What Catching a Baseball With my Teeth Taught Me About Achieving Goals

As the nurse prepared to stitch my lip, I made a joke with my newly acquired lisp, “At least I’ll be able to lose my final 2 lbs.”

For the past few weeks, I had been trying to lose 2 lbs to arrive at my weight goal. 

As Thanksgiving approached, I had decided to release myself from my food protocol and prepared to brace myself for the inevitable weight bump.

Then on Thanksgiving Day, I caught a baseball with my teeth, jarring them loose. My brother-in-law took me to the emergency room. That’s where I made my joke to the nurse. 

Instead of feasting on turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie, I drank a smoothie and slurped mashed potatoes. Not too bad because the smoothie was awesome, but still, it was a suboptimal experience.

The irony struck me when three days later, I weighed myself and discovered I had lost...precisely 2 lbs.

If you believe in silver linings outside of Totino’s microwavable pizzas, this feat was pretty cool. But it also reminded me that the glory is NOT found when we arrive at the destination--the goal--it’s during the journey itself. 

One of my original reasons to lose weight was to increase my agility on the tennis court. I coached myself to losing 15 lbs in 70 days. (The extra 2lbs above was an additional goal after this goal.) I could cover the court like my 18 year old self. And I admit to a bit of vanity when my partners complimented me on my slimmer appearance.

But the greater benefit was derived from all the lessons I picked up along the way. I wrote down five in my journal. Here’s an excerpt of #3: “It’s possible to look at food completely differently...Today, for the most part, I’m not tempted at all to eat fast food. I eat at the right time, I eat a lot less, and I'm able to forgo sweets and snacks.”

Can you see how powerful that is? Especially if you consider the junk food, fast food ways of my past. In fact, during each of those 70 days, I learned something valuable, especially when the scale went the wrong way. 

It’s these lessons that have the potential to transform you - that make you better. The goal gives you a yardstick by which you can measure yourself. But arriving “there” won’t make you any happier.

So, don’t try to make a goal at all costs. Don’t catch a baseball with your teeth. Remember the journey is what really matters. Enjoy it, and you’ll enjoy life.

The hospital's "get well" card.

Spring Break 2018

San diego 2018 from Kenneth Li

Welcoming Stock Photo Boy

Inspired by cheesy stock photos, Aidan and I created an Instagram account to showcase whether he has the chops to make it as a stock photo model.

Stock Photo Boy: World Conquest

A post shared by Ken Li (@kclgingr) on Dec 6, 2017 at 3:56pm PST

Halloween 2015

This year's haul: 404.5.

Completely Random Observations:

• Kids took home four "Take Fives," their fave.
• Aubrie likes the original Almond Joy wrapper better. (Yes, this was what she told me to write when I asked for her observation.)
• I've never seen so many golf carts zooming around. Ginger and I thought: "Rex Eckert would love living here"
• Looking back at Homewood trick or treating, there was an absence of Smarties, Dots and Charleston Chews. #1 candy in 2012 was Suckers. #1 candy in 2015 was Twix. You know where the kids liked getting their treats! 

Cute pic of them with their stacks of candy forthcoming.

Elder Bednar Talks

Elder David A Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, spoke with our congregation in northwest Indiana last night. 

Unlike General Conference wherein an Apostle speaks to the entire Church membership, Elder Bednar's talk was designed for us in this geography. He mentioned this was a big break from his typical speaking circuit: he rarely gives talks in the US or at these kinds of local meetings. So what he said to us last night was extra special and sacred.

Before continuing, I want to make two small observations not related to the talks themselves:

Small Observation 1

Elder Bednar paid close attention to each speaker as if THEY were the Apostle. He leaned forward most of the time. 

Small Observation 2

When the interlude music started playing, and the congregation sat stuck in their seats, it was Elder Bednar who motioned for us to rise.

