I turn 48 today.  On milestones – which any birthday is – I tend to look back and recall moments from the past.  At 48, I have a few of those moments.  So let’s look back.

On Turning 47…

You don’t really think I’m going to recount my life year by year in reverse, do you?  I don’t have that kind of memory.

What I know is that my life over the past 48 years has led me to where I am right now - the place where I’m supposed to be.  It’s good to know that I’m where I’m supposed to be.  If I weren’t so sure, things would be pretty scary right now.  But I believe fear is excitement, with breathing, I'm remembering to breathe.

Where am I right now? 

Geographically, I am sitting at a desk in my son Brady’s room, because it’s a quiet comfortable place to think and work and most of all, when he’s not here it makes me feel closer to him.

Beyond geography, I’m trying to start and run a business.  Something I never thought I’d do.  I always thought it would be cool, but for a long time I didn’t believe in myself like I do now.  I’ve been doing some changing and shifting over the past few years and it really all came to a pivotal point earlier this year, when I found myself at my desk at work, where I’d spent a lot of the years of my life.  That Monday morning I was working on the same stuff I always did, wondering what the week would bring.  I got a call on my cell phone from my boss asking if I was in the office.  I responded that I was.  He asked me to meet him at the front desk.  I told him, “I’ll be right there.”  I ended the call and nervously wondered what I should take with me as I knew I would never see that desk again. It was too much to think about, so I just took what I had taken to the thousands of other meetings I’d attended over the years – my notebook, my pen, and my phone.

Beyond starting and running a business, I’m 30 days from my formal training for another role I've dreamed of but never thought I’d have – Snowboard Instructor at Park City Mountain Resort.  Park City is where I learned to ski when I was about 7, so it holds a lot of memories from my early childhood.  I didn’t learn to ride a snowboard until I was 40, so being an instructor is something I thought I’d missed by like 25 years.  But here I am, about to embark on yet another dream.  I’ve been the unofficial, designated snowboard instructor for family and friends because I love to see people learn and enjoy it so much!  I get more satisfaction from teaching than from riding myself, though I do love to ride!

Beyond teaching snowboarding, I’m running for the Granite Community Council here in Utah, it’s quite a story and if you want a humorous glance at this short, confusing journey see my other blog entries here.  What’s really cool about this, is that the person who got me to run is already treating me like I’m on the council and so I’m getting to see a lot of stuff in and about the community that I would pay no attention to or even know about in the past.  Funny what a little involvement in the community can do for your perspective.

So today I turn 48.  I’m pretty happy about it.  Yep, Halloween is absolutely the coolest day of the year for a birthday.  But I expect and hope that you think the same about your birthday too.