"If youth only knew, if age only could!"

Do you truly know what you want? I mean if you had to give a 30 second elevator pitch on what you want with the rest of your time on this journey...COULD YOU HONESTLY COME UP WITH A STRONG, SOLID RESPONSE?

The ultimate problem in life (for some its really not a problem because they either DON'T care or they ALREADY have it figured out!) is that most people figure out what they really want and how they want to obtain it at a stage that is TOOOOO late. 

So like the title of this post says...."If youth only knew, if age only could!" 

Do you know what the reference point is? 

Here is a little friendly reminder...its the most precious commodity we have in this world and the only commodity that once its gone...well its gone forever! 

The answer is TIME!!!! 

TIME is something we know is extremely important but, honestly, DO YOU USE IT THE RIGHT WAY? 

The easy answer is NO! In today's world we are on our phones TOO much, we play around on the internet TOO much, we fall into a stage of anxiety which ultimately is worrying about something in the future that may not happen TOO much, we argue over stupid shit like politics, nutrition, exercise, paint colors and random opinions TOO much, we delay on making that stressful phone call that we know we need to make thus loosing sleep over a call that ultimately may go better than expected...TOOOOO MUCH! 

You, me, the NBA player last night, your kids incredible teacher and my buddy who is worth more money than I would know what to do with all have one thing in common...NONE OF US ARE PERFECT AT MAXMIZING OUR TIME AND USING IT TO THE MOST EFFIENCET LEVEL POSSIBLE! 

Guess what? It's completely ok as long as you know that is your TRUTH! 

My step-dad had some health issues last weekend that were extremely stressful and pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind, a patient of mine lost her, extremely healthy brother of 34 years old, to a massive heart attack and that pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind, my absolutely adorable, beautiful, badass daughter is graduating high school and that most definitely pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind! 

The problem is I will go through my day today, privileged to the opportunities in front of me and I will get lazy in my GRATITUDE department and I will forget at some level how lucky I am to have the TIME I have! 

Is this upsetting? Not at all because I am human and as humans we often forget how amazing we have it overall! 

This is why my 30 second elevator pitch becomes so important because this is when I can speak it into my own mind and remind myself WHAT REALLY MATTERS!

My elevator pitch...

"My practice in life has always been to push myself one percent better than I was yesterday. Spiritual, mental and physical growth allows me to take care of myself which in turn strengthens my bonds in life. Whether its racing an ultra-endurance event, watching my kids conquer their dreams, acknowledging how lucky I am to have met my wife, inspiring someone to find a passion or leading a movement to change the world, life is a canvas that allows me to paint my own future." 

If your path has taken an unfortunate turn lately...its ok! Take a minute, take a deep breath, saddle back up and LET'S GO!

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count! 

How bad do you want it?

 

"If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse!"

I could probably list a few dozen lessons my step-dad has taught me over the past 30 years but one CONSTANT message that always flips into my mind is...NOTHING OUTWEIGHS HARD WORK! 

As a kid I can remember night after night watching him work at our kitchen table on law case after law case and the one thing I never remember hearing is...COMPLAINING! 

I never heard...

This is too hard! This doesn't matter! There is no point! No one cares! I should just quit! I am not good enough!

Not one time ever did I hear...any complaints, any negativity, any objections (ha ha...like that little lawyer jargon thrown in), any hints of frustration or any desire to throw in the towel! 

He just kept showing up...doing the work needed...to be as successful as all of it was important to him in order to live the life he desired and to help raise the family that meant everything to him and that wanting in bad enough still first him up NOW.

In my life I have always noticed a trend...I am 100% involved in EVERYTHING I do...UNTIL I lose that importance factor. 

I have humbly accomplished a lot in my life that I am extremely proud of and I have also let a lot of cool things slip out of my grasp mainly because I lost love for the endeavor. 

I am not proud of some of the things I have let slip in my life but that is life for me and everyone. 

What we want bad enough...we fight for and go all in towards accomplishing that GOAL. 

This week I hit a pinnacle of ultra swimming that I have had on my bucket list for many, many years!

Hitting the magical number of 10,000 in the pool was everything I thought it would be and more. 

I was hoping that my body would hold up strong and it did as I held the same pace for three hours straight. 

I was also hoping my mind would completely give out on me at some point and I would have to choose how bad I WANTED IT and...well...that moment came and went multiple times during the swim. 

You are probably confused seeing that I wanted my mind to fail...WHAT? To me when we hit that point...THAT...is the exact moment we start to grow!

Endurance sports truly is a 20% physical and 80% mental game! We train so hard to get our bodies ready for battle yet rarely train our minds for the tactical game that lies ahead of us. 

Isn't life the same way? Physically we are mostly in tune to what is needed to get through our days yet mentally we throw in the towel when someone cuts us off in traffic, we burn the mac and cheese, we hit the snooze button a half dozen times, someone critics us, someone doesn't agree with our views and when the weight on the scale is not coming off as fast as we want! 

We come up with a million different excuses as to why something is just not for US! 

Those excuses are just your bullshit reasons and I challenge you to hold off from throwing the towel in and just try one more time! 

Trust me...there are two things that will be worth it...

1.) Accomplishing a major hurdle, obstacle or goal is worth its weight in gold...I would rather struggle through a three hour swim and come out the other side a better man, dad and human than I would like to win a million dollars or have some fancy car that means NOTHING.  

2. ) Regret is a terrible disease and while you might not regret something now at 40 years old...I guarantee that if you don't go all in on accomplishing everything you desire then one day you will be on your death bed wishing you wouldn't have given in to that excuse! 

So all I have to say is...

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

GO GET IT! 

Make It Count! 

You don't have to...YOU GET TO!

 

"You don't have to see the whole staircase...just take the first step!"

Yesterday I full on had one of those days! A pity-party in which I was the only one attending! 

I had many things on my daily TO DO LIST...with a very long swim being one of them! 

However...the gloomy, overcast, rainy, I am sore, motivation no where to be found, pathetic mind was forcing me to develop excuse after excuse as to WHY I didn't need to swim! 

Patients asked what I was doing after work and with a probably weak, defeated tone I said..."I have to swim!" 

It took a few times of rehearsing my excuse script in my head and losing more and more energy as I used the word HAVE until I reached a point of...

STOP! 

That stop point didn't come until my first stroke hit the water...

I was like a kid having a temper tantrum, fighting myself all the way to the pool as to why I SHOULDN'T be swimming. 

Luckily my wife is brilliant with her verbiage and gave me some delightful, four letter word, response when I said I was going home instead of swimming. 

Once that first stroke hit the water...I was literally transferred into a new mindset state and realized, yet once again, that I don't have to swim...I GET TO SWIM! 

Everything we do in our life falls into the same self-talk paradigm...

I don't have to be a good dad...I GET TO BE A GOOD DAD!

I don't have to be kind to people...I GET TO BE KIND TO PEOPLE!

I don't have to write this blog...I GET TO WRITE THIS BLOG!

I don't have to eat well...I GET TO EAT WELL!

