Take Two—10/16/2025
Ideas and inspiration for a life less ordinary.
October 16, 2025
Words to Wonder:
The Trade We All Make
“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts... Our life is what our thoughts make of it.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor
Perspectives to Ponder
When I was about 10 or 11, I collected baseball cards. I wasn’t an expert—I judged a card’s worth by whether I knew the player. One afternoon, while flipping through cards with some older kids, a boy offered me a trade. He’d give me a handful of new cards of players on the San Francisco Giants, my favorite team, in exchange for an old card I had—some guy named Ted Williams. I’d never heard of him, so I made the deal.
Years later, I realized what I’d given away—Ted Williams was a legend, and I’d traded greatness for the familiar, lasting value for something all but worthless.
Looking back, it’s easy to see how naïve that trade was—yet we still make trades like it every day, only now the cards are our thoughts.
We trade gratitude for grievance, patience for urgency, wonder for worry, depth for distraction. And slowly, thought by thought, our inner life becomes colored by those choices.
Marcus Aurelius reminds us that our thoughts don’t just describe our life; they design it. They determine what we pursue, what we see as valuable, and how we experience the world. The quality of our thoughts becomes the quality of our life.
Choose your thoughts with care. In time, they’ll become the portrait of your life.
Not-So-Ordinary Finds
Click Here to read the article.
A beautiful reminder to slow down and notice life as it’s happening. About Time is tender, funny, and quietly profound—a story about love, time, and finding wonder in the ordinary moments we often overlook.
Help Me Launch Words to Wonder
Every book begins with a few helping hands — I’d love yours to help launch Words to Wonder. [Click here for more info]
Life Lessons in a Line
Before You Go
The quality of our days often mirrors the quality of our thoughts. Guard your thoughts well this week. They’re shaping more than your mindset — they’re shaping your life.
Stay inspired by the life you’re living,
Kevin
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