Elder Bednar's talk was beautiful. He has an elegant style that is "simple and clear," the terms he uses to describe how he wishes to communicate. It's always refreshing to hear an Apostle provide his candid thoughts. For example, when he was the president of BYU-Idaho, students would always complain about the dress code. In response, Elder Bednar wishes he could have said something like this: "You are messing with the wrong person."

Elder Bednar's talk was divided into two parts. First, he taught doctrine based on the 2nd and 4th Articles of Faith and expanding the concept of moral (not "free") agency and its relationship to covenants. He said this part might be a "snoozer." It wasn't. However, it's best if I let Elder Bednar publicly articulate this doctrine in his own way in his own time, and not share/butcher it by disclosing further details. 

However, I feel I can talk about Part 2, which was not about doctrine, but equally profound and captivating. Elder Bednar contrasted his experiences with Church members inside and outside the US. He made it clear he was not trying to give us a "guilt trip." It wasn't. But it was eye opening enough to change my worldview on what's really important in life and sketch out tonight's family home evening lesson.

Indian Gem in Michigan City

It took a banker asking Ginger and I how long we were married for us deduce we both forgot about our wedding anniversary. We made up for our error by lunching at India House in Michigan City. It was love at first bite. We were so inspired that we wrote our second ever yelp (and Google) review. 

We seldom write reviews -- this is our second one ever -- but my wife and I immediately looked at each other during our meal and said we should write a review. We love Indian food, and had gone to India House for our wedding anniversary meal. So we feel like we know our Indian food. 

Ever taste a watered down Indian dish? Not in India House. The food was creamy and tasty. The selection was more varied than most Indian buffets. There were the exceptional samosas, the best pakora we ever had, chicken tikka masala, butter chicken as well as a great assortment for vegetarians: Dal Makhni (lentils), saag paneer (spinach), channa masala (chick peas), punjabi bhaji (veggie fritters) and aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes). Also: fresh naan made to order, either plain or garlic, which is an offering unique to this buffet.  The majority of patrons at India House were Indian, which is always a good sign.  The food may be a little Americanized because the heat is toned down, but it has plenty of flavor.  A bit less salty, and the food would have been perfect -- we were gulping water the rest of the day, but it was worth it.

Please patronize this restaurant to keep it in business. Indian restaurants are so few in Northwest Indiana.

The yelp review is here. The first-ever, overwhelmingly less positive yelp review is here.

So for the three of you who follow this blog, we command you to try out this restaurant. You might see us there, celebrating our next wedding anniversary!

Aubrie's Volleyball Adventures [Week One]: A Surprising Start

After two days of volleyball practice, none of which I had personally witnessed, I had no idea how Aubrie was going to do in her first volleyball start. She plays in a girls volleyball league run by a local Nazarene church*.  Reports from practice weren't very promising, so I went in with low expectations, with the hope of being pleasantly surprised.

One thing I did know: Aubrie looks great in a pink t-shirt and knee pads.

Aubrie served first for her team, and nailed the first three before dropping one outside the lines. She ended up getting one more point during game 2. This was great considering the night before we practiced serves using a kid's inflatable ball. No equipment failures were going to hold Aubrie back!

Aubrie launches a serve behind the back line.

Slideshow here.

Not to be biased, but I thought Aubrie was the best player on her team. Ok, I'm biased. But she did strike balls that were clearly hers pretty cleanly, and called for them every time. The balls she missed would be difficult for any level player. One came straight down from the ceiling, another landed between her and another player and one was stuck in the net.

Aidan, Ginger and I had a great time cheering Aubrie on. Though her team lost two games to none, we're confident we have a little volleyball player on her hands -- though she's not quite convinced she herself is quite good enough. Ironically, despite Aubrie feeling bad about her performance, she earned a start for enthusiasm. Most of all, along with progressing her skills, we feel Aubrie becomes more confident in her abilities and cheerful overall.

Aubrie in action

Shout out to the Nazarene church of Chicago Heights for running this professional and fun program for the girls. The church is also teaching the girls about the gospel of Jesus Christ after each practice, which is pretty cool way to combine religion and athletics.