Even when you think no one is watching...

I woke up this morning and realized what a miracle it was just to wake up, feeling good and pain free. As I prayed and pondered my life this morning , I came to realize how each of our lives is intertwined with the others around us. No matter how insignificant your day to day activities seem to be, someone is watching your actions. So be careful,act accordingly. Be positive because a negative attitude will affect you and those around you in a negative way.

You might think why worry about my actions. I only have to worry about myself. But you know in your heart that it is not the truth. We are not created to be just an individual living isolated. As humans we long to interact with others, to be accepted by others. So we have to cultivate that, build a relationship with God, find fulfillment and then you can be a positive influence on others.

We are heading into the third month of the new year. I shared at the beginning of the tear about resolutions, about where each of us were heading. some of you shared your resolutions with me. I now invite you to let me know how you are doing. What are your successes, where are your struggles? We are all in this together, so let me help if you need a little push.

Think about it, pray and about it, and be positive.

It's all in the mind....

Well, I am finally writing the blog a few of you have been waiting for. Have you ever felt as a failure? Has it ever happen to you that you fail and that one thing plagues your whole outlook for a long time. Each decision, each action you sort of measure against what you considered was your defeat?

Three times, that I can remember, in my life have a felt as a complete failure. The first was when my marriage failed, the second was the first time I was fired from a job, and the last was when I was not able to complete the Goofy Challenge at Disney last year in 2010.

Since that day, it seems like everything I did I, myself, kept comparing to what I could do and what I would do if I failed again. Alot of things have happened, negative as well as alot of positive, and already as most of you know, I did complete the Disney Marathon and had a personal PR to boot.

I guess as I write this, I do not want to concentrate on the success that I accomplished, but more on all that I missed during this past year. I learned that all things are possible with God's help. I also learned that you have to enjoy the journey along the way. You can't just plan on the end because if you don't make it to that end, then you really have not enjoyed the journey.

So my goal now is to really enjoy the journey. Smile more often and definitely not take each day so seriously. So don't forget to smile and love today, this might be it.

A New Year, A New Start...

Yes, it was last year since you heard from me last. I wanted to write on this first day of the year, not only to commit myself on some resolutions that I have set; but , also, to encourage you to set some resolutions and then share them with me so that I can help you and hold you accountable as the year progresses.

My church, St Gregory's, publishes this poem every year at this time and I felt it was appropriate to add it to this blog.
"He came to my desk with a quivering lip:
the lesson was done;
'Dear Teacher, I need a new page', he said,
'I have spoiled this one.'
I took the old page, torn and blotted,
and gave him a new one, all unspotted,
And into his sad eyes smiled:
'Do better now, my child.'

I came to the throne with a trembling heart;
The year's work was done;
'Dear Father, I want a new year', I said,
'I have spoiled this one',
He took the old year, torn and blotted,
And gave me a new one , all unspotted,
And into my sad eyes smiled;
'Do better now, my child!"

Every New Year's morning , I get up and walk with Barbara for a few miles and then I wait for the sunrise, to see the new dawn on the year. Well, today as I walked the weather was iffy, it was cloudy, and very breezy. In the mental dilemma I felt God saying to 'Trust in Him alone'. I realize that no matter what if I saw the sunrise or if it was covered by the clouds the sun would still rise, just as sure as God was present and guiding me in my life. Well as you can see from the pictures, the sunrise was spectacular. But a lesson was still learned in my morning walk.

Without further delay, my 2011 resolutions are as follows: 1) do the 100 day challenge,2) do a half marathon in less then 3 hours; 3) continue to lose weight and reach my goal weight; 4) continue to write the novel:5) do "El Camino"; 6) with help of God, conquer one vice(or sin) at a time; 7) reconcile with brother and his family.

I know some of these seem easy and some nearly impossible; but I have set my goals, I have started my quest to reach them and I know as the year continues to unfold, I will struggle , and I will conquer. I thank you for being my guideposts at time in my life. I look forward to continuing to share this adventure. Like I said I hope that you will be willing to share some of your goals, some of your resolutions so that we can help each other in our journeys. Share them as comments here or on facebook. I look forward to this year with you.

BURN THE SHIPS.....

I know what you must be thinking by now,I haven't seen anything written for months and now it's only been two days and he has another entry. What is going on? Well, let me tell you I think this is an extremely important time in our lives. I love the holidays, but there is nothing like a new year just about to open up for us, it is a very special time, where you feel like a new beginning, a fresh start to your life.\

I take this moment and look at my past year's adventures, trials and accomplishments. I believe in setting new year's resolutions, not because I intend to give up on them but as a challenge to try to better myself. Last year, I came up with 7 resolutions, I was able to keep four and a half of them. Think those are good odds, at least for me. In a few days I will post my 2011 resolutions here, and I invite you to share some of yours too. Maybe this way we can be more accountable and have a higher success rate.

