Pete Hanson's Daily Blog

I was having a cocktail with a friend the other night, and we were talking about life stuff. He was asking some questions about my medical adventures of the past ten years, and commented that he was amazed at what a positive attitude I had about it all. I told him that there had been a few days along the we way when he wouldn’t have categorized me as positive.

I love Northern Colorado. It is my home, and I want the very best for it. It is unique, beautiful, and full of good energy. Great people, schools, businesses. Really, we live in one of the truly special places. Recently there has been a big push to ‘Shop Local.’ I get it. The thought is that locally based businesses care more about our community and employ local people.

Our minds are a lot like computers. Every now and then we need to restart our machines. Clean out the clutter, delete old unused files, remove viruses. Whenever a computer in our office is having a problem, the first thing our IT Director will ask is, “Did you reboot?” And yes, that actually work most of the time.

I see it all the time. Someone in the world drops the ball, and doesn’t do something they most likely should have. Didn’t do their job. Didn’t finish a task. Did something incorrectly. You name it. Someone else comes along and does the job, finishes the task, or corrects the mistake. They could be the ‘hero,’ but too often they’re not.

If you’re waiting for your ship to come in, wishing you’d win millions in the lottery, or hoping for that perfect job to come along; I’ve got bad news. The ship’s not coming. Your numbers are not going to be drawn. The perfect job will not magically appear. In fact, there is no ship. (Don’t worry, I’ve got something better.)

I was watching a TV show last night when one of the characters said to the other, “I can take care of myself, I need you to take care of you.” That works I suppose. Of course, there’s another approach too. One where you never have to think of yourself, or worry about your own best interest. That would all be taken care of.

Rarely has there been a time in my life when a situation hasn’t been made better by writing my ideas down. There is something about putting the pen to paper that helps sort things out, and brings a certain clarity that would be elusive if those same thoughts were just floating around in my big, empty head.

Whether we realize it or not, we are in a large part, a product of every single experience that has been a part of our life up to this point. The good, the bad, and the ugly. All of them. Most of them we probably don’t even remember, but put them all on the table and roll them in to one big ball of experiences, and what you get is; well, you.

When was the last time you heard someone complaining about something? Ten seconds ago? Thirty seconds ago? A minute ago? I’m officially adding ‘complaining’ to the death and taxes discussion. Too many people spend too much time looking for their next fight. Baseball? I am beginning to think that complaining is America’s pastime.

Big or little, monumental or insignificant, frivolous or serious. Every minute of every hour of every day, our lives are filled with a never-ending stream of choices. How we choose, defines us as people. Who we are today is a product of all of the choices we have made up to this point. Our ‘life DNA’ is made up of a never ending string of ‘forks’ in our road.

Generally speaking, I would rather have great service and a mediocre product (or a more expensive price), than a great bargain or fantastic product and poor service. Bad service can ruin everything for me. Great bottle of wine + scrumptious steak – good service = crappy night. Fountain soda + 3-piece meal (original recipe) + great service = happy Pete.

I haven’t had in well over a year. Isn’t that amazing? No sniffles, sneezes, coughs, body aches, fever, chills. No cold, or flu for that matter. Now here’s the question. Be honest. As you read this, are you thinking to yourself, “Well, that does it; Pete will definitely get a cold now just for talking about it."