https://ajflanagan.com Updates from AJ Flanagan https://ajflanagan.com/blog/explanations-aren-t-excuses https://ajflanagan.com/blog/explanations-aren-t-excuses <div>As I get older, so many of the lessons my dad taught me as a kid take on deeper meaning.</div><div><br></div><div>For instance, when I would explain the series of events that led to me showing up after my curfew, he would tell me that while he understood my explanation, it was up to me to plan ahead so that I wouldn&#39;t be in the position of needing to explain.</div>]]> Sun, 20 Sep 2026 09:22:18 CDT https://ajflanagan.com/blog/having-i-been-asking-the-wrong-questions https://ajflanagan.com/blog/having-i-been-asking-the-wrong-questions <div>The other day I came across a meme that simply said, "God knows when to send you exactly what you need." It wasn't anything particularly profound, and it certainly wasn't the first time I'd seen something like it. Normally I would have smiled, maybe clicked "like," and kept scrolling.</div><div><br></div><div>Instead, I found myself thinking about it later that afternoon. Then again the next morning. It wasn't because I questioned whether it was true. It was because I realized I'd been making an assumption about what that sentence meant.</div>]]> Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:21:31 CDT https://ajflanagan.com/blog/wait-what-was-i-doing https://ajflanagan.com/blog/wait-what-was-i-doing <div>I can't tell you how many times I've picked up my phone to do one specific thing and ended up doing something completely different.</div><div><br></div><div>Maybe I'm in the kitchen and realize I'm almost out of something, so I grab my phone to put it on the grocery list. Except when I open my phone, there's a text waiting for me. I read it, answer it, maybe remember something else while I'm doing that, and a few minutes later I put the phone back down. The grocery list never even got opened.</div>]]> Sat, 25 Jul 2026 08:28:00 CDT https://ajflanagan.com/blog/okay-tell-me-i-m-not-the-only-one https://ajflanagan.com/blog/okay-tell-me-i-m-not-the-only-one <div>I've been noticing things about myself that I'm not sure I've ever really noticed before... at least not through the same lens as I'm seeing them now.</div><div><br></div><div>I think they've always been there. I just never stopped and really thought about these things long enough to connect the dots.</div>]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 05:49:12 CDT https://ajflanagan.com/blog/i-care-more-carefully-now https://ajflanagan.com/blog/i-care-more-carefully-now <div>The other day I caught myself starting to get annoyed about something, and halfway through being annoyed, I stopped and thought, "Why am I spending energy on this?"</div><div><br></div><div>That's when it hit me that something has changed...</div>]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 14:03:34 CDT