I don't have to train for a 10 mile swim...I GET TO TRAIN FOR A 10 MILE SWIM!

I don't have to go to work today...I GET TO GO TO WORK TODAY! 

Everything we do is an opportunity to be better than we were yesterday! 

When we think in a GET TO mindset we are immediately gravitating towards a state of GRATITUDE and when we are in that state of GRATITUDE its almost like drinking rocket fuel towards success. 

I learned this morning that my Uncle's dementia has gotten pretty bad...it breaks my heart to hear how he struggles to remember family members and simple day to day chores. 

Knowing that neuro-degenerative disease runs in my family even helps me highlight the importance of celebrating what I GET TO DO! 

You may love complaining how life isn't fair because of the thousand of silly reasons we complain about but what really do you have to complain about? 

Life is definitely not fair at times but it is always up to us to stay on the horse and keep fighting forward. 

What do I GET TO DO TODAY?

I GET TO keep making it count!

I GET TO be married to the most amazing women ever!

I GET TO be a dad...greatest job ever!

I GET TO never grow up and keep using my imagination for good! 

I GET TO get uncomfortable via exercise and keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible for me! 

I GET TO simply stated...appreciate all life has given me...the good, the bad and the ugly as they all equally have brought me to this point in life! 

Thanks to everyone who has donated money to my swim (link is above)...I am about to level up training some so stay tuned to more updates! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count!  

Empty the TANK!

"Take nothing but memories...leave nothing but footprints!" 

In 100 years...unless some remarkable advancements in human longevity....NOT one person reading this will be around to tell their story! 

Your fancy car, your expensive timepiece, your powerful job and most possessions and achievements will be done! 

EVERYTHING WILL BE GONE in the physical form! 

HOWEVER...what will remain is...YOUR ACTIONS....TODAY!

Those close to me know that each and everyday I LOVE to empty my tank! 

I have friends who train for endurance events and their version is ER or PR! Which basically means they will go as deep as possible to chase the dreams that push them each day to show up! They are willing to make the journey so incredibly painful that the only option is either the ER (emergency room) or a PR (personal record)! Some may frown upon this...I don't really give a shit if you are personally holding back on your potential...I admire anyone who wakes up each day willing to go all in...or...as I like to call it...EMPTY THE TANK! 

Why do I train every single day? Why do I push myself to the limits each chance I get? Why when I am extremely passionate about something does it consume me every single second? 

The very, simple answer is...TIME! Second answer is (my oldest and I watch World War Z) to run from the ZOMBIES!

I have ZERO guesses on when my time will come...the only thing I know is that it will come at some point and I never want to have regret that I left something in the tank! 

Some may assume that this picture is me exhausted and DONE! 

It's actually very much the opposite. This was the second time on a run in my life that I GAVE UP! The workout was too hard. I failed to engage my drive for mental toughness because I felt I had nothing left! I took the picture at the time...not because it deserved a...WHOA look how tough I am...I took it to remind myself that WE ONLY GET ONE CHANCE and STOP holding back!

The other time I sat on a curb was when I was 10 and my incredible step dad had us run the ELGIN FOX TROT 10 miler....

It felt like the end of the world that day and the difficulty level in my 10 year old mind was level ONE MILLION! 

I remember around mile 5...walking over to a curb...sitting down...and QUITTING! 

That's right...37 years later I remember that day like it was yesterday! 

I fully understand that I was only 10 and I should have been presented a free pass to be exempt from that struggle...HOWEVER...as you can see! 

I hold onto that regret to this day! It has fueled me to consistently and constantly EMPTY MY TANK for everything that matters the most to me! 

RACING IRONMAN TRIATHLONS! 

STARTING A COUPLE AMAZING MULTISPORT ENDURANCE GROUPS!

BEING ONE OF THE FIRST INTERNS FOR A WORLD LEADING SPORTS FIRM!

WORKING FOR THE #1 SPORTS MARKETING FIRM IN THE WORLD!

TREATING EVERY SINGLE PATIENT HOW THEY DESERVE TO BE TREATED!

ALWAYS STRIVING TO SHOW MY WIFE HOW INCREDIBLE SHE IS!

WRITING A BOOK GEARED AT CHANGING SOMEONES LIFE!

SPEAKING TO GROUPS WITH THE GOAL OF CHANGING GOAL STRUCTURES!

HAVING THE ULTIMATE PRIVILEDGE OF BEING A DAD (I am crying as I type)!

HAVING FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO UNCONDITIONALLY SHOW UP!

TRAINGING FOR A MARATHON SWIM WITH BUTTERFLIES IN MY BELLY!

BUT...AS THIS BLOG GOES...

HAVING A STEP-FATHER WHO FOR 32 YEARS HAS LOVED ME LIKE ONE OF HIS OWN!

ER or PR...Empty the TANK...Live Life to the FULLEST...Leave nothing uncovered...

Whatever your reminder each day needs to be to allow you to show up...TATTOO that concept on your mind and LET's GO! 

Your actions today have more power and more meaning that anything you can purchase...

What we do right now...will have ripples and hopefully positive effects for long after your TIME comes! 

EMPTY THE TANK! 

ALWAYS CRUSH LIFE!

MAKE IT COUNT! 

Power of WORDS!

 

                                                "FEAR has two meanings:

                                                  Face Everything And Run

                                                                    OR

                                                  Face Everything And Rise

                                                  The Choice Is YOURS!"   - Zig Ziglar

Todays lesson should you choose to continue to read...has nothing to do with FEAR...I just love almost every Zig Ziglar quote and that one doesn't disappoint and hits the nail on the head of todays topic..

The power of WORDS...

In the quote above you can see that if you just switch around a few words...you go from running away from the fire to running into the fire! 

Let me drop a couple of words/sayings on you...

Pulchritudinous...

Put hair on your chest a foot long...

Eat a pound of dirt before you die...

Out of here in a cloud of whale dung...

Honorificabilitudinitarian...

We will get back to those five in a few minutes but in the mean time...I want you to ponder the words you have used either so far today or yesterday! 

My 14 year old daughter is about to blast off to Florida this weekend for Cheerleading Worlds! In the past three days they have had 12 hours of practice, about 30 full-outs (doing the whole routine all the way through...its is more difficult than it sounds) and balancing all that with school and everything life has to throw at them...

I have been to half of those hours and you know what I notice the most out of these kids? 

Its not the amazing talent, its not the work ethic and its not the athletic tape trying to hold off any last minute injuries...

Its the words they use to lift up instead of break down! 

The word IMPOSSIBLE becomes POSSIBLE!

The word CAN'T becomes CAN! 

The word WON'T becomes WILL!

The words TOO HARD become TOO EASY!

The words I QUIT becomes LETS F'ING GO!

The word TIRED becomes I GOT ONE MORE IN ME!

All this demonstrates is the simple power of words! 

Trust me...I have done some crazy difficult, challenging events in my life and many times was on the verge of quitting or telling myself I can't go any further...

BUT...

I always and I mean always tell myself to just try a little harder, give a little more effort, make a final decision in 10 minutes...and guess what happens? 

