Clear out the clutter so I can focus on what I really enjoy.  Now some of the impetus for this move has been my recent unemployment.  With a limited budget, this seems like a perfect time to realign my priorities, but also for once I more control over my time.  Also, I’ve been pulling Mr. Mom duties so that has pulled me towards other options on how to make an impact in my family.  Here’s a simple list of some small changes I’ve made.

- Play with my family more often – bike rides and board games and less TV
- eating more meals with the kids – we eat healthier, spend more time together and save money
- more prayer – this helps more than you believe
- reading and writing – this blog is active and I’ve have been getting through some of the books on my nightstand
- applying to jobs that you really are interested in – why waste your time with anything else?
- meeting with friends for coffee and lunch – sometimes the best thing I do during the day to connect
- working out at home – triathlon season is upon us and I need this to keep feeling strong
- more sleep – clarity in the morning and quiet time is a gift

What do I have to give up on occassion to get the above?  TV.
I’m not completely anti-TV but I only watch a few things and have learned to give up watching alot of sports.
Consequently, beer goes out the door with less sports.  Not missing much here.

Let’s see how the experiment works.  I’ve asked my kids to hold me more accountable.

What things work for you?

Here are some of the reasons that make me think fondly of Boston:

• The Red Sox – I have never been a crazy sports fan until I got sucked up into Red Sox nation.  It crazy that whe you are on the subway that everyone wants to talk about the Sox.  Watching playoff baseball behind the Green Monster is truely one of the greatest sporting moments of my life.
• The T – at the time it was just a dollar to get anywhere in the city. Yes it was cold, it you had to wait, but I read a ton and enjoyed not having to grind it out in daily traffic.
• Four distinct seasons – Texas has summer and not summer.  Boston had four real seasons and that meant that there was something unique about each the celebrate about each.  Fall meant the Head of the Charles and the Harvard/Yale game, Winter meant skating on Frog Pond and the Bruins, Spring means the end of Winter, and summer means Red Sox.
• Food and drink – Railto, Abe and Louie’s, the Parrish Cafe, Legal Seafood, The Clam Box, Buzzy’s Roast Beef, , Sam Adams, Harpoon, The Federalist, The Paramount, Mamma Maria’s, the North End the South End, Inman Sq - the city is not Chicago and not NYC but it is really a great place to get a great meal and hoist a few pints.  Even the little mom and pop joints are good for quick and inexpensive chow down.   
• Harvard – I know there are tons of great schools in the coutry but I enjoyed working and going to school at Harvard.  I met some great people there and the access to lectures was an amazing experience.
• New England – what a beautiful place!  The Cape to Maine is a cool place with lots of great people and obviously the history is key to understanding what makes New Englanders tick.  When I first moved to Boston, I could not understand the accent at all, but when I left, I couldn’t even hear it.  Rather, I learned that New Englanders are practical and sometime a bit gruff but not in a NYC sort of way.  Once you get the opportunity to peal back the onion a bit on New Englanders, then you have some really solid, stand up people.
• Dunkin Donuts – their coffee is like crack.  It’s not premium coffee by any means but on a cold day it really hits the spot.
• Boston Common – during the summer it is truly stunning and the swan boats are in order.  During the winter, skating on Frog Pond is hard to beat.  It’s right smack dab in the middle of the city.  A ture oasis.
• The History – in my walk to work I went past the Boston Massacre site, the First Public School, Granary Burial Ground, and Faneuil Hall.  Pretty cool. 

Things that bug me about Boston:

• Realtors and crazy cost of living – our apartment was about 800 sq ft and was $1650 per month and that was in the late 1990s and we had to pay our realtor two months of rent as a fee just for the previlidge of living there.  Granted we could walk to Harvard Sq, but really it was just a place to sleep.
• Winter – it’s way too long.  Snow starts out white and slowly turns to this greay mush that gets on just about everthing you own.  Bone chilling cold that hurts to walk in and never seems to let up.  When it’s April you may still get snow.  No sun to speak of means that Jason get a little pissy and pale. 
• A complex with NYC – why do you hate New Yorkers so much?  Go to the Cape sometime to understand why.  New Yorkers have the Hamptons and now they’ve come to use the Cape to use it for all it’s worth.  Actually I like NYC and Upstate but it is so unlike Boston and New England.  Fortunately, the Sox and the Patriots have done alot to give New Englanders the pride and respect they deserve.
• Logan Airport – it is an embarassment that a city like Boston has such a dump for an airport and it is hard to access since you have to go through a tunnel to get to it.

When I woke up on Friday morning my right foot was in terrible pain.  As a triathlete, I can take a fair amount of pain but something was different this time.  Soreness is part of training, but pain doesn’t usually enter the equaltion. 

Now I don’t make a living by racing, so my hope is that I learn from this experience to set some limits on training intensity, but somehow I don’t think I will keep it in check for very long.  I think I have some sort of sickness that makes me want to be uncomfortable.  Why else would I run in the cold, rain and on the unforgiving roads?  I feel soft even for sitting down at the computer to write this post when I should be digging it out, outside, doing something. 

