This week is about chili and the power and beauty of the simple things.

Imagine for a moment.  It’s a cold crisp day.  You can see your breath when you’re outside.  You’ve been out running errands and you come home.  You still have a little bit of a chill in your bones.  When you get inside you smell it.  A nice pot of chili is cooking on the stove.  You scoop yourself out a bowl, add a little cheese and crackers, and you eat.  That scene would describe a perfect fall day for me.  It’s hard to beat a good bowl of chili on a cold day.  There isn’t anything fancy about chili.  It’s only a few key ingredients.  The power is in the simplicity.  A few ingredients, a hot bowl on a cold day, and it’s perfection.

How does this connect with anything?  We live in a world where so much is at our fingertips.  We live in a world where it is easy to have more and more and more.  It’s easy to get lost going after the next thing with all the newest features.  There’s nothing wrong with new things, but sometimes all of this causes us to get lost in a world of complexity.  Sometimes, what we really need are the simple things.  There is power and beauty in a short walk outside.  There is something magical about a sitting around a bonfire or a table and sharing stories with friends and family.  There aren’t too many things better than curling up and reading a book or magazine.  Some of my best memories were formed playing simple card games.  There is hidden beauty locked inside the world of simple things.

The challenge: Will you stop to appreciate the simple things?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry