We Ceased Fighting Everything and Everyone

When we learn that we do not need to fight our way through life, we discover a new level of freedom because we choose, we make a choice, not to have our way and not to force outcomes. Why? Because we have learned that we are children of the universe and that all things work out for the best, so we do not need to force our will. We trust that God and the Universe are working with us toward our ultimate good. We simple do what we need to do and leave the results to God. We have learned to trust that which we do not see...we gain faith. When I was faced with my worse fears, I asked God why I had to have this terrible thing. It was revealed to me that I would emerge stronger and better. I did and even stronger or better than I could possibly imagine.

Fall

Fall is coming to Florida and, unlike the change of colors and cool breezes of Chicago, it means here a break in humidity and the end of the rainy season. I ran in darkness this morning and then the light broke signaling that everything is cyclical - everything is ok...

Running without Legs

I have this freind who runs, bicycles and swims in Triathlons and is missing both legs and part of his right arm. He walks around and lives life notwithstanding his limitations!! This is the secret to a good life - to do what no one would think you could or should so that you know what you can or shall!!!

The Storms in My Heart and Mind.

The storms in my heart and mind have cleared and my soul is a quiet tropical beach along a placid sea and warm sunshine. That said, I think today will rock. I hope your day has a special surprise in it!!! I said my prayers and asked God to shake things up and give me a challenge if I could not have things get easier. Then, suddenly, things go easier. It is temporary. Failure in temporary and success is never permanent. Peace.

Don't Listen To Your Lie

There are days when life seems very difficult and we wonder if we can do all the things that we desire; I remember Thomas Edison did thousands of experiments before his success. "If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves". (Edison) Don't listen to the lie that you can't...!

All Sunshine Makes A Desert

There is an old Arab saying that all sunshine makes a desert which is very true. I am really sad today and I know that it is simply the burdens of life. I know what to do - rest, pray, ask for help, go to a meeting, help someone else, trust and keep going. This too shall pass... The thing is that I used to sit and wallow in my discomfort and actually enjoy it. Today, I take action so that I don't stay in the desert too long.

Touche the kid is gonna be ok

I was running this morning around Lake Eola, thinking about people who die before their time. I ran past the spot where this woman Jill sold organic herbs every Saturday. She was a diva who died of my disease. Wisin & Yandel " Touche the kid is gonna be ok" They said it about me. They were right. I am going to be ok. So are you...

Never Give Up Just Before The Miracle Happens

It is the beginning of the week and full of infinite possibilities. Anything can happen today and this week and I am open to all of it. Never give up just before the miracle happens!!

To Thine Own Self Be True

I am in the office today to catch up on things. Sometimes being true to oneself is harder than surrendering to the will of another, but I know that the recipe for failure is to deny oneselves' truth and to try to please everyone. I am surrendering my disease to please.

Take the Challenge

Without Challenge, Stephen, Adventure is Impossible!!!

Humbled by My Need

On this day, I am thinking about humility. I don't know anything about humility except that I am humbled by my need - my need for God, for a fellowship and for people that share their hope, strength and love. I am humbled by random acts of kindness and by the telling of the truth when the telling has consequences and takes courage. I am humbled by a guy named Raj who is missing both legs and half an arm and still has done two triathlons with me. I am humbled by Wanda who has a hard life and laughs better than anyone. Humbled by you...

Starting a day with HELP

This morning, I woke up without much lust for life...then, I got started anyway and asked for HELP (His Ever Loving Presence) and just trusted that the day would be worth my effort...then, suddenly a few small but wonderful things happened and it is only 8:30am and I am really pumped up for the day!!! I hope this day is one you will never forget!!

Don't Resent the Bottom Rungs on the Ladder to Success

Do not regret the bottom rungs on the ladder of success. That is where all the great things start. A person is most interesting just before he becomes successful.

Find Triumph in Failure

Yesterday, I was thinking about failure. Today, I know why. I have failed at virtually everything that I have done before I succeeded. I hated failure and so I would often quit rather than fail. I also used to procrastinate so that I could delay my fear of failure. I used to do anything to avoid failure. I used to think failure defined me as a "failure". Today, I think failure can be a great opportunity to see who I really am. I have let a lot of people down and so now I work to make amends for all the people I have let down and to continue to walk with dignity in my failures and to keep trying no matter what. It is said that winning reveals a large part of our character; failure reveals all of it!!

Many people in mid-life want to change their lives and to do something dramatic, butthey are not willing to take any risk to do it. They will only take that risk if they can control the outcome or if they can be assured that no loss is involved...That is a coward's life. The risk comes in the potential loss - that is where the riske makes it all worth it. I don't stand on the sidelines of life!! Pema Chodron said that "Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear." We develop courage through our confrontations with fear - not by avoiding it.

Keep Going

This morning I went out for a run at 6:30am. Fall has definitely arrived because it was still dark, but the light came and the sky was indescribably beautful. It is truly a great day to be alive...and nothing good has happened yet. Imagine when that happens!!

I used to fall asleep in parks; now I run through them.

Quiet Desperation

The Saying: THE MASS OF MEN LEAD LIVES OF QUIET DESPERATION.
Who Said It: Henry David Thoreau
When: 1854
The Story behind It: American philosopher and naturalist Thoreau isolated himself at Walden Pond in Massachusetts from 1845 to 1847. His experiences during that time were published in Walden (1854), which Thornton Wilder called "a manual of self-reliance." In a well-known passage, Thoreau stated his purpose: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation..." In the first essay, "Economy," Thoreau comments that most men are slaves to their work and enslaved to those for whom they work. He concludes: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation...."

Letting the Song Out

Henry David Thoreau said that "most men lead lives of quiet desperation"...I read that in my youth and vowed it would not happen to me. But it did and I ended up destroying my life. Today I have a chance to reclaim myself before it is too late...Because there is still time to reverse the second part, "...and go to the grave with the song still in them". Today, I take another step in the direction of my dreams. Today, I am not imprisoned by man, money or material.

Adventure in Sobriety

Sometimes my recovery regime from alcoholism is just my "chemo" or "dialysis". Other times, it is an inspiration for doing the things I always dreamed of doing. Two weeks ago I completed the Chicago Triathlon on August 30, 2009. My mother, my aunt Robin, and my brother's girlfriend, Susan, were there and I completed a race at 47 years old that I truly believed was IMPOSSIBLE when I was 33 years old and only did the swim portion in a relay. Yesterday I completed the OUC Orlando Downtown Triathlon. All people who live, die. But some people who die have never really lived. I was dead in my alcoholism. Today I am alive in every sense of the word. What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?