The difficulty, obstacle, adversity or challenge can't handle my simple yet power vocabulary that is being thrown around in my head (similar to my daughter being thrown around in the air) and I typically come out on TOP! 

Nothing is truly TOO hard! 

What is TOO hard is when we tell ourselves and those around us that it is!

Negativity is extremely contagious mainly because it allows all of us a chance to quit and hopefully save face because, well, everyone else thought it was impossible also! 

So today when you want to use WORDS that don't push the needle forward...

Why not stir up your inner competitive cheerleader and give yourself some words of encouragement that you are capable of way more than you believe yourself to be! 

Now back to the words/sayings above..

Seeing that this blog is about memories, ALZHEIMER's and other neurodegenerative disease awareness and well just another avenue for me to share random musings...

The following are words that my step-dad used often when we were kids! All meant for positivity but more meant as a way to simply keep moving forward and hopefully ALWAYS with a smile!

Pulchritudinous...

Put hair on your chest a foot long...

Eat a pound of dirt before you die...

Out of here in a cloud of whale dung...

Honorificabilitudinitarian...

Will I eat a pound of dirt before I die? Who knows...but what I do know is that I will get as dirty as I need to be both externally and internally to never give up putting my best foot forward! 

The Oergel family has three sayings that are foundational to who we are and what we do...

Make It Count!

Always Crush Life!

FSU! (F*&K SH*T UP!)

Go be great and CHEER as loud as you can! 

Play where it lies...

                             "They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were taken!" 

In general I am an overall fan of sports for the incredible athletic achievements but to be honest...I am more of a fan of the deep seeded mindsets needed in order to advance to the next consistent level of where you want to go! 

There are two sports that at the end of the day are incredibly mental mindset driven...

The first is any long distance endurance sport...

Take Ironman for example...every Ironman I did and for that reason every Ironman that anyone partakes in starts with all of us being ready on the start line. 

We put in the time, we put in the effort, we advance through injuries and we typically show up physically ready to conquer our task.

Its that mental monster that stands in our way from start to our goal! 

We can be in the best shape of our life and fall way short not because of a lack of endurance training but more from a lack of mental preparation. 

The second sport and probably the most mental of sports there is these days...is...GOLF! 

I am not a huge fan but I have a complete and relentless appreciation for the mental fortitude needed to move through a round of GOLF! 

We tee off with hopes of playing well but...winds, rain, bunkers, ponds, lakes, gators (that's a thing..right?), hot streaks from other players, a bad shot and deep grass all have a say in how the round goes...

AND...THEN...

The biggest hurdle to overcome is...

You guessed it...

Our mind! 

When I was a kid trying to learn golf I would go out and play with my step-dad at times...

Being a super competitive kid I would get so frustrated that every shot was not a shot of brilliance...but really, who did I think I was...practice makes perfect and perfect practice makes things even better! 

I remember one day hitting a shot into the tall grass and getting so hot headed and angry at myself.

Then my step-dad stepped in and said, "Oh, I see your stuck in the rough! Every player lands in the rough. It's how you get out of the rough that counts!" 

I am sure as a kid I whispered some four letter word under my breath absolute oblivious to the message being delivered to my immature mind! 

I did tune into the Master's last weekend for a hot second and what makes these players such incredible human athletes is how they can muster through adversity on a course and move on to the next shot in the blink of an eye without hesitation, visible doubt and limited frustration. 

One shot into the rough for them leads to the next shot being a picture of incredible domination. 

So why can't we do the same in life? 

Last time I looked, went through an obstacle or had a conversation with adversity I realized that with every challenge is a great opportunity in life. 

Life is not won by living a lifetime free of mistakes, free of obstacles and free of adversity. 

Life is won by those who respond to the mistakes, obstacles and adversity that is littered in ones path. 

Life will give you everything you need and more in order to have a life full of memories! 

Life doesn't happen to you...life happens FOR you!

Cancer will happen, ACL tears will happen, Alzheimer's diagnosis's will happen, being fired will happen, having an injury before a race...WILL happen, break ups will happen, missing the winning shot...most definitely will happen and a million other crazy scenarios will happen! 

Not to sound like an asshole or one that is not compassionate to some of the tougher obstacles but my meaning is genuine in that just because something happens doesn't mean we need to throw in the towel. 

Like my incredibly brilliant step dad said...its what you do next that matters!

When you land in the rough of life...TRY...and ask yourself the following questions...

What's something good that could come from this?

What's life trying to teach me?

What's the opportunity in front of me?

What can I do right now to help what's next? 

Remember...Life doesn't happen to you...life happens FOR you!

We need to go all in on protecting our mindset....just like a professional golfer! 

My answer for most of those questions is gratitude in the sense that there could always be worse obstacles, harder adversities and I could be ignorant to the beauty of what I still have!

Control the controllables and...

Master the NEXT SHOT! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count! 

Nothing Works Unless You DO!

"Hard work betrays none!" 

This picture to you may just look like a broken down, falling apart, barely mobile, ALMOST 40 year old lawn mower! 

And...

For the most part...you would be partially correct! 

However as of yesterday...after one single pull on the fraying pull cord...SHE started right up and purrs like a baby kitten! 

Well...maybe doesn't purr but SHE definitely still does the trick! 

You see this lawn mover was my grandfathers and then my stepdads and then was basically left for dead until I grabbed it at the age of 25 and for almost 22 years has never let me down! 

I haven't put oil in the engine EVER and at this point I am terrified that if I change up anything...it might be time to put her out into the machine parts graveyard.

OK Jake...what does this have to do with anything! 

One thing my mom taught me at a young age and my step-dad reconfirmed right behind her was...nothing worth achieving ever comes without hard work! 

At some point in time the hard work ethos shifted to lets find the easy way out! 

How can we get faster running without working hard?

How can we get the promotion without working hard?

How can I raise three kids without working hard?

How can we write a best seller without working hard?

How can we lose all that weight without working hard?

How can we get a college scholarship without working hard?

How can we fall in love without working hard?

The list goes on but what never changes is...to accomplish any dream, to score any goal, to cross an ocean swimming...TAKES HARD WORK! 

In the last 5 years we have bought three fridges, two dishwashers, two weed eaters, three grills and probably a few other disappointing purchases. 

Where a few of those cheap purchases? SURE!

The main problem I see though is...things are just not made the way they use to be made! 

Same goes with work ethic...work hard...get results or learn! 

Take the easy way out...typically get let down and quit! 

Scroll through social media and you will see five dozen ways to lose weight, run faster, increase your testosterone or become an overnight success! Typically all lies and just an eye catch for you to buy something! 

When if you just shut your phone down and got dirty in the realm you are pursuing...

Success will eventually come knocking on your door and it won't be a flash in the pan! 

If you find yourself succeeding without much effort...

Either...

Your GOAL was too small...

Or...

Your results will be gone tomorrow...

Always Crush Life!

Go be great and MAKE IT COUNT! 

 

Time Arrow!

 

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." 