I’m not sold on the runner’s high as the reason to keep me in this sport.  I don’t even really get into with my family about the training, so there is no real glory there.  Actually, my kids would rather have me as their go-fish partner rather than some althlete.

So why do it?  The physical benefits are maximized early on so that the extra miles mean virtually nothing.  Everytime I train there is a little voice that tells me that I’m weak so I’m out there trying to tell the voice what’s what.  Is the voice me or is it something else? 

Why do ya’ll work hard at something?  Is it money, respect, making up for something else in life?

This year is the the first time in a while that I don’t have a job during the holidays.  I’m glad that it gives me more time to be with my family and share my faith with them, but it still seems like Santa and stuff keep trying to push that out.  I should have less money for the stuff and that gives me the intro to make sure that my kids know what this season is really about but it we are still bending over backwards to make sure kids have so much stuff.  I bet I could re-wrap a toy for my kids and they would think it was new since they have so much stuff.

Is my family making up for something by being overly generous this time of year even when financially we should be cutting back?  Buying that goat for the family in Ethopia will not make up for all the silliness that corporate America pushes on us this time of year.  Are we needing to put up a front to make sure everyone think we are alright?  A well adjusted American family with the Christmas tree in the living room and countless presents under it.

I’ve been playing alot of card games and board games with my kids since I’ve been out of work.  We can spend hours playing Go Fish or Chutes and Ladders and not once do they ask for the TV or another new toy.  My kids just want my time and nothing else.    It’s my own fault for allowing stuff to come between me and what is important, but do we need to become Spartans in order to purge all extras from our life?  

Just goes to show you that simple is not always easy.

I’m thankful that my family and I have always been provided for but this year is different.  I don’t have a job but that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything.  Today I woke up in control of my time, my mind and my faith.  Isn’t that worth more than all the stuff in the world?

Aligning Marketing and Sales in an Economic Downturn – March 3rd

The Impact of Corporate Culture on Performance – March 4th

It’s a great honor to speak.  I’m looking forward to meeting others in the community.  My hope is that I can be a resource to those who attend my sessions.  While I’ll never consider myself a pro at public speaking, I am passionate about small business and entrepreneurship, so I’m excited about my sessions.

See you all then,

Jason

About RISE 2009:  From March 3-5, aspiring entrepreneurs may attend free RISE Sessions led by successful members of the Austin business community.  Co-hosted by MPOWER Foundation and the Acton School of Business RISE is a non-profit initiative with no cost to participate.  Through RISE expertise is exchanged as entrepreneurs from multiple industries and backgrounds connect with each other as well as members of the academic, financial, non-profit, and government sectors.  Unlike a traditional conference, RISE Sessions are limited to 25 participants and take place all over the city in areas where entrepreneurs naturally congregate. From board rooms to coffee shops, from office parks to Zilker Park, entrepreneurs gather to learn, share and recharge.   http://www.riseaustin.org

KESTER SMITH: YOUR WORDS

Fill Lent with God, not stuff

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Why does God hate stuff? That’s the question I was asked once as the season of Lent approached. Lent is a season in which Christians give up stuff for the 40 days leading up to Easter. So the question goes; if the stuff I’m giving up isn’t bad stuff (and, if it is, shouldn’t I give it up for more than 40 days?) then what’s the point of giving it up?

It’s a fair question, and one worth answering with the season of Lent upon us – it begins Wednesday with Ash Wednesday.

First of all, God doesn’t hate stuff. God isn’t opposed to earthly pleasures, in fact he infuses them with a foundation for meaning. Calls to fasting aren’t meant to deny ourselves of physical things so that we can concentrate on “spiritual” things, but so we can redeem the physical things as spiritual things. Food can become more substantive and enjoyable; so can entertainment, relationships, sex and other pleasures.

Going back at least to the time of Augustine is the concept of a “God shaped hole” that exists in all of us. Augustine argued that every human being was created with a place inside that can only be filled by the presence of God. He went on to say that humans make the mistake of trying to fill that hole with other things, the things that make them “happy.”

Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and philosopher, argued that the God-shaped hole in the human heart is, in fact, an infinite and terrifying abyss that we try to cover over with all sorts of façades. Then when, eventually, a crack appears in the façade, and we see through it the well of eternal nothingness plunging down forever, we hurl ourselves back in horror. We will do anything to fill that empty space.

So we pour alcohol through the crack in the façade in the hopes of filling the abyss and removing the horror. Of course, any recovering alcoholic will tell you this doesn’t work. Not for long.

Sigmund Freud said in “Civilization and Its Discontents” that no mood-altering chemicals ultimately perform this job satisfactorily. For a while, Freud thought that cocaine could safely do this and had to learn the hard way, through his own personal experience, that in the long run it worked no better than alcohol.

So we reach for money or sex or power or security. And we discover, either by witnessing it or through firsthand experience, these things don’t fill that space either.

