Greg's Right FIT #510 – This week: New things, Transitions, Introductions
Quick notes to help you sell some stuff in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week.
In this issue:
- Thoughts on New Things
- Being Human
- Random Stuff
Thoughts on New Things
- "The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men. Gang aft a-gley." said poet Robert Burns. Things go off the rails. Plans change. The future is unknown. We need to get good at planning. It makes it easier to abandon an old plan, and adjust.
- “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Omaha's own Warren Buffett paraphrasing an ancient saying.
- Having a goal is great, but pursuing it at all costs can lead to abandoning your values in pursuit of an outcome. An alternative approach is to use the goal to identify the behaviors you need to get there. Then focus on building momentum in those behaviors. Momentum will carry us past our goals while respecting our value system.
- Babies are amazing.
Being Human – Stage change
When my wife's grandmother passed in 2016, I sketched a grid to match my life to to her 95 years on earth. At the time it felt like I was somewhere between Greg 2.0 and Greg 3.0. The kids weren't fully matriculated, but the end was near. I wondered if the stage change would be easy to note, or a gradual thing.
Like most stories, when you look back it seems to make sense, but Greg 2.1.2 had no idea what even 2.1.3 looked like, let alone the day it happened. The future is like that. Every step forward changes what's ahead, making important transitions only clear in retrospect.
That said, as of October 5, 2025 I am officially in Greg 3.0. There's no mistaking this transition. It's clear.
Random Stuff
“Some memories are realities and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.”―Willa Cather, My Antonia
In case you haven't picked up on my hints, our family is a tiny bit larger than it was last week. One of my baby's new baby entered the world at just a touch under 8 lbs. Mom and child (and Dad!) are doing well and getting used to their new arrangement. The little guy is not quite ready to be on his own, demanding to be held at all times. When I held him he was a perfect angel, but I'm told he's clear about when he's not happy. Which is when he's hungry (often) or when he's in his bassinet (sometimes). In his defense, isn't he just being clear about what we all yearn for? To be held close to loved ones at all times? What a cutie!
I don't remember my birth. I barely remember my kid's births. This week I've been reminded of both by people with much better memories of such things. Even though I've heard every one of the stories before, I love hearing them again. It's best when the same memory is recounted by different people. It's fun noting elements of the tale important to some, but conveniently left out by others.
In this Year-Of-The-New-Baby, we've added two new trees to the yard. Both will end up topping out at 50 to 60 feet high. One is already at 20 feet, the other around 8. By the time baby is ready to climb trees, one of them will be climbable. As I type this, a squirrel is chattering at Wilson the ABC from the safety of one of the old trees. This squirrel was yelling at me earlier, but when I got up from the table it jumped from the pergola I'm sitting under to the spruce tree. A 12 foot jump. It was awesome. I hadn't considered that when picking the spot for planting the new tree. I did think about shade and climbability, but not jumping distances. It reminds me of when baby's Dad used to long-jump in college. He routinely jumped over 21 feet. Much further than the squirrel. However, he needed a running start. The squirrel didn't. As I said, very dramatic.
Back to the trees. The big one is expected to live as long as 150 years. The other tree might reach thirty years. The tree the squirrel is in has witnessed 80 years. The squirrel, on the other hand, will be lucky to see six. They say some can stick around for as long as a dozen years. This assumes they don't meet one of our hawk friends on the bad day. The hawk's lifespan is similar to the squirrel's, six years, so there's a chance they never interact.
Just think. One day I might just get to introduce new baby to all of them. Big tree, little tree, old tree, brown squirrel, big hawk, and maybe even old man Wilson.
I wonder what he'll remember?
