Adversity

I have many relationships with many different people. All of these relationships are different. Some people are acquaintances, some are co-workers, some are family, some are friends, etc… Over time I have realized that I value these relationships differently. I have also learned that it may not be productive to have expectations for these relationships. Let me explain….
The value that I (and the other person) establish happens in many ways. The ease of interaction or how much that person and I “click”, the sacrifice that I and the other person provide to help one another out, and many other things. Some relationships take many years to show whether or not that relationship will stand the test of time and adversity. The one aspect that I will focus on is just that, adversity. What happens or how does that person react or act in an adverse situation whether it is with you or just with them. To me this is extremely critical in deciding if this person is someone that I can trust to maintain their “cool” and presence in a tough situation. They show me during this time if I can depend on them to be there for me when I lose my cool and I need that other perspective to look at things from another perspective. Many people lack this from my experience. The people whom I consider to know me the best, or my best friends, are people who provide this for our relationship, as I do for them. It becomes difficult for me to put my trust in someone who tends to lose their cool when times get rough, because everyone experiences rough times. We learn more from failure then from success, so it is extremely important that lessons are learned in a time where you feel like you have no way out or you can’t “see” where to go next.
Life is hard. We are faced with many rough times, many tough situations, and we will have “failure” or adversity in some shape. But where I go from there is what is important to me. I will stay focused on what I want to accomplish no matter how many hurdles are placed in the way. The hurdles are my adversity and me sprinting over them is my life. The people (person) who are in my life will handle their life similarly, if not I wish them well on their journey.

Want to get away.....

I am me, not you. I have so many thoughts and so many feelings. Sometimes wondering whether to go right, left, straight, etc. This life has its way of being a never ending test. Making one decision after another, not knowing what the outcome will be to any. Is this the right thing to do, what are my other options, have I dug myself in too deep????
By no means is my life hard, as compared to people throughout the world who struggle for food, shelter, water, etc. But sometimes it is about perspective. My struggle to find myself and learn from the many situations in life that I have experienced is no different from another 27 year old man in any other area of the world. Life is the same for everyone. It begins and then it ends. You live, you die. You laugh, cry, smile, frown, experience joy and sadness, and maybe learn some things along the way.
I am very grateful to have been able to experience the things that I have in my life, and hopefully I will have an opportunity to experience much more. Many thoughts are racing through my head right now and it is a struggle to focus on one (hence the abstract/random thoughts above).
Just needed to get some thoughts off my “chest”.

Never Know What You'll Find...

Not sure how long ago it was, but one night while conducting my usual random search of interesting things I can find on the internet, I stumbled upon a new blog. What interested me initially was the creator and author of the blog, but I became more interested after I began reading some of his entries. The Mind of Maurice Clarett is the blog. Not sure if many know his story, but he was a star running back for Ohio State and then went to play in the NFL after a short stay at OSU. To make a long story short, he didn’t last in the NFL, got into some legal trouble, and now he is in prison serving a seven year sentence.
In his entries I sense a different man than that was portrayed by the media before his imprisonment. He talks about change within himself, relationships with people, goals, ambitions, etc. I have tremendous respect for this man because he is learning from the mistakes that he has made and it is clear, at least to me, that his outlook on life has changed 180 degrees. It is hard for me to imagine the mindset I would have if I was to be imprisoned behind bars for years. I was for 20 minutes one time and that was plenty for me. I hope that he endures his prison term well and that he comes out a stronger and wiser person than he was before.

Yea, yea, I know it has been a while...

First of all, yes I took this picture. I think it looks pretty good, but I am in no means a photographer. Anyway, just got back from a 7 day cruise and it was definitely nice to get away from my daily grind for a week. It was nice to get a break from the daily news headlines about this and that, and to not have to see the atmosphere and people that I see on a daily basis.

