Tag: soccer

Playing with language is one of my favorite things to do. We capture our experiences in words. Or perhaps evaluate or maybe even create through these sound and character accumulations. Our minds get a different picture or experience depending on the words that we use and how we use them. Push and shove mean basically the same thing but put into the context of a situation, they can be miles apart. So we need to be deliberate and sometimes careful with the words that we use. Sometimes I like to take a page out of my favorite author’s playbook (Dr. Seuss). I make up words to fit my purposes.

Today I didn’t do it on purpose. ”Aliving” was the product of my writing too quickly but it might serve my needs. If you’re reading this, then you’re living. Breathing, drinking, eating, sleeping, talking, walking, etc. you’re doing that thing in the present, right now! It’s an action. And almost the same exact meaning, you’re alive. It’s a state that you’re in. It’s adjective that describes you at the moment. So what if we put them together? Did a word double down on it! What if you weren’t just living or alive? You were aliving!

You weren’t just going through the motions and being the normal you. You had that extra pep in your step, you were seeing things clearly, recognizing how special this thing is that you’re doing right now! (Pete, I’m on the toilet reading this.) Yep! In structure that keeps you safe from the cold in winter and you don’t have to smell that crap ten minutes later because its flushed away! Aliving could be living life at a higher cadence. Most days you could be living but every once in a while, you could choose to be aliving.

It’s a silly concept isn’t it? Making up a word to get the most out of the moment you’re living. So much of what we do is silly. Hours of looking at photos of people that we don’t know that make us feel badly about our life even though the two are not connected at all. Reliving a mental picture of our worst mistakes despite not being able to fix them. Most of what we do is pretty silly when put under a microscope. So it comes down to how you want to run your life. It’s really up to you. Either way, you’re alive (unless I bored you to death, Sorry dead dude!) But now you may consider taking another step up the ladder by ALIVING!

It’s a great day to be alive-ing!

Pete

Nobody welcomes failure with open arms. It often feels like that “not-so-attractive” girl who’s had a crush on you since second grade. Imagine you’re at the school dance, and she’s the only one who asks you for a slow dance. What would you do? Reject her, hoping that a more attractive partner will come along? Well, not quite. You’d dance.

1. Learning through Failure: The first step in embracing failure is recognizing that it’s not the end of the world. Just like that not-so-attractive girl, failure has something to offer, too. It’s a chance to learn and grow. Failure teaches us valuable lessons that success often can’t. Each misstep provides an opportunity to refine our skills and strategies.
2. Building Resilience: Dancing with failure builds resilience. Rejecting her might seem like the easy way out, but it won’t make you stronger or more experienced. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks, and it’s a trait highly valued in both personal and professional life. The more you face failure, the more resilient you become.
3. Embracing Imperfection: Nobody is perfect, and nothing starts off that way either. Ideal opportunities are often the result of many imperfect attempts. By dancing with failure, you acknowledge that growth is a process, and perfection is rarely the starting point. It’s the imperfect steps that eventually lead to something great.
4. Preparing for Ideal: When you learn to dance with failure, you’re not just settling. Instead, you’re preparing yourself for when the ideal opportunity finally arrives. By then, you’ll have honed your skills, developed resilience, and embraced the imperfections of the journey. You’ll be ready to seize the moment.
5. Overcoming Fear: Fear of failure can be paralyzing. But when you’re willing to dance with failure, you diminish that fear. You understand that failure is just a temporary setback, not a permanent label. This newfound courage can help you take risks and pursue your goals more boldly.
6. A Humble Perspective: Dancing with failure also keeps you grounded and humble. It reminds you that success is not always guaranteed and that setbacks are a part of life. This humility can make you more approachable and relatable to others, enhancing your relationships and leadership qualities.

So, next time failure extends her hand, don’t hesitate to dance. It might just be your ticket to a brighter future.

It’s the start of things! Or the last thing before nothing is left! Zero to one is often a herculean effort that requires more fortitude than all the progress that comes later. Yet we often dismiss it at the beginning. Act like it’s the same as the next door neighbor, zero. When traveling on the decline, it’s far easier to see the value of one because it’s all that’s left. Teetering on the brink of empty puts one into perspective. The life-giving force that it is.

It’s funny to think how oblivious we are at times. Perhaps delusion is baked into our brains naturally but we tend to think we have unlimited time, unlimited attention and unlimited options. We don’t! And we should really know it. Not because someone wrote about it but because we’ve experienced it on both sides. The joy of single focus where time melts away. The desire for one more moment with a person lost. The recognition that by trying to do everything, nothing was done. We chide ourselves and promise to be different. Yet, when we get confronted again with the multitude, we forget about one.

