This is about making this season of life the best season, a memoir in process, chronicling life events and reflecting upon them to get closer to who I want to be – wins, losses, lessons learned. Because I rarely know what I think about something until I write about it, this endeavor provides clarity to me. My hope is that you, dear reader, will be encouraged, engaged, and challenged if you find these words as worthy of your time and attention.
Oh yeah, who am I?
My name is Jeff Hoots, my day job is a certified public accountant specializing in small business accounting and tax. Once upon a time I thought I’d be the world’s greatest Dad Blogger, my attempt is still at www.jeffhoots.net. 10 years ago I landed my dream job with a top local firm, went to my blog to post 50 blessings for my 50th birthday, stepped away for a moment to make the most of my new job opportunity, that turned into 10 year writing hiatus that ends now.
Since then our kids have grown up, I’ve gotten to a great place in my career, and I’m ready to write again, hopefully something worthwhile, thinking about blessings, challenges, what I’ve learned, and what’s next.
I am an ordinary average guy soon to turn 60, putting me on the older side of Generation X (born 1965-1980). What you will find here started as long form journaling, now posted in traditional blog-and-comment format.
I hope to differentiate myself by helping us look forward to what could be the best years of our lives.
Maybe you’ve found your favorite Generation X based Instagram and Facebook influencers who do a great job looking back because the 1980s were awesome. The best music, iconic movies and TV shows, clothing I wish I could wear to work if even remotely socially acceptable, and more. I have my favorite content providers as well. Maybe you’ve gone deeper and read the books and blogs about Gen-Xers – I have as well. It is great looking back and wishing I still had my original Journey, Phil Collins, and (gasp!) Dr. Demento vinyl albums. The cassette tapes too. I’ll concede that we are influenced by our times (so is everybody else), be it the music, movies, TV, what parents did and didn’t do, what our teachers did and didn’t do. Being a child of the 80s is great, also not so great. We are influenced by all of it, but not defined by that.
Many of us spent the 80s, then the 90s, now the 2000s finishing school, working through a career or two, raising a family or two, collecting life experiences one day at a time. Is that you? Hopefully you will find this corner of cyberspace a place for you because we have common goals of living well right here right now. Not that we have done this perfectly.
My hope is that I can take the best of what I’ve learned to make this my best season of life yet based on my four core values
- Following Jesus
- Loving my Family and Friends
- Serving in Business
- Practicing Wellness
What this blog is not:
Not about how I graduated at the top of my class, was the golden boy of business, raised perfect kids and retired at 50, that’s someone else’s blog / podcast / YouTube / Substack.
F (or not so F) AQs
Will reading about my life help you live yours better? Writing about it has helped me live my life better, so maybe I can be of help. Like you, I win some, lose some, have good days and bad days. I try my best – with honesty and humor. If you have found yourself all grown up, maybe this blog is for you.
Is it a lifestyle blog? Maybe if that means the ups and downs of the day-to-day.
Is it a travel blog? Maybe if that means an occasional camping weekend, bicycle rail-trail, day trip…
Is it a fitness blog? Maybe if that means thinking about keeping my health and an occasional bike tour striving to bicycle 25-30 miles without a heart attack.
It is a finance blog? Maybe if that means keeping to a budget and saving a few dollars here and there.
Is it a faith-based blog? It won’t take long to observe that my writing is Theocentric. I’m an amateur hack theologian. Truth is valuable, my personal challenge is living the truth – I need to live what I know. Most of what I write about is trying to not just read Scripture, but also do what it says.
What are my Social Media links?
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jeff_hoots
FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/jeffhoots66
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhoots/
Substack (I’m still learning) jeffhoots.substack.com