Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

I heard this term last weekend and it brought back memories. In 1997, the Red River Valley was flooded wreaking havoc on North Dakota and Minnesota. Present value of damage approaches $8 billion! Grand Forks, ND seemed to be the worst location impacted and I spent a lot of time there helping the University of North Dakota get their campus back on its feet. Since it was also the Army Corps of Engineers Operations Center, we also helped the city to get back on its feet.

Our family general contracting business used to own, operate and maintain carbureted, gas-powered cars, pick-ups, tractors, maintainers, loaders, crushers and trucks. When something went wrong with gas motors, often times the float would stick in the carburetor and the motor would get flooded with too much gas. Not the same impact as a river overflowing its banks but frustrating nonetheless. You start machinery to use it, not to work on it.

This specific flooded reference was regarding emotions. The biggest culprit cited as the cause of flooding emotions was social media. One comparison I heard was like a five year old jacked up on candy and you expect them to sit still after gobbling up pounds of sugar. 🤔

Are we much different? If we feast on social media content that stirs up an emotional frenzy, like

-she looks really good, I wish I looked like that

-they just took an extravagant trip, I always wanted to go there

-he just bought a fancy car, man I bet that’s fun to drive

…and then we go to a work meeting or we talk to our spouse or we try to communicate with a friend…with our brains flooded with emotion…how do you suppose that goes?

Are we showing up as our best selves?

Are we even being fully present?

Distractions are not only the enemy of production, they negatively impact the quality of our lives. Mix in an emotional ingredient and you have a recipe for constant disappointment.

Challenge: Evaluate how much time you spend on all the things today. Be honest, look specifically at your screen time (cell phone, computer and TV). Once you come up with an accurate number, make a goal to cut it in half (oh yes you can). Replace that time with uninterrupted connections with your loved ones, gather beauty, invest in your health, make a plan to unshackle yourself from the excessive garbage that’s stealing your real joy and filling your coffers with fools gold.

Have a blessed Memorial Day weekend!

Eric