Happy Sunday,This wasn’t the plan for Christmas Eve. I’m driving east, watching the sky flatten into fading gray. Thin lines of snow cross the road like zebra stripes, dark against the white, wispy layer blowing right to left from one field to the next. The plan was simpler. Family would visit the weekend before Christmas. We’d do the meals, exchange gifts, then settle back into a quiet holiday break at home. Instead, I’m losing light, halfway to Saskatchewan. Feeling the familiar mix of sadness and the sneaky guilt that shows up when plans change in a direction you didn’t expect. Part of me wants to turn around. No one asked me to come. But I need to go, so I keep driving east, listening to the low hum of disappointment. When I arrive, the house is quiet. My sister and I sit at her kitchen table, talking, just the two of us, more than we have in years. After she goes to bed, I stay up with the Christmas tree. The stress is still there. So is the heaviness. But sitting in the twinkling light, something else is there too. Gratitude. For the chance to show up. For finding a place to land when plans change. This wasn’t the Christmas I imagined. But it reminded me what I value. Family. Showing up. Being there when you can.
December in 3 snapshots 📬 Transition to Ideabrowser – December kicked off with a role shift. After a year of writing weekly emails for Startup Empire, I moved into writing daily startup ideas for Ideabrowser. It’s mentally demanding in a different way, occasionally overwhelming, but a welcome change of pace. A fresh challenge to start a new chapter. 🌭 Post-hockey tailgating – An early game with the Knights made way for a parking lot barbecue. Smokies, moose sausage, a pair of beers, and no rush to go anywhere. We somehow timed the weather perfectly. It was a balmy zero degrees instead of minus twenty-five. The usual routine is late-night arrival, smack the puck, and leave fast. This time we lingered. Shot the shit. Did something different. Felt like an extra win. 🎄One Christmas, two provinces – Pre-Christmas in Calgary with family packed into our place. Fondue night. Full turkey dinner. Loud, cozy, chaotic. Then a last-minute pivot to Saskatchewan for Christmas Day. Cold mornings, farm chores, feeding horses, and long stretches of quiet. Not the Christmas break I expected. Probably the one I needed.
3 Lessons Learned I. Life is too short for silence. Silence breeds distortion. Nuance dies. Stories grow louder than reality. Unspoken thoughts turn into resentment. Most tension isn’t caused by conflict, but by avoidance. Have the conversation. Make the move. Say the thing. Do the thing. Clumsy honesty is better than quiet contempt. II. Kind words are not enough. Apologies without effort don’t heal anything. Nor do good intentions accomplish anything without follow-through. Care is demonstrated, not declared. It has to be visible. Tangible. Repeated. Kindness is a verb. Show up. Try. Act. III. Unspoken expectations are prison walls. Expectations exist whether you admit them or not. They form quietly, then harden, turning into silent contracts no one agreed to. When they go unmet, frustration follows. Speak what you need. Risk being let down and feeling disappointment. That’s freedom. Anything less is self-made confinement.
3 fun things to check out
I’ll leave you with a quote 🤔 “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” — Maya Angelou Until next time, Scotty
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