Coming Alive

So this evening I landed in a REALLY fun conversation!  Two of my best friends were telling me about how they were handling this couple in their church who were…um…annoying.  Apparantly “annoying doesn’t do it justice”, but lets go with that.  It was really fun to listen to them try to navigate expressing their frustration without venturing into the land of outright trashing them.  Bottom line though was that they are clearly a difficult couple to relate to.  The best part – that couple had NO IDEA how they came across.

We all know exactly what that feels like!  We all know someone who just annoys the mess out of us.  Empathy for the annoyed is easy to come by.  There is a major part we always miss though -

Somebody out there gets annoyed with you too.  My friends who were describing this couple went into pretty good detail about what annoys them.  When they were done I asked them if they were talking about me!  The truth is, I can be pretty annoying.  I am loud, obnoxious, competitive, and I sometimes say things that sound really mean (that I almost never intend).  My friends just tolerate it b/c they have known me a long time and they love me. 

Knowing I am annoying helps me deal with annoying people.  Because for me, I just want you to tell me if something I do bothers you.  Seriously.  It may sound mean to you, but believe me…I probably already sort of know.  Every now and then I see someone roll their eyes when I say something, or laugh AT me instead of WITH me.  Some of you are thinking right now: BUSTED!

In the long run the person who is rubbing you the wrong way will be better off if you tell them.  Not if its something stupid like crunching their ice (although I have told people to knock that off or I would knock their teeth in), and definitly dont say anything if you cant do it without sounding like a jerk.  However, if you generally care about someone who has some debilitating social problem tell them (gently) and help them overcome it.  Usually the problem comes from wanting people to like them anyway (at least it does for me).  Ironically the overzealous quest for approval usually ends in failure b/c the very nature of the pursuit.  The sad thing is that the people who know better are so scared of hurting feelings that they remain silently irritated by our neverending cycle of irritation.

Weird.

I spent all afternoon cleaning out my home office.  Why?  Because pretty soon there is going to be a new addition at the Reeve house!

Yep!  Lindsay is moving in with us so that she can move into Reedy Fork Ranch!

Gotcha.

Like those who have gone before her - Will, Naylor, Blake and Sarah – Lindsay is taking up residence in our guest room/office for a while.  It’s been a while for Kristan and I, but we have the space, and Lindsay will likely cook dinner for us every night (Got that Lindsay?)

The other night Hal and I were watching the Olympics while our wives were at ladies night eating desserts.  While we watched the worlds top athletes we began joking about how different each sport would be if we (Hal and myself) were the best of the best. 

1.  Marathon – We would finish, but instead of those water tables we would probably stop by every McDonalds we passed by to grab a frosty.
2.  Swimming – Pretty much all of them would have Hal and I stopping halfway and tredding water for a few breaths
3.  High Dive – My personal favorite.  IF we got the courage up to jump it would definatly be feet first.   
4. Basketball – Well, that would pretty much be the same as what you are seeing now.  Just more dunking.

Anyway, over the last few days I have heard a lot of talk about whether or not Phelps is the greatest athlete ever.  In that conversation a few other names pop up: Jordan, Tiger, Lance, and Reeve (Oh yea, that one popped up after I fell asleep). 

Those guys all play different sports and have different skill sets, but somehow land in the conversation.  It’s the things they have in common that get them there: Passion, commitment, self-motivation, and a refusal of mediocrity.  It’s not there physical attributes that make them great (In each sport there is someone in the world physically superior than each of those guys).  What makes them great is their commitment to being great. 

The bottom line: The best athlete in the world is currently sitting at home watching people earn gold medals b/c he (or she) didn’t have the commitment to get themselves there.  It’s the “I coulda been a contender” in all of us – the potential we fail to live up to. 

For what it’s worth, my vote is for Tiger or Lance as greatest athlete.

Anytime you start something new you wonder in the back of your mind if anyone is going to show up.  Some thing start fast and other things take time, but you never want to be one of 4 people standing in a room wondering where everyone is.

This week we transitioned from one community dinner to two.  Our Thursday night had been getting so big that half the people there probably went the entire night w/o even seeing me…something they probably enjoyed!  The decision to start another one up was a no-brainer.  We found a new host for Thursday and Kristan and I began a group on Tuesday.

Tuesday went well.  We had some regulars.  It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either.  I was pretty pleased with it…besides Thursday was the one I was concerned about.

Last night was INSANE.  Bethany told me she was making 8 pizzas and I laughed at her.  I’m pretty sure we ran out.  There were people everywhere.  Kids everywhere.  New folks everywhere!  It was EASILY the biggest community dinner we have had yet, and honestly, I won’t be at all suprised if next week it is even bigger. 

Great job everyone!

So the other day Nolan went to sleep a little earlier than usual.  With the extra time that we had together Kristan came up with a fun activity for us…

Wiffle Ball! 

Yea, thats right, MY wife likes to play wiffle ball. 

So there we were, out in the street like a couple of 10 year olds playing home run derby as our neighbors acted all adult. 

By the way – Kristan has a pretty sweet swing.  She hit a couple of home runs!