Only that which is infinite and completely transcendent, Pascal said, could fill such an infinite abyss.

The Bible says that we cannot love both God and mammon. Mammon is just a word for “stuff” or things. God is to be loved and things are to be used. And it is increasingly important that we love God and use things, for there is much in our gadget-minded, consumer-oriented society that is encouraging us to love things and use God.

When Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness (this is where the 40 days of Lent comes from), He was tempted by Satan with provision, wealth and power. The pursuit of happiness. The American Dream. But we are called, as Christ was, to pursue holiness. Jesus’ words to Satan are, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Jesus knows where his blessings come from. His time in the desert has been a reminder of that. He knows to put the giver before the gift.

So, in this season of Lent, we follow the example of Christ in the wilderness and make a conscious choice for emptiness.

Now there are many schools of religious thought that teach an embracing of emptiness as the key to happiness. That we must die to ourselves. That a denial of our physical selves will, in and of itself, redeem our spiritual selves. That the physical is bad and the spiritual is good. That is not what Christians proclaim.

We proclaim the physical and spiritual are connected, and we witness that in the incarnation of Jesus. If we deny ourselves, it is only so we can take up the cross of Christ. If we die, it is only so we can live again. If we embrace emptiness, it isn’t with emptiness as the end goal, but as a means to an end, experiencing the fullness of God. If we stop grasping at stuff, it is so we can grab hold of God.

I encourage you to give something up this Lenten season. Something you really like. Something you’ll miss. Something that you think keeps you from being empty, from facing that abyss. I encourage you to ask God into that time and that place that you normally fill with television or chocolate or shopping. Let this season of Lent be a time when you embrace emptiness in order to better understand the sacrifice of Christ and to be more filled with the spirit of God.

Kester Smith is the pastor for the Immanuel Austin Community (www.immanuelaustin.com) and blogs at www.pastorkes.blogspot.com.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter what I do for money that’s important.  What do I want to do when I grow up?  I want to have an impact on people in my community, in my family and my day to day life.  Come to think of it, I’m already there and I’m doing it.

I have two kids and a wife that I spend alot of time with.  I’m an active member of my church.  I volunteer to speak at conferences.  I’m active in local politics.  I coach my son’s sports teams.  I mentor at my office (although she may not know it).

In the end, I’ve chosen a life of service and never really thought about it.  The biggest joy I have is seeing others achieve.  That’s not to say that I don’t have my own goals but service is the key to achieveing my goals.

Put more time in with the family.  Put more time in to develop my relationship with God.  Put more time in volunteering in the community.  Giving my time and using my gifts is what I’m here to do on this Earth.

You want to know something?  I actually enjoy it.  Of course, I still need to have a job and want to do something that I enjoy, but even there I serve others.

I remember asking my Dad how to set a good example as a Hispanic man  He said, “That’s not the point.  The point is to do more than you talk about doing and then everyone will see you and not your race.” 

Wasn’t it Woody Allen that said” 90% of life is just showing up.”

What do I want to do when I grow up?  I’m already doing it.  I’m leading by serving.  That’s awesome!

The origins of Austin’s high tech economy is the confluence of two things, the University of Texas Engineering Department and its abundance of research and those business people who saw what Austin could be (see MCC and Sematech).  Enter the chip manufacturing industry and job training programs supported by UT and Austin Community College.  It rallied for along time and then eventually the internet boom came to town.  Money and brains stayed and came Austin, only for the internet bust at the beginning of the century. 

The decline of chip manufacturing has been coming for a awhile, but Austin has an opportunity to revamp its tech industry and reinvent itself and save and enhance its culture, by supporting renewable energy technologies. 

Wind, solar, and new battery technology is not just the wave of the future.  It’s here now and if we are to lead then we need to start investing now in training, attracting and supporting business that support those new technologies.

A public-private partnership can’t merely be talk, but it must plan and act together as any business.  The current Mayor, Will Wynn has done well to start some of the initial discussion, but the next Mayor will surely have to hit the ground running.  Brewster McCraken, current City council member and candidate for Mayor, seem to be  of a similar mindset of those who are pushing for renewable energy economy, as per his leadership in the Pecan Street Project. 

This is a great first step, but it’s up to the people of Austin and it’s great legacy of entrepreneurship to step-up to the plate once again and start those small businesses.  That’s what sets Austin apart from other cities, its people.  Smart, creative and determined to make a change in their community.  I can name others cities that share a similar vibe, Cambridge, MA specifically where I lived and went to school, but Silicon Valley and San Francisco have appearance of progressiveness but none of the moxy of Austin.

For it’s size, Austin has the greatest resources available to it.  As for me, I’m trying to figure out what role I can play in Austin’s transformation.  Will I start that great new business?  Maybe?  But I have faith that regardless of where I’m at, Austin will do it’s best to keep on doing the right things.  And that’s not to say that there won’t be challenges, but when you go around town I know that you all have a sense that someting great is about to happen to an already awesome town.

Just don’t take this great town for granted.  Make it better by doing what you do best, whatever it is.