Bike Ski Explore

My parents recently built a cottage on Star Lake (see Whiteshell Provincial Park) which happens to be about 20 minutes away from one of my favorite cross country mtn bike areas in Ingolf, Ontario. With the snow we've accumulated though I'll clearly be cross country skiing this weekend instead. I'm looking forward to exploring the local ski trails and getting some good exercise. I do miss telemark skiing & the mountains but cross country is great for the lungs and keeping my muscles in shape for hill-climbing.

Football Finals Sunday!

Hmmm - no time to blog it's NFL football finals today! Woohoo! My gut feelings are that it will be Philly & New England in the Superbowl but you never know - Michael Vick might step it up with the Falcons and the Steelers do have an impressive defense.

G

43 Things To Explore

Like many of my fellow blogfriends I have started a list of things I hope to do in my lifetime at a site called 43 Things. Here's the start of my list! An excellent way of exploring play is to set some goals. I'm not normally a list kind of a guy due to my abstract randomness but seeing as I don't do well with details I'd probably create new goals weekly if I didn't type them out.

G

How Much Land Does A Man Need?

I recently came across Leo Tolstoy's short story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," which centres on the life of Pahom, a Russian peasant with strong ambitions, seeking his fortune. A clever Bashkir tribesman offers him a deal he is eager to accept: 1,000 rubles for as much land as he could walk around in a day. So, Pahom sets out at dawn and would have realized a rich estate but for his obsession to encompass more land than a day's walk would allow. He manages to return to his starting point before the sun sets, but only to collapse on the spot with blood trickling from his mouth. The dream of conquest was over with the death of Pahom and his servant burying him. The last line of Tolstoy's story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," is answered, "Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed."

The story is one of greed and perhaps reflects well North American society. We see this story lived out on reality TV shows such as Survivor in which people are willing to forsake all that they would normally stand for in order to win money. We also see it in regards to the abuse of our environment, how we mismanage the resources we have been called to manage. When is enough - enough? It is also a story of lifestylism - what motivates us to pursue the things that we pursue? Are our motivations of merit, of value or are they mere greed. How willing are we to sacrifice our time, our families for the sake of our careers?

Maybe the story is simply about overload as Dr. Richard Swenson suggests in his book The Overload Syndrome. He says the problem with our society is not necessarily the load or ambition but our willingness to go beyond what our bodies can endure. The Bashkirs knew that Pakhom's body had limits - but his greed did not.

I remember a co-worker of mine who had a picture of a limo in his lunchkit. I asked him about it and he said that was what kept him going. On the side he was selling Amway or some type of pyramid get-rich scheme. I remember thinking how futile an ambition that was.

G

Places To See Before You Die

I made one of those spontaneous purchases at our local Safeway a few months ago. You know the ones you make and when you get home, your wife rolls her eyes at you and without putting into words you hear the message "What were you thinking?" So in my moment of foolishness, I picked up the book 1,000 Places To See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List written by Patricia Schultz. Now clearly, most of us will probably not even do our top three places never mind a thousand but for some reason I thought the book's title to be somewhat inspiring. Especially with the back cover's closing thought, "Stop dreaming and get going." I've actually traveled to some pretty cool places in this world and yes, I'm still dreaming up more places to go. So my challenge for myself this week was to list a potential top ten:

1. Visit the Hobbiton site in New Zealand - we have a Kiwi friend (Tania - who we want to visit soon!) who basically described NZ as Canada all squished together so that you can downhill ski, whitewater kayak, & surf all in the same day! I realize the village from LOTR was torn down but I think it would be neat to see what the backgrounds captured on film.
2. Dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia - I've always wanted to visit the Reef (as I love to dive) and hey Oz is home of the Crocodile Hunter & I've always wanted to throw a shrimp on the barbie!
3. Watch a soccer game somewhere in the Netherlands - I'm double dutch in origin and I'd like to check out my roots, and yes World Cup Soccer time I cheer for the Orange Army.
4. Climb Kilamanjaro in Tanzania - it's not a huge mountain but the tallest in Africa!
5. See the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt & cruise the Nile - I've always secretly wanted to be Indiana Jones?
6. Raft the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe - I'm a whitewater addict (at least in a kayak or canoe) and I've never tried it on a raft? Oh and Victoria Falls (one of the natural wonders of the world) apparently are on the same river and I believe they are the tallest falls in the world.
7. Hike in Denali National Park in Alaska - I love the great outdoors and what's more wild than Alaska?
8. Mountain bike the infamous trails of Moab, Utah - it apparently is the mecca for us two-wheeled adventurers.
9. Visit the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador - I'm one of the few who really liked that movie Master & Commander and I thought the Galapagos scenery was so unique.
10. Drop by U2's studio in Ireland - okay maybe I'm stretching even the dream thing here but seriously wouldn't that be cool?

