Monday, April 30, 2012

Thirty Things Leading to Thirty

Today it finally hit me that on Thursday I start a new generation of life, my thirties.  Many people I know have told me that turning thirty is a stress, a hassle, even a period of mental breakdowns.  I decided that I don't want it to be that way, so in celebration of turning thirty, I have decided to do thirty things that will make me a kid at heart.  I solicited many of these ideas from others, and will be completing them over the course of the next few days, on through the weekend.  As is the case with anything, it is always funner when you have friends around to share the joy.  If anyone reading this would like to participate in any of my thirty things, call or text me.  Some of these ideas are reliant upon the cooperation of the weather.  In the event that it doesn't cooperate, I'm also including a few alternate activities that I can complete.  I will be photographing many of the events as I complete them and will create a photo blog of my adventures after they are completed.  Here is my list of thirty things to do as a child turning thirty:

  1. Buy a lego set and build it.
  2. Play with action figures or toy cars.
  3. Watch Saturday morning cartoons (old school 80s cartoons that is, not that cheap anime crap they play now).
  4. Ask my mom for permission to invite my friends over for a sleepover (even though I don't live at home).
  5. Order a kid's meal from a fast food restaurant.
  6. Build a fort.
  7. Sleep out on the trampoline under the stars.
  8. Fly a kite (Only if there is enough wind to get it off the ground).
  9. Go puddle jumping (Only if it rains.  I do not want man made puddles to jump in Jeff).
  10. Eat a giant Pixi Stick.
  11. Go to a movie at midnight (The Avengers anyone?).
  12. Jump on the trampoline with a sprinkler under it.
  13. Go to a park and play on the slide and swings.
  14. Sing a song in a public bathroom that is occupied (for sanitary and privacy purposes no picture or video will be taken of this one).
  15. Draw on the sidewalk with chalk.
  16. Eat some Pop Rocks.
  17. Blow some bubbles.
  18. Roll down a hill.
  19. Run through a fountain (at the Gateway perhaps?).
  20. Play 4 player Goldeneye on old school N64 ( I can't do this one alone people!!!!)
  21. Play laser tag with friends (again, not gonna happen alone.)
  22. Drink a Squeeze It (do they even make these any more?)
  23. Go doorbell ditching.
  24. Jump rope.
  25. Buy a bouncy ball from the $.50 vending machine.
  26. Thumb wrestle people (I can't thumb wrestle myself silly).
  27. Read a Dr Seuss book.
  28. Learn how to fold a new paper airplane and fly it.
  29. Watch a Disney movie.
  30. Celebrate at Lagoon on Saturday (It's what fun is!  And you are all invited!)
This is going to be quite a remarkably adventurous week.  I can't wait to get started!  If anyone is interested in joining me for #11, 20, 21, or 30, please call or text soon so I can get you the details. As I mentioned earlier, if you want to participate in any of the other events, you are welcome to do that too.  I believe that that at the end of this week I will feel even younger than I do today, even if I'm officially thirty.  Game On!!!! 

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The World in My Hands



"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware."  - Henry Miller
     I am one that likes to be inspired.  The last few years of my life have not been inspiring ones...  I have been on many journeys.  Spike (my foot) has had some EPIC thrill rides.  Yet something happened to me during 2011.  What was it exactly?  Choice.
     Life is made up of choices.  Each day we face thousands of them. What will I eat for breakfast? What will I wear to work?  Then there are the less obvious choices that we make: Breathe in and out, swallow, cough, poop.  Although most of our choices may seem trivial, I have found that at any given time, there are choices that can change our lives. 
     During August, I experienced New York City for the first time.  I experienced it during a hurricane.  Having suffered from chronic pain for years, I have recently come to appreciate each day of life as a gift.  As Andrew and I talked to the locals in preperation for the hurricane, I noticed a totally split crowd of New Yorkers.  It seemed that half of them were over preparing while the other half didn't think it was a big deal and decided maybe they should go kayaking in the middle of the hurricane.  Poor choices usually end badly.  In this case, men from the National Guard risked their lives to save those of the mindless kayakers.  This event brought me to serious reflection: How would I feel if I knew that today could be my last day?  How would I spend my final moments?  What should I do to more fully enjoy and appreciate life?
     This experience led me to determine that the world is what I make it.  Two men look out through the same bars; one sees the mud and one sees the stars.  Certainly the situation these men are in is identical.  But what causes one of them to change their focus?  Attitude?  Wisdom?  CHOICE!!  The fact of the matter is all of us are going to pass through life's roller coaster.  It will hit us each in different ways and at different times.  For me it has hit my health. For others it may hit finances, family, friends, or all at once.  Yet life is still good!  Life is great in fact!  Why is it great?  Because it is whatever we make it!  What I realized in that hotel room while the winds howled and rains poured down outside the 1 inch pane of glass seperating me from certain wetness, was that the choices that matter most are the ones we make about how to react to the things that happen to us.  What we CHOOSE to see, the mud or the stars, is completely and utterly up to us.

     As 2012 begins, I know that the World is in my hands...  What I choose to do with it is up to me.  I've failed to live up to my potential the last few years and that stops now.  Pain will not hold me back.  Anxiety will fade like the sunset.  I will get in the best shape of my life.  I will be more positive.  I will update my blog more.  I will get my MBA.  I will be in relentless pursuit of things that matter.  Will it have its ups and downs?  I'm sure it will.  But when I look back on 2012, I will most certainly achieve one thing: I will be inspired... Why?  Because I choose to be!
"Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved." -William Jennings Bryant