I hope we are all like the Grinch (12-10-25)

This will be the last blog of 2025. If you’ve been on this distribution list for a while, you might recognize that I usually end the year with this entry. I feel it is just as relevant now as it was in years past. Besides, we watch the same holiday specials every year, so we can revisit the same holiday themed blogs, right? 😉 For our final blog of the year we will look at How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

During this holiday season I hope we are all like the Grinch. Pretty strange thing to say, right? Let me explain why I feel this way. You may know the story of the Grinch. He is a grumpy creature who decides he will try to steal Christmas from the Whos. He concocts an elaborate scheme and then steals all of the presents, decorations, etc. in an effort to ruin their holiday. This negative attitude is what we often associate with the Grinch, but this isn’t the end of his story. The Grinch grows as a character, and life is all about growing, changing, and becoming better.

The Grinch has stolen the gifts, and then he hears the Whos singing. Suddenly, it hits him right as his sleigh full of gifts starts to go over the cliff. “And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day. And then – the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of *ten* Grinches, plus two!” He saves the gifts from falling over the cliff, rides into Whoville, and serves the roast beast at the feast.

The reason I hope we are all like the Grinch this year is because he grows and becomes a better person. He begins filled with apathy, malice, and grumpiness, and then he allows love in and it fundamentally changes him. How have you changed and grown this year? Wherever you are right now, we have the chance to be better. Imagine how different the world be if all of our hearts grew like the Grinch’s. Here is to all of us knowing what it feels like when our hearts grow three sizes in a day.

As always, thanks so much for reading. Your reading and encouragement throughout the year is the best gift I could ever ask for. Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays for anything you might be celebrating! I hope you disconnect and recharge. I hope you find peace, love, and fulfillment.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Handling Heat and Showing Compassion (7-9-25)

Last week, our air conditioning went out and we had to replace the entire unit. This bit of bad luck will be the inspiration for this series, so I’m hoping it’s fire 😉 Our first entry will be about handling heat, what that does and doesn’t mean, and showing compassion.

Let’s set the scene. The air conditioning is out. It is hot and humid outside. The house feels gross. The heat was particularly tough on my wife and kids. At night, I would go upstairs and sleep, even though it was hotter up there. Meanwhile, they had created a fort of cool with portable mattresses and all of the fans they could muster.

The factual statement is that I was able to sleep upstairs when they couldn’t. It would be easy to think this somehow makes me tougher or stronger than them. This might be true, but there could be other explanations. Maybe, our bodies process the experience of being overheated differently. Maybe, our bodies get overheated at different rates. Maybe, since I’m usually hot to begin with, I just have more experience being hot and uncomfortable so it’s not too different for me. Maybe, they are dealing with other challenges I’m not dealing with, so I can put more energy toward temperature regulation. I could sleep upstairs, but that doesn’t necessarily make me tougher, stronger, or better.

Let’s connect some dots. Have you ever looked at someone else and thought, “They must stronger or better than me, because they handle that well?” Or have you ever thought, “Why am I so much worse and weaker than other people?” I know I have. I’ve thought about these things as it relates to physical pain, stress, and more.

When I was younger, I’d look at people and think, “Whoa! That person must be tough,” or “That person just needs to put in the effort and suck it up!” as if it were that simple and straight forward. As I get older, and hopefully a bit wiser, I realize there is more to it than that. Maybe that person has put in the effort and is that strong. Maybe that person appears strong because they have cut off all of their emotions, which isn’t exactly healthy. Maybe that person who is struggling on a task has a whole lot of other things in life kicking the crap out of them right now. Maybe I’m experiencing a person when they aren’t at their best, while they are so strong and amazing in other aspects of life. The bottom line of all of this is I’ve learned to show more understanding and a heck of a lot more compassion.

The challenge: Will you show more understanding and compassion to others? Will you show more understanding and compassion to YOURSELF?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Defaulting to Compassion (8-9-23)

Last week was about being curious vs judgmental in tough conversations. This week is about not knowing what to do and defaulting to compassion.

The other week I was trying my best to deal with a particularly challenging parenting situation. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and exasperated. I talked to my wife and said, “I’m just lost right now. I don’t know how to handle this. I don’t know how to support and help our kids. There’s no playbook for this. I think we might need to talk to the therapist about this to get some ideas.” My wife responded with something along the lines of, “Yeah, this is really tough and been hard for some time. Maybe the therapist will have some ideas. There’s not exactly a play to follow with specific moves to make. However, there are general guidelines and the first is to always try to act with compassion in the situation. As long as we can keep doing that, we can figure everything else out.”

What does this have to do with anything? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find myself in situations where I’m not exactly sure how to lead. I’m not exactly sure how to navigate the conversation. I’m not exactly sure what to do. When this happens, it’s easy to freeze, because there is no clear path forward. However, like my wife said, while there may not always be a clear step by step guide to follow, I can always act with compassion. I can always ensure that my next move is to step CLOSER to someone vs create distance. I can always put forth the effort to try to understand and show empathy. We may not always know the best path to take, and acting with compassion will NEVER be a bad choice.

The challenge: How are you acting with compassion in messy and challenging situations?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry