Despite the fact that I seem to thrive on extreme trail races and become exhilarated at times by deciding to move forward when there seems to be a great risk, I don’t like the feeling of “being afraid”.
Maybe my actions are caused by a deeply hidden belief that constant risk may the only way to dumb down the emotions that result from being afraid. It’s probably just conditioned response;, I’m learning that what usually causes fear, doesn’t generally hurt me, and makes me feel so much more alive that I’m talking about it for days.

And what if it does hurt me? It’s unlikely I’ll die and I know I’ll find a way to recover. I’ll overcome it. Like pulling off a bandaid, I know it will hurt, but I can only know how much after pulling it off.

Fear is necessary. Fear is part of our being. It’s considered to be needed for our survival as a species and I have no doubt that to be true: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-preservation

What bothers me is that fear is so often used to manipulate us. And fear can be transformed in to dislike or even hatred. It’s natural to hate what we fear or don’t understand.

The problem is, it’s sometimes impossible to know when our fear is being used against us.

As an example, ask yourself these questions:

Would you be afraid to go the Sochi to watch the Olympics?

Should you be?

If I had the money, time and resources, I’d be there in a heartbeat. Why? Because, it’s very possible that it would be no more dangerous than visiting Los Angeles, Chicago or Miami, (and I Love Chicago), but then again- if we never make the trip, how will we ever know?

~ Cheers!

Imagine. You wake up slowly one morning. No alarm. Just lay there a bit. There’s nothing in your calendar. You haven’t agreed to meet with anyone or go anywhere today. You lay there a little while longer just daydreaming about “whatever”. You get up, brush your teeth, shower and dress. Now- What you you do?

Doesn’t the idea seem inviting? I’m excited just thinking about it. In fact, I’m going to leave one day each quarter open to be one of these days. I hope I can pull it off. If that works out, I may add a second or third. If you can’t find me one day, maybe that’s why.

~Cheers!

In the 60’s, the term Big Brother was used as another word for organizations we “hippies” were suspicious of spying on us. Most of the time, it was used in reference to the US Government. The term originated in the George Orwell novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”

It could usually be written off as just a paranoia. I mean, it was the 60’s, how could “Somebody” be secretly looking over our shoulder, spying on whatever it was that we were up to? We hadn’t even landed on the moon yet!

Just a stupid paranoia then, but it’s a different story now. It’s not hard to believe that somebody, somewhere, is scanning over our full profile.

I know that today it isn’t just my imagination and it’s not just me. There’s a few world leaders are feeling that same paranoia right now.

I’m numb to it. I think most of us are.

I don’t really remember much of it.

Why do some days seem like a blur when they’re over? If I try, I’m sure that I can at least a few things out of my day.

I remember:

My first cup of morning coffee.

Good morning greetings and well wishes for a great day from my friends on Twitter.

Lunch with a good friend.

A quick chat with my son as I drove home.

Being greeted at the door by my wife and a happy canine friend.

A nice dinner followed by an evening cup of tea. 

That’s pretty much all that happened today….It might have been a blur, but nevertheless, it sure left behind some seemingly small but unforgettably special memories .

~Cheers

I like to run in the morning. It’s even better on the weekends when I have the time to travel to my favorite lake. It’s about two and a half miles around the lake. Even on the coldest and snowiest of mornings, there are always other runners there. Seeing them there helps it seem a little more reasonable for me to be out there when a non-runner might think I was unbalanced.

I ran there yesterday morning. It was warm and it felt much like an early Spring morning. There were many more runners than I have encountered in recent weeks. My guess is that some were new runners trying to live up to their recently made New Year’s Resolutions. Others might be in the early stages of training for a Spring Mini or Full Marathon. I was just there because I love to run.

As I finished the first of two loops and ran back up the hill to the parking lot, I ran past a somewhat elderly Asian gentleman with a small dog. He smiled and waved, calling out some greeting that I couldn’t make out. I returned the wave and said good morning as I ran by. His smile seemed to widen. It’s odd, but I swear that sometimes, it only takes a brief moment and a simple exchange for me, and I reckon most of us, to know that we just crossed paths with a genuinely likable soul.

As usual, I felt even better on the second loop. So much better in fact, that I was encouraged to push really hard up that final hill up to the parking lot. As I arrived there. I once again saw my new friend. Being out of breath and inspired by his smile, I decided to stop to say hello. He immediately started walking my way, removing his glove to shake my hand and introduce himself. His name is Stanley. “Stanley, like the comic book” he said. I had never heard of it, but here’s an image from one of the comics:

He proudly explained that he has been visiting the lake at least one day a weekend for over ten years. He used to run, now he walks. He once circled the lake as I do, but has gotten away from that to avoid the hill. It’s just too much for him these days. He began telling stories of bad winter days that kept most people away from the lake, but how others seemed to be drawn out by the weather.

He recalled two doctors that he had met a couple of years ago. They made the  decision to cross the frozen lake against the advice of signs that were posted saying the ice was too thin to ice skate. “They proceeded very cautiously, I’m sure that they were really afraid”. “They had to know better, Why would medical professionals take such a risk?”, he asked. We talked just a short while longer and then said goodbye, wishing each other a good day.

It was a good day full of sharing and spending time with my family and good friends. Once back home and sipping my evening short glass of bourbon, I thought about Stanley, and in particular his questions about the doctors, and the ice, and their seemingly reckless behavior.

Why does anyone do anything? Why do any of us get out of our warm beds and head to that lake or anywhere else when the conditions aren’t “perfect”? 

I know why I’m there. It’s my favorite place to run and my morning run seems directly related to my sanity. Stanley may be there just to meet new people and share stories. The doctors that he mentioned may have felt the need to have some risk in their lives. It may be a nice release from all of the pressure related to their profession. They alone could say for sure. 

There is a lake, a mountain, and the entire universe out there for all of us. It’s ours to explore and enjoy however we desire. There are people that we should meet and stories that need to be shared. We just have to use our intuitive nature to help us navigate through our first step and begin our journey.

Cheers!