Last night I was watching the movie GROWN UPS and towards the end of the movie Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Kevin James play a game called arrow roulette! 

Like most scenes in the movie, I couldn't stop laughing but silly comedy is right up my avenue for stress relief! 

In this game (in case you haven't seen the movie) they shoot an arrow straight up in the air and the last person standing without running away wins! With this cast of characters it becomes a hot mess with eventually an arrow in one's foot!

Seems simple but ridiculously stupid right? 

Well I woke up this morning not able to stop thinking of that scene. Not because it was an amazing, Academy Award, movie moment but more because aren't we all just playing a game of arrow roulette or as I like to call it TIME ARROW! 

The key is your arrow was shot in the air the day we were born! Once we came out of the womb the arrow was shot and the clock started to tick! 

We grow up with a mind full of imagination, a mind full of discovery, a mind full of I have a million dreams of what I want to accomplish, a mind full of falling in love and a mind full of well...really...anything! 

Then at some point we get lazy, we lose that magical focus, or vision or our dream disappears and we are trapped in the loop of wasting every second that time ticks bye. 

And what we mostly forget is...

That arrow is falling back towards earth with our name on it! 

The arrow on the clock is ticking away but the arrow of when our journey will end is getting closer and closer.

I hate to sound like a dooms day, life sucks and what's the point preacher but we always need a swift kick in the ass or like the stoics believed...MEMENTO MORI!

MEMENTO MORI translated means...REMEMBER YOU WILL DIE! 

When we fully grasp that saying and we embrace it...THEN...we can implement change in our day and fully go ape shit crazy on chasing what's important to us! 

Whether its the arrow on the clock or the arrow falling back towards our eventual demise...both of those arrows will never stop! 

THERE is physically nothing you can do! Sure you can do a whole bunch of not great things to guarantee your journey will come to a close but LIFE IS LIFE and its up to us to get the most out of our clock! 

The number one thing on everyone's death bed is not I wish I would have had a fancy car, fancy watch, huge mansion or more money in the bank. The number one thing said is regret and more of regret they didn't value the things that meant the most to them! 

I write this blog for four very simple reasons...

1. I value everything and anything my step-father AL has given me and blessed me with. The gratitude I have for that man runs extremely deep and I love him just as much as my blood father if not more! The fact that he is battling Alzheimer's breaks my heart but I have it in the power of my crazy stupid mind to chase wild challenges (10 mile ocean swim in Septemeber!) to share memories with him and hopefully raise funds/awareness for neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

2. Myself! I truly love writing these blog posts and my daily post on social media mainly for myself! They are reminders to me of what I need to focus on! They are reminders to me on what I am failing at! They are reminders to me of how much more I could do! They are reminders to me of what I am succeeding at! They are reminders to me of all the small wins I am accumulating! 

3. My kids! I hope that when my time comes my kids can stand up and share with the crowd how proud they were of me! How much they appreciated my small attempts to make the world just 1% better. What they don't realize is most lessons I teach or share, I learned from them! 

4. YOU! Rarely do people read this far into any post or blog entry...mainly because we have too much on our plates, we only search for the quick fixes and well no one really cares about self improvement unless it comes in a pill! If that's you then I still love you! However I have had too many people reach out after a post and say in changed the trajectory of their life, that they were in a bad place and they implemented one small strategy and their life changed or that they lost 200 pounds because I never allowed them to quit! 

So as you go through your day today! I hope you have a little fire in your pants knowing that you are dealing with the TIME ARROW! 

That arrow could care less how you treat others, how much money you have or how many followers you have on the gram! 

All the arrow cares about is that you are maximizing your time and MAKING IT COUNT! 

Adventure Awaits!

 

"Jobs fill your pockets but ADVENTURES fill your soul!" 

When I was a kid I was blessed to no have video games, no cable TV and most definitely no useless, distracting social media! 

My love, my passion and my summers where filled with swimming, catching snakes/turtles and galivanting up and down the Fox River on a canoe almost identical to the one above. 

You see, one of my best friends in the whole world and I would set out on very elaborate adventures. Well maybe they were only elaborate in our minds but all we had in the 80's were our imaginations and how grand we could make that imagination work! 

We would canoe miles down river (maybe this is when my endurance love started!) in search of GIANT carp (what a nasty fish!), snakes, turtles, spiders, bull-frogs, HAVOC (yes we were not perfect kids but those secrets will stay with him and I forever...ha ha!) and of course the freedom of being alive! 

How our parents let two 8-10 year old boys have that much freedom will always be a huge question mark but remember...it was the 80's! 

I remember one very HOT midwest summer day we set out to catch the illustrious GIANT carp that had been evading us for weeks. 

We had a small creek about 3-4 miles up stream called Turtle Creek (we had self named it due to the grand scale of turtles)! 

However about 2 miles in we could see a storm brewing that could possibly take us to the Wizard of Oz. 

We kept trekking along as two young boys would do on a mission to catch THE GIANT! 

The waves, the current and the wind however had different ideas which made this adventure even cooler as now we felt like we were on our way to catch MOBY DICK in the ocean (mind you this was a simple little river)! 

By the time we got to the creek the weather had severely turned for the worse and guess who was standing deep in the weeds waiting for us? 

OUR PARENTS! 

Did we get in trouble? To be honest I can't remember! What is the point of this blog? To be honest I can't even remember that...

Oh wait...

ADVENTURE AWAITS! 

My life seems to always be one adventure after another! 

While most of them revolve around extreme feats...most of them are amazing due to the company we share! 

You see...when my step day came into our life he was a very successful trial attorney! 

However he was blessed (so grateful this trait was passed down to me!) with the knowledge that material items while fun initially...in the end are a complete waste of money! 

That new watch...gets old!

That new car...gets old!

That new bike...gets old! 

That expensive purse...who gives a shit! 

What never, ever, without a doubt gets old....IS ADVENTURE! 

We didn't have any fancy cars growing up...my first car was brand new and I think in total cost 7,000 dollars.

What we did have though...was ADVENTURE! 

We went on amazing journey's, incredible vacations and shared so many laughs around the pure process of using our imagination and pursuing ADVENTURE! 

As long as my memory serves me...I will always remember those ADVENTURES! Whether it was with my best bud or with my family...those are the memories that are priceless! 

Stop working so hard to buy useless items as all those do is build clutter in your closet....instead find a job that you love or maybe just enjoy so that you have the time to clutter your mind with memories! 

Make It Count! 

Let It Go!

 

"Let it go!" - Elsa

There are very few keys to making the most out of your TODAY! 

When we wake up each day...show some gratitude for a few seconds that it happened and then go ALL in on COMPETING with what you have today! 

One sure fire way to ruin a good day today is to CONSTANTLY, CONSISTENTLY keep thinking about a bad yesterday! 

Elsa was brilliant is using those simple three words of..."Let it go!" 

Unless you are Doc Brown from Back to the Future...there is not a dam thing you can do to revisit yesterday. 

What has been done is done! 

The only thing or things you can do is...

LEARN, BE BETTER and EXPEL GRATITUDE FOR ANOTHER CHANCE! 

