Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Am I the only one who whispers that raceday? I’m excited for this day. I’m also processing observations & experiences, which is what I do.

Today I’m thinking a lot about what it means to be a thoughtful and considerate person in this world. I completely miss the mark sometimes. Example: I’m bad at birthdays. I’m incredibly terrible at baby gifts. I’m difficult to make plans with, even with my best friends. Every year I make it a goal to be more considerate in these areas, and somehow, I’m still not where I want to be.

We can learn a lot by watching others, and the crazy thing is that sometimes the most educational experiences are the bad ones. Someone is watching me thinking, hey man, I’m gonna do the EXACT opposite. It’s just a simple truth because we are imperfect beings.

Anyway, the other side of that, though, is that I have seen incredible acts of consideration and inclusion lately. It started with a trio of successful and hard-working girls smiling together on a social post with the hashtag #YouCanSitWithUs. Then I was invited to be in an organized photo with a group I write for – not just invited but also handed a crew shirt and told that it meant a lot to them that I was there. And finally, and this is a big one: I watched my friend mastermind this incredible Halloween theme for this race and make every single person involved feel special and part of the fun – including me.

It’s easy to see the good stuff like this when you start looking for it, which is something I’ve been trying to do for a real long while. And the truth is that some of the nasty stuff I’ve been through has only been successfully navigated because I took a breath and tried to see the sunshine. People are not inherently bad, as a general rule, and I think we would all be happier if we noticed that and built on it.

There are so many good, considerate people, so many thoughtful, inclusive things happening all around me. Thank you for these moments, friends. I hope to extend the same courtesy today and many days after. And thank you for forgiving me when I forget.

See you out there.