When the Spanish conquistadors came to conquer Mexico, after many months at sea; their captain asked them on the beach...are you ready to go into battle. And of course they said, YES. Three times they were asked the same thing and three times they excitedly said YES. Then he said, OK you are willing to stay and fight, then before you do burn the ships. See this is my advice to you today, before you start out on this new year, look at all the things that will make you look back and reconsider those resolutions. Anything that will make it easy not to get healthier, or wiser, or better, or just feel better of yourself as a person. Get rid of it before you wake up the morning of January 1. You only have one way out of this year, of this life and it is to go forwards. Arm yourself wisely for the trip, surround yourself with the ones that love and will help you along the way. OK, OK.....by now you are saying, enough. Well it is enough, I have to start looking at the pieces of my ships that I am trying to glue together. See, I have burned them once before, now I have to finish the job and get rid of the splinters.

Once I again,I wish you a healthy, joyful NEW YEAR.

Time does not stand still...

It has been over two months since I posted here and so many things have happened, mostly positive, in my life. I would love to go into some of the details at this time but I figured it will have to wait at least a little longer.

My heart is full with anticipation for the New Year, though, I felt it would be only appropriate to write a few thoughts on this milestone in all of our lives. I can not believe that we enter the second decade of this new century and millennium. It seems like only a few days ago when I was anticipating the dawn of the 21st century, and now I look and I am 10 years older. Wow, it just flew by.

I feel that I am at the doorstep of a very exciting time in my life. this past year things have fallen into place. I have grown through many struggles and I have matured into a person that, if I had looked at the beginning of the year, would have said it was not possible. I hope that as 2011 starts I will be able to share some of my accomplishments, defeats, struggles and growth of this past year.

I end this year on a very positive note. I am where I am because of each one of you. Your interactions into my life, have brought me to where I am now. For this I thank each one of you. I pray that you will continue to share this life with me and wish you a very prosperous, joyful and healthy NEW YEAR.

Clouds help most of the time......

Today as I ventured out for my morning workout with Nancy, I could not help but see how beautiful the sky was as we headed back. It was too early for the sunrise but in the first light we noticed the clouds. I had to think about how clouds make the sunrise even more beautiful. And so I thought how true it is for most of our lives. The clouds( or obstacles or problems) that come into our lives make the good times in our lives seem so much better.

So I am thinking this is not a new concept, but one that I wanted to share this day. This past week has been a good one. My training in all aspects is going well. In my training for the marathon, I keep plugging away. I am thankful for the people that God has placed in my life to share this journey with. Nancy, Barbara,Shari and Jamie as I plug away on the daily training. My leader and coach, Marcela, is a true inspiration for me. Her never ending smile and whoo-hoo make me try to achieve the best every Saturday.

On the personal front, I am, also, keeping on track. I keep trying to eat right, get more sleep and am sticking with the MTO formula to reach my weekly goals. I feel confident that the longer I stick with all of it , the sooner it will just become one of my habits. Spiritually I keep growing too. I now see the times I slip backwards as it seems, are just growing pains and learning experiences. Sometimes I think that I am getting to be a worse sinner, but I quickly realize that it is just that I see my sinful behavior for what it truly is and not as what I thought to be normal before.

o I guess the bottom line is that today, this week when you see a cloud on your horizon, look at it differently. the obstacles will quickly pass in the grand scheme of things, and when you see that sunrise approach, when you have overcome that hurdle in your life , it will be so much sweeter so much more beautiful. Smile, and have fun it is only life.

NEVER FORGET.....

I remember waking up nine years ago, on September 12th, early like I did today ;and I was scared. I was dealing with a friend who had completely lost it because of what had happened the day before,and I was trying to process the whole thing and how my life and the loves of all in this world had changed in what seemed a blink of an eye.It seemed at that moment in time that the whole world united, the world prayed for safety, for direction , to find something as simple as hope once again.

It was a terrible thing that violated our space it seemed, and we had to prepare for whatever else was coming. I had always lived in Florida so I knew how to prepare for a hurricane, we always had a hurricane plan in my family. Now I was coming up with a plan on how my family was to react and what we needed for a potential terrorist attack.

This happened many years before I actually started my training for a marathon, but I guess it was laying the foundation for that training too. In the blink of an eye things changed , but it also made me realize that anything was possible. The limits we had placed upon ourselves as a nation and as individuals were shattered that day. Now we were not only not safe, but we only had ourselves to blame for our shortcomings.

So now I pray, I prepare and I train. I hope that another attack does not happen, but I am better prepared now. I certainly pray for God's mercy, and I pray to place Him in the center of my life as the nation should also become a God centered nation also.

What I will certainly not forget is what happened. If I start to forget I know that somehow I have wandered off the path that I am now on. By remembering I will continue to walk where I know I belong. The sunrise is of today 09/12/10 and it reminds us that no matter how dark the night, a new day will always awaits us.