You see, the MIND is a very incredible and very delicate feature of who we are! 

Physically we can really crush all limits that are in front of us! We can train our bodies literally to be ready for anything! 

What holds us back from our full potential or pushes us to limit our limitations is...OUR MIND! 

Its too dark, its too cold, I am too old, I am not smart enough, no one will like me, I could never make the team, I quit, no one will read this blog post, I am too tired...and the list goes on for an eternity. 

The key is none of those excuses are of the physical realm but we can thank our mind for wanting to give up on us! 

Plus read that sentence again above and doesn't it sound pretty pathetic and not a way you would like to describe yourself? 

Now think the opposite...

I love the dark, the cold gives me energy, age is just a number, who is to say what is smart enough, those who love me will like me and support me no matter the circumstance, if I train harder then I will make the team, as long as one person reads this blog then mission accomplished, tired is the bodies barometer for growth...

Re-read that again and that is the person I want to be every single day.

However to add another layer of shit to the equation...now add in a disease process like Alzheimer's and NOW what is your pathetic excuse for wasting time? 

Wow! Your mind is silent now and you don't have much to say...

Life is 100% made up of what we make of it! Will there be days of unforeseen struggles? You bet there will be...that is what makes this journey so amazing. 

When times get incredibly hard or you see challenges as terrifying monsters...THIS...is when we break out the karaoke microphone and at the top of our lungs sing....LET IT GO! 

Nothing worth accomplishing in life happens without you having to work through some obstacle! 

Don't wait until tomorrow unless your Doc Brown and you know that tomorrow will come no matter what! 

Get off your ASS and make something of your time! 

I found this shirt in my closet earlier today and couldn't help but smile at the memory. 

When I was in college we had a dive bar that was our Cheers of the day! 

When I graduated my mom and step-father came to our graduation party and we set the bar on fire with energy and memory driven activities. 

This shirt was one memento to come out of that night and a memento that will forever make me smile! 

Make a list today of what you will LET GO...share, don't share...really doesn't matter but what matters is you recognize what's holding you back! 

I have nothing to hide so here are my top 5...

1. Keep challenging my limits because that is what I want and not what looks good to others!

2. Realize that I am not my father and that addiction will never hurt my progress in life! 

3. That I don't have to have all the answers ALL THE FUCKING TIME! 

4. I take it extremely personal when I can't help EVERY patient...mentally I can get any patient through adversity but sometimes my expertise can't help EVERY patient physically! 

5. That I have to be the BEST at everything I do! Honestly that one hurts but I need to realize that as long as I give my BEST in that moment that I can limit all limitations in life! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count! 

One Epic Battle!

 

"More often than not, a hero's most epic battle is the one you never see; its the battle that goes on within him or herself." 

I think we can all agree that we took some history course during our illustrious educational career...RIGHT?

We had to remember dates! We had to remember timeframes! We had to remember the main characters and even sometimes the third or fourth cousin of the hero! (Well maybe not that detailed but it always felt like so much information that potentially would never be useful!)

I have one very, very, NOT immature, important question for you? 

Have you ever heard of...

"The Battle at Thunderblow!" 

Personally I have heard this battle many times over as a kid and it never ceased to amaze me at the share magnitude of power that the two main characters presented with! 

You see in 1946, The Battle at Thunderblow went down and till this day lives in the history books of incredible accomplishments. 

The two main characters were...the charming Lord Windesmear vs. the underdog Mr. Paul Boomer! 

The battle was of epic proportion and included famous feats, such as...

A Triple Flutter Blast, a Flupper, a Fragrant Fuzzy, a Threap, Flotching, a Sissler, a Plotcher, a Trail Blow and who could ever forget the most amazing Thunder Break! 

The critics in the 1940's hailed The Battle at Thunderblow as "A wind breaking virtuosity!"

To this day I can't believe that the world record was broken by the underdog Mr. Paul Boomer with a most magnificent Threap!

I can tell just from the hush tone that you have no idea what I am talking about...you are saying to yourself that your history teacher never covered this magical day in time! 

You see The Battle at Thunderblow is actually known as...The Great Crepitation Contest of 1946! 

That's right...all of this incredible athleticism centered around a FARTING pole! 

I know! I am extremely immature but in all truth I still have a teenage boy in me that thinks farting and farting jokes are still pretty comical! 

And NO...there really wasn't such a thing as The Battle at Thunderblow! 

One memory that I hope to never forget was every Christmas Eve at my Uncle Wayne's house we would break out a vinyl record (I sure hope everyone reading knows what that is...) and we would listen to this 15 minute comical recording of The Battle at Thunderblow! (you can actually just Google it now and listen online). 

I have heard the recording millions of times and probably could repeat much of its content but each and every time felt like a new time listening. 

It might be due to the fact that it was silly humor but my guess was it was due to the highlight that it brought the whole family together during a time of gratitude, a time of celebration and a time when life is suppose to be lighthearted. 

You see diseases like Alzheimer's are quite on the outside. There is no visible look! The hero carries on their journey but inside their brain is struggling to keep up. The hero is on an epic journey fighting like hell to remain strong! 

Unlike a crepitation contest there is no valve release to let out the pressure! 

So how do we help the hero remain on course? We remain calm and share the hell out of as many memories as we can! 

It won't make the neurodegenerative disease go away but what it will do is capitalize on the time we have left. 

Life is meant to be lived! 

Will there be difficult times...ALWAYS! 

Do we need to succumb to the difficult times...NEVER! 

All be can do is continue to put one foot in front of the other...

All we can do is laugh, smile and be grateful for the time we have...

All we can do is never take one second on that clock for granted...

All we can do is be like Mr. Paul Boomer and never let being an underdog stop us from being the hero in this journey...

Make It Count! 

Magic Water!

 

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in the water!"

I was deep in a recent swim set starting to wrap my head around the fact that I have to swim an EXTREMELY long distance this coming fall when the idea of how magical water is hit me! 

Most of my magically successful (sounds like a cereal commercial) endeavors in life to some degree are represented by water being somewhere in the surrounding environment!

When I was a kid I grew up in what some would truly, undoubtedly believe was paradise. We lived on a river and across the street was a spring fed quarry that became our daily swimming hole for years! From the age of 2 all the way till my teenage years we lived in the water...

I actually think at some point my sisters and I started to develop gills because of our total immersion into the glorious liquid! 

So, you ask, what is so magical about water! 

Growing up I joined my communities competitive swim team! My jam was 100% the backstroke and nobody could take me off that high. Well maybe our Russian born coach who constantly yelled at us in the thickest of accents which most of the time I had not one clue what she was saying. 

If anyone has been on a swim team you know that the practices are long and the meets are even longer! So you have no choice but to gravitate towards developing friends to pass time! 

I met two pretty cool kids at the time whose names were Joel Kirkland and Matt Kirkland (last name sound familiar?). We were thick as thieves as what else is a young boy suppose to do passing time between events. 

So for those that are not familiar with the last name Kirkland...this blog is 100% geared towards my step-father as he battles Alzheimer's...guess what his name is...KIRKLAND! 