This one moment is all that you truly have. It’s impossible to live every moment to the fullest because basic needs would get overrun by maximization. However, we can be cognizant of the moment know that it’s not coming back. So do what you can with it. The juxtaposition of two songs called “one” give a great perspective on the human experience of oneness. Metallica’s “One” is the story of a soldier who is injured in combat and lost his sight and his limbs. He is kept alive in an agonizing existence for the study of others while all he wants is to die. He is singular but separate. The “One” by U2 makes us all one. That we are connected and share our experiences whether painful or joyous by being one.

Our lives are meant for more than the mental masturbation that comes from being stimulated but not engaged. An endless loop of input without connection or meaning. Giving ourselves over to the only moment that exists with the idea of connecting with all that we can, that’s probably the point. We should probably try to remember that until the next time that we realize we forgot and went back to zero.

“We carry each other”

Pete

The two don’t seem like they should be in rapid succession on a “to do list” right? Brushing your teeth is such a mundane task that most people would take it off the list if they could. Conquering the world is so big and amorphous. How does one even begin to wrap their head around the concept? Genghis Khan probably came the closest when you think of access and scope. However, we now know that he had much farther to go. Even if he could have laid siege to lands on all seven continents. He could not effectively manage them in his time. The world is just too big!

There’s a lot of space in between these two concepts but it’s easy to get stuck at one extreme or the other. Maintenance is a necessary component to life. But it’s also a convenient place to hide. The “have to’s” on our list can overrun our lives if we let them and we would feel justified in never going beyond because we “had to…” It’s also easy to get stuck with our heads in the clouds. Thinking of all the distant horizons that we’ll conquer when the time is right and the stars align. Until that time comes, nothing else much happens. Spirts of activity give the impression of forward progress but the amount of territory acquired on the world conquest is quite minimal.

To be honest, I’m not sure what the best strategy is for getting “the most” out of life. There is a break even point with many things like fuel efficiency and speed. There is a mathematical equation to find that equilibrium. With humans, I doubt there’s a true way to figure it out. It may just be one of those things that we have to feel our way through. After we brush our teeth of course!

Pete

Believe!

Believe that you can!

Believe that you will!

Believe that no one can stop you!

Believe that the obstacles in front of you can be overcome!

Believe that people are silently cheering you on!

Believe that you have all the resources in you!

Believe that it’s only a matter of time!

Believe it will be as good as you hope!

Believe in who you are!

Believe trying is worth it!

Believe in miracles!

Believe in you!

Believe!

Be!

Pete

When you’re on a streak, you’re not supposed to talk about the streak! Just like the first rule of Fight Club. From my perspective, it’s not the talking about the streak that needs to be avoided. It’s idea that the streak is something that’s out there rather than inside. Streaks are a collection of positive results that are based on appropriate action. If you want to attribute them to a deity or luck or your unwashed socks, go for it! But you’re taking your hands off the wheel at that point.

The idea is not to stay silent on the streak. It’s to keep talking about the process. How did you get here and can you keep doing those actions? At it’s core, that is what needs to be done but at the extreme, everything is given value. So superstition springs out of consistency. Don’t give the jinxes power. Just show up consistently and the results will take care of themselves.

What streak?

Pete

I’m kind of fed up at this point! Recently, the C word seems to be everywhere. Mainly I’m worried about kids using it. Language patterns can be tough to break and they impact the way that we think. Repeatedly using a word that’s detrimental to our psyche can easily slip past the radar if “everyone is doing it!” I get it! Kids have foul mouths at times. They drop an F-bomb here or there. No problem! But why in the f#$&ing H double hockey sticks does anyone need to even say the most damaging four letter word of them all? CAN’T

It hurts me even to put that deplorable word onto the screen! Hopefully my mother doesn’t read this!

Of course, I’m being a little ridiculous about this. Can’t isn’t a traditional curse word. You won’t get sent to the principal’s office for saying it. However, it hurts me when I hear it used so easily surrounding actions that are quite simple and possible for the individual. Somehow, we’ve become enamored with our limits rather than our possibilities. And those limits aren’t based in reality! They’re some arbitrary construction that has been thrown up due to a small amount of difficulty.

Struggle, challenge, and difficulty are all reasonable train stations to get off at before reaching the last stop of CAN’T! Life is not that binary. If we treated more pursuits like toddlers do walking, we’d all be slightly better off. Cutting off future success due to a few stumbles is foolish enough that even babies know better than to do it. Or perhaps giving up is a learned trait that we need to stop teaching!

Watch your mouth today because your brain is listening!

Pete