Greg Rittler

xmas 2009 playlist

I am on the more roughing it side of backpacking when I go out. My pack weighs in at around 28lbs for a 4 day trip. Most accustomed to being out in the backcountry know that isn’t much. Most beginners are going out with at least 15-20 lbs more than that.

So needless to say I don’t bring many “comforts”. In fact, a big part of why I go is to get away from the daily comforts of life and challenge myself a bit. I find a centering that happens when I am alone or in a small group hiking in the middle of nowhere with no agenda other than simply being and communing with God. Centering is a good thing.

Having said that I do have a backcountry pet peeve that drives me crazy: not having decent coffee. There seems to be no good solution for brewing a good cup of joe. You can bring a press with you, but then you are carrying extra weight. You can buy singles of coffee that look like tea bags but they don’t taste great. Instant coffee has always been my nemesis. Until now.

Elise brought me home a sample of Starbucks new instant product VIA.

I was rocked. I loved it. I have never had such a great cup of instant. I’m sold.

I’ll be heading out to Dolly Sods (or somewhere) with a few of my closest friends in Novemeber. We will be roughing it. But we’ll be roughing it with great coffee.

I love solutions to problems.

Keep moving forward,

Greg

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson publishers sent me a copy of a book about a month ago that I was really excited about reading. It was Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Here is a review of the book. I would strongly recommend this read.

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I love this book. Donald Miller has taken life and reframed it in ways that I needed at this juncture in my own life and I expect others will be struck the same way. Many books I read are good, but very few actually hit on something that causes me to stop and rethink a lot of life.

Don spends 250 pages helping me to realize that my life is a story and that the story I am creating with what I do every day will become the story that everyone in my life reads: my wife, my kids, friends, neighbors, clients, people I work with, etc. My life is a series of event that make up my story. And here’s what really struck me: I’m a mixed bag when you look at my story.

There are parts of my story that I am embarrassed about and wish were different. There are things that I would change if I could go back and change them. I’d like to say these were things that happened twenty years ago but I couldn’t. Some of them happened last week, last month and this last year. There is pain in my story.

There are other parts of my story that I am proud of. Relationships that I have invested in. People who have loved me and who I have loved. Friends that I have been through some great times together as well as serious challenges together. My marriage is a great part of my story: warts and all. There is joy in my story.

But here was my big takeaway from the book: I get to write the story. Mixed bag that I am, I still get to choose what my story is going to be about. I get to do this in community with Elise, my kids, my family, my friends, co-workers, clients, and neighbors. We get to work together to craft the story of our lives. This has weighed heavy on my lately. I want to write a good story. A story that will matter when I am gone; not a story about a volvo (as Don would joke about in the book).

I’m two weeks away from a birthday that may mark the midpoint of my life. I want to spend that time writing and revising the script for my story. I want it to matter when it is all over. I’ll keep you posted with what I come up with.

In the meantime…go get this book and start writing yourself a better story.

Keep moving forward,

Greg

I love fall. From back to school, to Thanksgiving, Halloween, and everything in between. Here are 5 things to love about fall:

1. Fires! There is nothing that says fall to me like a fire in the backyard to roast some s’mores over. We rarely have them in the summer, but when fall comes we stoke the fire again.
2. The first morning when I need a jacket. I love the feeling of needing slightly more clothing on. Dont’ get me wrong, I love flip flop, shorts and a t-shirts. But when fall rolls around again and I need a jacket for the first time I love it.
3. Backpacking. I love this all year long, but there is something great about the leaves, the mountains, the temperature, the lack of bugs, and the quiet that sets in when fall arrives that is awesome. Nights are cold in the mountains but most days you are in shorts and a t-shirt still on the trail. Sleeping is also usually better when it is chilly and you bundle up in the sleeping bag.
4. Football! Nothing says fall like “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL”. Although I am going to make sure I don’t watch EVERY game available this year (as I have in the distant past), I love when the season begins. I watch very little TV the rest of the year, but when the NFL season begins I am an addict for a few weeks. Monday Nights are my favorite (preferably with some Bateman’s wings and Dogfish Head IPA.
5. Nights out on the patio on the in 50 degree whether! Most people know I LOVE it outside. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. But it is the best when you can sit outside with a slight chill and watch the stars overhead. (tonight this was while grilling some burgers and handing out with Riley and Seth).

I love every fall. But I do have one more reason (the mystery number 6 reason for loving fall). 3 weeks from today I get to be one of the best men (Jeff Weaver is the other one) in the Brisa Bond wedding. That’s just icing on the cake.

Keep moving forward,

Greg