Yep...Matt is his son and Joel is his nephew. 

So years before life blessed me and more blessed my mom with Al coming into our existence...I got to know the family to a certain degree.

7 degrees of Kevin Bacon anyone? Most certainly a small world gravitational pull! 

Fast forward a few years and once Al moved in with us he would frequently join us at our magical watering hole. 

One day we were basking in our glory, playing tag in the water and simply living our best life when Al stepped up on the diving board and nailed a PERFECT 10 one and a half dive. It was like watching the Olympics and all of us kids had our jaws dropped to the bottom of the quarry in AWE!

Maybe not so magical to you but I will never forget that day and life is all built upon remembering the GREATNESS we observe. 

I decided to take a break from swimming in high school even though I had the opportunity to take it to the next level...the burn out was real! 

After college I happened to fall into what I would argue is the most incredible sport that is in existence!

TRIATHLON...

From sprint triathlons all the way up to Ironman...I raced for 20 years and each of those years I pushed the ultimate limit of what is possible. 

Part of fighting neurodegenerative diseases in life is to incorporate exercise/movement into our daily routine. While it will never guarantee a perfect shield it definitely will have a cognitive growth pattern of fighting like hell to prepare! 

Water has been a magical force in my life! 

Water is roughly 850 times more dense than air so when we swim its all about developing efficiency in movement. 

What makes you day? What makes your year? And what makes your life/story successful? 

EFFICIENCY! 

Water has taught me that the harder I fight the slower I go! Yet the stronger, more efficient and more knowledgeable I become...WELL...the skies the limit! 

Where do you find MAGIC in your life? 

Can't wait for my big swim in September but I couldn't be more excited about the person I will become over the next 7 months preparing in the magical elixir!

Thanks for your time! 

Always crush life! 

Make It Count!  

Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth!

 

"Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson

I absolutely love that quote, not because I am a huge boxing fan but because it is one of the most truthful statements that you can make about life!

How many times in life have you said..."Why Me?" If you have a heart beat and blood circulating throughout your amazing system then you have said those two words at least a dozen plus times! 

By the end of this I would love if you developed the incredible capacity to change your vocabulary and from this point forward when you want to say, "Why Me?" lets replace it with "Why Not Me?" 

Think of a few instances in your life where life seemed to be going well, life seemed to be going according to plan and moments when life seemed like you had conquered the unconquerable. 

Now think how not one of those moments lasted! 

If you are telling me that you never had an obstacle jump out of nowhere, uninterrupted and at the absolute wrong time then you are lying to me and I would appreciate your honesty moving forward. 

You see, no one sets out in the world and says..."Man I sure would love to see how well I can fight cancer!"..."Wouldn't it be super awesome to have my wife leave me!"..."How spectacular would it be to develop Alzheimers!"..."This sport is going so well...let me tear my ACL just to have the option to experience adversity!"

No one goes into life wanting crappy things to happen to them...

Yet...crappy things continue to happen to all of us and at the end of the day its a E+R=O world...

E+R=O (Events + Response = Outcome)

You have an Event (Almost always outside of our control) and then its our Response (Positive or Negative...only two choices you have) and that defines our daily Outcome on how we approach any obstacle in LIFE!

Alzheimer's Disease or other neurodegenerative diseases are some of the shittiest (pardon my vocab) things that can happen to an individual. We plan a lifetime for retirement and living the golden years of relaxation and then for an asshole (pardon my vocab once again) of a disease process to rob us of that plan! 

As I write this I am 46 years old and the more research that comes out, I am in the peak of what I can do to help prevent/fight neurodegenerative diseases from happening. Too much alcohol, lack of exercise and a severe lack in REM sleep have been known to increase Amyloid and Tau which are proteins responsible for diseases like Alzheimer's later in life. 

You see...here is the incredible, uncanny characteristic of my step-father that, if we all implemented, we could all do better with in life. 

He almost never severely over-reacts to any situation in life. 

After college he played professional rugby and in a game, he literally got his front teeth knocked out. Instead of panicking, he just picked them up, kept playing, went out for celebratory drinks after the game and then and only then said, "maybe I should get my teeth fixed?" 

Would you have had the ability to relax under pressure in that situation and keep going! 

When I was a kid we had massive flooding in the midwest which definitely affected our house on the river, yet once that was solidified he drove hours down to the Mississippi River in order to pack sandbags for those in need. 

Now he is fighting his biggest opponent in life with a diagnosis of Alzheimers!

A disease that has no road map, a disease that moves at its own pace, a disease that as of this writing we can't stop and a disease that all you want to do is smile at and say..."FUCK OFF!" (sorry one last time for my language). 

We all start our days with a plan! 

I have to do X, Y and Z this week...yet how often does everything go as you expected? 

I treat highly, dedicated, competitive athletes whose year revolves around peak fitness in order to perform. Do you know how many run into trouble, every single year? ALL OF THEM!

My daughter, in the peak of her youth sports career, during a soccer game took a nasty foul and tore her ACL. She was punched in the mouth with both fists at the same time. Was the process back easy, not at all and not a process I wish upon anyone. However she learned each day to just do her best! Just focus on the R of the equation and eventually everything paid off with an offer to play college soccer which has been her dream forever! 

The key to the most successful is once they are punched in the mouth...

They take a moment to absorb what happened and then they immediately jump back on the saddle with a response that often course corrects the obstacles. 

They know that in order to succeed that we all need to be students of life and the top students never quit learning. 

So the next time you are punched in the mouth...immediately think "I am glad that happened!" and fight back stronger than ever.

Thanks for everyone who has donated to my drive for Alzheimer's. While these funds will come no where close to finding a cure. The funds will at least help light a small fire under progress! 

Make It Count! 

Are you a fixer?

 

"If it can't be fixed with duct tape, then you're not using enough duct tape!"

Not sure if duct tape has the magical powers that it once had when I was a kid! There seems to be a whole lot more binding products on the market theses days. Heck I use Gorilla Glue on just about anything that needs a little more strength to make it to the next day!

Growing up my step-dad was legitimately the king of the duct tape fix!

Broken swing...DUCT TAPE!

Leaky pipe...DUCT TAPE!

Boy scout pine wood derby car wheel falls off...DUCT TAPE!

Basketball net rips off the rim...DUCT TAPE!

Milk jug cap disappears...DUCT TAPE!

License plate falling off car...DUCT TAPE!

My little sister talks to much...DUCT TAPE!...ha ha...just kidding on that one however I am sure it crossed my mind as a kid!

The main concept of the message was his first go to towards fixing anything in life was to just put DUCT TAPE on it and leave it alone. 

You see my step-dad could very well have figured out how to properly fix anything as he is a brilliant man but I think he chose to use his energy towards endeavor's that really, truly mattered! (more on that in a minute..)

How do you fix things in your life? 

Do you invest your time into avenues that truly make a difference or do you just throw a Band-Aid on the obstacle and move on? 