On the islands that I visited there is a sense of simplicity that I admire and I envy that way of life. It is amusing how many Americans, including myself, find ways to complicate their lives and then wonder “how did I get here?” and “how do I get myself out of this situation?”. When did life become less about eating, having a shelter, loving your friends and family, and just being happy and more about capitalism and “cut throat” ideas. It is actually said to me and I hope that I can continue to simplify my life as I become older and wiser.

We as humans are so small in the grand scheme of things. Look at the picture I took. The ocean covers about two thirds of the world and in my picture it seems as if it is endless. If you were to be floating in the ocean, chances are no one would ever see you again (touching on recent events). We can’t let ourselves think that we our bigger than we really are because in my opinion that is when you can find yourself in sticky situations. In my effort in simplifying my life, I am trying to put the important things first and focusing on understanding that I am Human. Nothing more, nothing less.

The mile high club…

…well at least as far as blogging, HA! As I cruise the friendly sky’s and laugh at this crazy passenger on this flight, I have many thoughts passing through my mind. I have so many ideas of things to do, places to go, goals, ambitions, and yet I find myself not pursing some of them. Am I falling back into a state of contentment? I don’t like this feeling that I have. I have friends and associates that are doing many things that have me saying, why didn’t I think of that? Or why am I not trying that out? I have never wanted nor tried to be an average person or do average things. But is not doing anything the same as doing average things? Well, in some cases yeah. Sometimes I look at not doing anything as being worst, because I am not even trying or even doing anything. I feel like I need a month long get away from my day to day routine, my life, my anything that I see every day or week. Something different. Why not go to another country and just wonder around for a few weeks? I have friends in other counties. But even if I don’t know anybody there, I’m sure I would survive. Even if I didn’t, at least I would be doing something. Which is better then sitting in my apartment working, watching TV, reading books (I do really enjoy that), and being average.

Lets make it happen!!! I’m already traveling a lot for work. So why not travel somewhere different. Even if it is not a different country, another state would suffice. Maybe even a road trip, so that I may see many states. Although, I don’t know how thrilled I would be driving thousands of miles and putting those miles on my car.

I feel as though doing something like this would clear my head and allow me to recharge and refocus on what I want out my life. I do have an idea, but I sense a need for clarity. This sense of contentment that I have right now is clouding my head and making it hard for me to think out of the box and think different than the average person. Now, I’m not knocking being average. It is just not something that I want for myself.

So now I will sit back and look at my schedule, then figure out what move will be next. For my friends that are located abroad, you might be getting a phone call or email. So heads up.

Letter to myself October 8, 2012...

The letter is done!!!
So where will I be October 8, 2012. Hopefully I am alive and healthy at that time. But it will remain to be seen. I will hopefully continue to grow and learn lessons from my life. I WILL continue to travel and experience more things that this world has to offer.
Hopefully I will still have this blog then also so that I will be able to look back and see many of the things that I have experienced from my perspective at that time. I’ve been getting a lot better at writing here also. KEEP IT UP BUDDY 
Peace!!!

Letter to myself...

I sit here trying to stay warm on another cold night in Lansing, MI. There have been many thoughts running through my head, as always, and I have been thinking on what my next blog topic would be about. One idea has stuck out over everything else and this was the idea of writing a letter to myself that I designate to open at some set time in the future. I had never thought of this before until I met a woman who wrote herself a letter that she opened on her 30th birthday. I asked her what she had written to herself and she said that she wrote goals that she wanted to achieve, talked about her current situation (at the time of writing the letter), and a few other topics. This struck me as such a phenomenal idea.
So, over the next couple of days I will be constructing a letter to give to myself. I will open this letter on my 30th birthday (hopefully I make it to see that day). I chose 30 because I didn’t want to set a date out to far and be too impatient to wait, or possibly even forget about the letter.
So now it’s time to think about my goals, my ambitions, and where do I want to be when I am 30. How do I feel about where I am now and how far I have come. All of these topics and more will be in that letter.