Airbnb process for our house in Granbury.
60. “Folks take what they need from the stories I tell. The tales are often wiser than the teller. - Barbara McBride-Smith
61. Specialized Tarmac Elite road bike
62. Midland Storytelling Festival
63. Hoka running shoes and trail shoes.
64. Book: Princess Bride, by William Goldman
65. Iron Men FORGE at the Greathouse Retreat Center near Junction, TX.
66. “The phrase don't take this the wrong way has a 0% chance of working.” – Philip Nation
67. Walking hand-in-hand with Cyndi through the square in Santa Fe on a December evening.
69. The peace that comes from not watching 24-hour TV news stations
70. Meeting Jerry at McDonald’s one December morning while I was working on this list and trying to talk him into making a list of his own.
71. Salvation Army bell ringers
72. My new gravel bike, a Cannondale Slate
73. Book: The Tour According to G, by Geraint Thomas
74. Reorganizing my library as I put the books back on the shelf. Organize and structure my library has been #9 on my list of 100 Life Goals for a long time.
76. “I’m getting to the age where my body parts will break down from what manufacturers call general wear and tear.” - A.J.Jacobs
77. My six-year-old granddaughter arguing with me about the rules of chess.
78. “The way we shape reality is through storytelling. If we can tell a story about it that means it exists.” – Gaping Void
79. “New tricks are exactly what an old dog needs.” – Karen Rinaldi
80. Regular dinners with Britt and Patti Pyeatt
81. “The number one factor that fosters spiritual maturity is engaging scripture daily.” – Ed Stetzer
82. Cyndi’s homemade apple pie.
83. Movie: Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker
84. Reading and writing on our small private dock in the early morning at Lake Granbury
85. Cyndi repainting my bookshelves. The way my books look on bright white shelves. The fresh energy from change.
86. Movie: Midway
87. Bill Britt with Integrity Massage – he keeps me straight
88. Gudy’s Rest, at 8,000’ elevation, near Durango, CO.
89. Study dates with Cyndi.
90. Playing with the Metro Big Band, with Craig and Rabon and Cyndi, in Hungary
91. “The man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way, he becomes immortal.” – from The Big Fish
92. The excellent Thanksgiving meal directed and prepared by our son, Byron. It’s great to see all those years of investment paying off.
93. Romans 12:9-13
94. Movie: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
95. Wrangler Relaxed-Fit jeans
96. Using my new iPad Pro with ForScore and AirTurn pedal to read band and orchestra music
97. Watching the Christmas parade in Granbury with my family
98. Celebrating 40 years of marriage
99. I am finally old enough to grow my hair long again.
100. “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” - Mary Oliver
“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