I fortunately or unfortunately chose to be a chiropractor in life! It unfortunately is a profession filled with Band-Aid applicators. Doctors that never really take an extra second to figure out what the root cause is and instead just try to manipulate everything away. Guess what...that approach is similar to just applying duct tape to a broken pipe. There may be relief immediately but eventually everything will fall apart!

You see I have lived a life always striving to never be the DUCT TAPE applier. My life has revolved around always putting my wife and kids first and never putting a band-aid on my time with them! 

It took me awhile and lots of maturity to realize how incredible my step-father was to me growing up and still is! 

My birth father, who I loved more than anything while he was alive, was a duct tapper of life! 

Without much detail his view on life was just cover it up with his version of duct tape...it may have been alcohol, not showing up to important events or being personally absent but his inability to address problems created more problems in life.

We patch the broken pipe with duct tape and eventually time, water pressure and bad luck will have that pipe leaking again and creating more problems then if we just fixed everything initially. 

You see, here is what took me a long time to figure out! 

My step-dad never, once put a piece of duct-tape on his time with my sisters, my mom and I. He applied duct tape to life's little problems so that he could always be available to us no matter the obstacle. 

He never said...

Maybe later to shooting hoops...

Maybe later to going for a run...

Maybe later to helping with Calculus...

Maybe later to helping us pay for college...

EVERY situation, EVERY obstacle, EVERY success, EVERY failure, EVERY achievement and EVERY memory looking back on was supported 100% of the time.

For that I am grateful and blessed to know and have a teacher in my life that showed me how to not rely on duct-tape for things that matter! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count!

Take this moment to go fix something that you have been waiting to fix and haven't yet...

You never know when it will be too late.

Also such deep gratitude to those that have donated to my Alzheimers cause...you have no idea how much it means to me and if interested in why I am doing this please click on the link above! 

Are you freezing?

 

"I had to make you uncomfortable, otherwise you never would have moved."

I am and always have been a believer of..."How you do anything is how you do EVERYTHING!"

I have a problem often with moderation especially with endurance related athletic endeavors.

I have a switch in my head that I believe is broken or for some unseen reason got locked into the state of seeking the UNCOMFORTABLE! 

Not a day goes by where I am not trying to push the limits of something in my life. The problem, if it really is ever a problem, is that it often snaps back and bites me in the but. 

Years of Ironman Triathlons, years or running marathons and ultramarathons, years of daily exercise pushing the limits of what I can do has always just multiplied into what's next? I know for a fact that my wife at times is driven crazy by my inability to remain calm. I guess its the addictive gene that has been passed down to me and has just multiplied into a different venue. 

Its no secret that this fall I am attempting to swim close to 10 miles in the ocean and while not one ounce of it scares me...I continue to callous my mind as the one thing that holds us back is not in the physical realm but the mental environment we live in.

Physically we can do so much more in life than we ever give ourselves credit for. If you disagree then I challenge you to put something difficult on your schedule and be consistent with the prep. You may be sore, tired and humiliated at times but when you embrace the process you almost always succeed. 

Physical capacity for success is not overly difficult! What becomes difficult is the mush between your ears that tells you to quit, tells you its too hard, tells you that you suck, tells you its impossible, tells you its ok to sleep in and tells you only an idiot would sit in a ice bath at 38 degrees! 

Alzheimer's unfortunate has a similar effect except its not telling you the cant's and wont's but its just, simply taking away your ability to mentally engage! Physically you are fine but mentally the lights are being turned out! 

That said...I try and get as uncomfortable as I can as frequently as I can so I can build the biggest, baddest, ugliest callous in my mind so when times are tough my mind tells those negative thoughts to go fly a kite. 

Cold immersion, cold therapy and just plain being cold while no one truly loves it in the moment! The cold has this uncanny ability to build a better version of you! 

For the past three weeks I have sat in a cold bath at 38-42 degrees for 5-10 minutes a day! Why? There are physiological benefits but I truly don't care about them as they will happen anyways. What I know for a fact is that the anxiety prior to getting in and the will to immerse and survive has made me a stronger person each time! 

That mental edge will serve me well when hours into a multi hour swim my mind starts wandering towards the evil side...

Also being cold or simply uncomfortable brings out memories of survival in the past and how we won...

I have been to dozens of Chicago Bears games in my life...to say you are big Monsters of the Midway fans is an understatement! 

Over the past 30 plus years I have seen some of the greatest players of all time in person! 

However which games do I remember the most?

Two of the coldest games I have ever been to in my life...

You see my stepdad always had a rule...WE NEVER LEAVE A GAME TILL THE END!

Halloween 1995 it was pouring rain (rain was coming in sideways) and around 36 degrees out...to say that this was the most unpleasant I have ever been in my life would be 100% correct! Ouch! Frozen! Couldn't move! And to make it worse...Brett Favre and the Pack won! However that memory will always serve me as one of the greatest moments of braving the elements and overcoming! I owe that to my stepdad for callousing my mind then...

The next game would of course be another Packers game in the 90's in which the wind chill temp at the game was -28 degrees. It was so cold that if you purchased a hot chocolate that by the time you got back to your seat it was a frozen chocolate concoction. My stepbrother Doug and I complained the whole time that it was ridiculous! However in true fashion we stayed in our seats and didn't leave till the final whistle, although we probably never left because we were frozen to our seats! Yet another callousing of my mind for the future...

Why do I share these memories...

1. To remind my stepdad how special he has been in my life and to try and not let Alzheimer's win!

2. To remind myself of overcoming difficulty. When we do hard things it becomes crucial that we catalogue those events so when we face adversity again we can just pull out the rolodex of memories and tell our mind...I GOT THIS!

Make It Count! 

Is It Worth The Risk?

 

"If you risk nothing, then you risk everything."

Have you ever thought about how risky you are? 

How often do you take risks in life and how do those risks make you feel? 

The biggest risks often come with the biggest rewards but also just as much come with extremely painful set backs. 

Our financial advisor each year asks where our risk levels are and to be honest that world terrifies me mostly because I know nothing...that is why I have a financial advisor! 

My realm of comfort with risk resides more in the outlier world of endurance. 

I can remember an Ironman Triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) in which I came off the bike locked and loaded. My risk level coming off the bike and ready to start the run was extremely high because I felt incredible. 

You have those days were life seems to be floating along with simplicity and those days we seem to push our envelop a little harder. 

While one mile into that run a great friend of mine jumped in front of mile and said, "what are you doing?" I glanced at my watch and noticed I had run a 6:10 first mile which is practically a suicide mission with intent on being carried off the course in an ambulance. My risk level was high but thanks to my friend, reality jumped in some and smacked me into slowing down and shocker...I had my best race ever! 

Each and every time I step on a stage or in front of a group for a talk, there is always a level of risk that I will be laughed at, made fun of, the audience will fall asleep or my message will fall on deaf ears. That is the risk you take and its the reason why you end of nailing the speech because you never hold back. 

Now, I am sure you are ok...what is the picture of the bones for? 

Well the purpose of this blog is to relive and create new memories for my step-dad going through Alzheimer's. 

In the late 80's we had one of the most amazing dogs ever in existence. Her name was Ingrid and she was a 120 pound Rottweiler. To say she was extremely protective of my sisters and I would be an understatement. 

Any man that knocked on the door or entered our house would meet Ingrid immediately with a terrifying growl that would frighten just about anyone. 

Don't get me wrong...she was the sweetest, most loving, never hurt anyone, protective dog...but she hated men! 

This is when my step-father Al entered the picture and see the problem with courting my mom was that you kind of have to spend time together. They would go on dates and focus on events outside of the house but visiting my mom where we lived was not the easiest. 

Ingrid had this thing with eating the scarps of meat off of the bones we cooked. My mom, my sisters and I could take it away from her but anyone else would loose their arm before she succumbed to giving up her bone. 

One evening while Al was visiting, he knew that in order to be accepted into our house it didn't have to come from any human but from a beautiful 120 pound Rottweiler. 

So he assumed his risk levels, knew the outcomes but mostly knew that he only had one choice. 

He walked up to Ingrid while she was eating her bone...bent forward...grabbed the bone from her mouth...stood up...took a bite of the meat...leaned back down...put the bone in her mouth...and walked away. 

I remember watching this whole, super crazy event take place and in absolute astonishment watched Ingrid not budge but more stare at this man and ponder...WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

What happened was from that moment on she accepted him as one of us! She would welcome him anytime he visited and never growled at him again. 

His risk level was high because he saw a future with my mom and knew that the reward hopefully would be so much greater than the risk.

Now I am not telling you to go put your hand in the region of a big dogs mouth. What I am telling you is like is all about taking risks! 

You will fail often, you will learn even more but most of all you won't end up thinking...WHAT IF?

Make It Count! 

Every Story Has A Villain

 "The villain will always be the villain if the hero tells the story."

I think we can all take a step back for a moment and RIGHT now think of someone who is a villain in our story. 

Often this is someone that gets under your skin, consistently has opinions, often judges you, is your hardest competitor in life and most frequently bothers you for no great, apparent reason. 

I can think of half a dozen right off the bat that for no logical reason at all bother me. 

However, I can also think of my biggest villain in life! 

You see I was product of an 80's divorce. Every other weekend I would visit my dad and in between my amazing mother would try to balance raising three kids while carrying multiple jobs just to put food on the table. 

She made sure we had everything that was essential in life, and I will always be grateful for her dedication and commitment to the three of us. 

To say my dad was an incredible dad in those days would be an overexaggerated statement and not the whole truth. 

However, he was my dad and every boy at that age looks up to his dad as a superhero. 

While my dad didn't fully live up to the title of DAD, I still loved him so much and thought the world of him (never lost that drive and still miss him terribly)!

See the villain in my story entered my life in the late 80's. My mom started dating again and eventually married my stepdad. 

As a teenage boy I would often go out of my way to not like him. 

How could this guy possibly enter my life and think that he could ever earn my trust and love. 

To me he was the villain trying to ruin my story. 

I remember one day a candle got out of control and in a pinch to save the house from burning down he grabbed my winter jacket and put the fire out with the jacket. 

The jacket (which by the way was a junky jacket) was absolutely ruined. Instead of being mature in the moment I completely lost my shit on him and pretty sure used every profanity that had ever been said. 

Here is a man who had never said a harmful word to me, had never laid a hand on me, was extremely successful attorney, took care of his health via exercise and treated my mom like a queen and my immature mind looked at him as an evil villain. 

I had nothing to back up my anger outside of my dad wasn't around and that fueled my undeserved teenage angst against a man that I would eventually learn to think the world of. 

The world had dropped an absolute gift in my lap and all I could see through my think skull and hazed vision was a man trying to take over my dad's job. 

It took many years and dozens if not hundreds of positive experiences to realize that he was not the villain in my story. 

I was the villain, and he was the hero trying to save me! 

We often go through life with a vendetta against someone else and while sometimes that vendetta makes sense...often we have no reason to fully back up our hatred. 

This is a lesson I have learned multiple times in life and thankfully I haven't burned any bridges fully with my ignorance. 

My stepdad has blessed me in life more than I could ever repay him and while he battles Alzheimer's I want him to know that he has always been my hero and will continue to be a person I am grateful for entering my story. 

Take a moment today and see who the villain really is along your journey. I will bet more than once that you will notice that maybe it's YOU!

The greatest thing is that he probably doesn't even remember the jacket story, not because of Alzheimer's, but because he seemed to always digest what's happening in a positive light and how to move on to the betterment of what's next! 

With the help of the Alzheimer's Association, I have redone the fundraising/awareness page. The link is at the top of the page. 

Thanks to those who have contributed and thanks to those who take precious moments out of there day to read what's going on!

 

Situational Awareness

 

"Awareness is the greatest agent for change!" 

I love the saying, NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES! 

Its simplicity is lost in the art that we often fall somewhere in the grey area of that mantra! 

We expect great change, yet we often don't create a successful, consistent environment around us that supports change. 

We read a book, watch a Ted Talk, race a 5K, find a mentor or just wake up! 

All of these things are great in themselves and are often agents of change that I exhibit in my daily processes. 

Where most fall short however is the transition from completion to execution. 

We read a book and expect change to happen, but the book won't do it for you! 

We watch a motivational video and get all fired up, yet our poor diet lacks the energy needed for the next step. 

We race a 5K and feel like we conquered the world, but the next day fail to show up again because we feel we have arrived already. 

We have a great mentor but expect them to create our success! 

Finally, our eyes pop open in the morning and we feel like life should just work for us! 

Don't worry as I have fallen into this trap more than once and probably will again in the future. 

What I try and bring to my conscious mind though is...SITUATIONAL AWARENESS! 

Situational Awareness is the perceptions of your environment and events with respect to time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status. 

For me situational awareness is BEING WHERE MY FEET ARE and being the biggest TIME HOARDER of all time! 

The second I take my existence for granted is the exact time when I need to raise my awareness level. 

Stop waiting for the right moment!

Stop waiting for the weather to be perfect! 

Stop waiting for next week to create memories! 

Stop waiting...

Instead start implementing! 

The only competitor in life that is undefeated is...TIME! 

Did you know that roughly 50 million people in this world (probably more but we foolishly just call it old age) have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's! 

Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases don't care how fast you can run a mile, how much weight you can lift, how much money you make, your shoe collection, your profession or whether you eat keto/carnivore/vegan! 

Sure, exercise and diet are incredible at setting the stage for success but in the end, we truly can't stop one of these terrible diseases from happening! 

So, this is where your situational awareness comes in strong...

My awareness while running for hours on end is where am I right now? 

Not yesterday and certainly not tomorrow but how am i being present as a dad, doctor, husband, brother, uncle, son, friend and neighbor. 

I am not perfect, but my situational awareness reminds me to keep going and create a difference in this crazy world by BEING WHERE MY FEET ARE and NOT EXPECTING CHANGE WITHOUT BEING PRESENT TO CHANGE IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Make It Count!