Go ahead make your own list if you dare!

Check it out!

I just made my first post of the new year on my sideline blog exploreplay - check it out! Love to hear any thoughts, reflections or musings!

G

Part Two: Passion For Adventure

I recently read Aron Ralston's book Between A Rock & A Hard Place. It is a fascinating read into the mind of a fellow adventurer with the misfortune of becoming trapped in a slot canyon in outdoors mecca of Utah's canyonlands. He ended up having to amputate his own arm to escape his six day entrapment beneath a shifted boulder. Ralston does not regret the choices he made in exploring that cabin and shares in the book that he is a better man for having gone through the experience. My cousin-in-law Darryl encouraged me to share a quote from the book that I think illustrates well the innate desire we have for adventure. Ralston quotes Jon Krakauer's book Into The Wild as being sort of a manifesto for his life:

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances & yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."

Part One: Adventure Seeker

I cannot remember not being a seeker of adventure, of new experiences, of stories beyond the norms of regular life. Even in Junior High whether it was reading Hardy Boys books, getting to know the opposite sex, or going on my first canoe trip - the goal was exploration of something I did not know and needed to discover. I love the outdoors and grew up alongside a winding river that called my name in whatever the season. It was there I learned to play and to explore in God's creation. Whether it was the construction of tree houses & forts, or stalking small animals or birds, or constructing a mountain bike trail - I knew I was meant to be alive in nature.

I've had many adventures since those early days in Riverside. I've ice-climbed in the Adirondack Mountains in NY, whitewater kayaked many rivers in Manitoba, Ontario, North Carolina & Tennessee, and I've skied in Western Canada's Rockies & in the Chic Chocs of Quebec. I have traveled overseas to Israel and swam in Lake Galilee, the Dead Sea & the Red Sea. I peered into the Devil's Throat of the Iguazu Falls in Brazil & Argentina. I've had the pleasure of scuba-diving with sharks & explored wrecks in the Caribbean. Yet there are so many more places I would love to explore and travel to.

Early on this week, I spent an afternoon cross-country skiing in the Sandilands and I couldn't resist wandering off the groomed trail. I pushed some boundaries, ones I knew better than to push. I came close to spending a night in -20 celsius conditions without a flashlight or a source for fire because of a misjudgment of how much longer it would take in such deep snow. I had food, water and good clothing but it would not have been an easy night. Thankfully, I found my way back (before nightfall) eventually to where I wanted to be.

G

Asia Tsunami Relief

My guess is before the tsunamis hit Asia most people in this world had no idea what a tsuanami was never mind even spell it. But it happened and the result clearly has been catastrophic. I was reading a Relevant article entitled: "A Personal Response To The Tsunamis" on one person's take on it and was led to the blogsite of someone who had survived the ordeal by being at the right place and right time. I encourage you to read her article as it provides some interesting insight into it all.

Our family has made a contribution to assistance with the Tsunami and I feel drawn to give more. So many hurting families, so many who lost loved ones, and with no real answers for them. My wife expressed the other day that she felt drawn to go there, to help in person!

G

Some before & after pictures...

The Calling

I received Covey's recent book The 8th Habit for Christmas and have been very impressed by both the book & the accompanying dvd. Ironically, the book's central premise lines up with my personal mission statement. My personal mission is to "Live out my calling with creativity, inspiring (& teaching) others to fulfill their callings. " Covey's book is divided into two main sections: 1. Find Your Voice & 2. Inspire Others to Find Their Voice. We each have a unique voice in this world and I believe a unique calling. If I were in the business world, I could say we each have a USP or a unique selling point. Covey uses the same three letters in a different combination, he says that voice is our unique personal significance (ups) or how I stated it - our calling. He continues to say that our voice lies at the nexus of talent, passion, need, & conscience.

Identity is destiny?

G

Risk, Reflect & Leave a Legacy

I heard this story last year and it continues to resonate with me. A researcher interviewed a number of 90 year olds in a seniors home. He asked the question, "What would you have done differently if they would have the chance to re-live their lives?" He consistently found three reoccurring answers:

1. Risk more! Risk implementing new ideas, risk getting involved in more relationships, and just try more things!
2. Reflect more! Spend time processing life, maybe even evaluating the previous weeks joys & struggles. Blog?
3. Leave a legacy! Do as much as possible in accomplishing goals that had eternal impact. In other words - their epitaph would reflect something that they had done in life that they would be remembered for.

What a challenge & opportunity for personal growth!

G

Back To School

Yep, the professor is back at this crazy teaching thing again in 2005. It actually was good to be back teaching and learning along with my students today. Introduction to Youth Ministry is a relatively interesting course to teach (& hopefully for my students to take) complete with a section on adolescent development, teenage culture and some current youth issues. Assignments include a research paper & presentation on a particular youth issue such as self-esteem, bullying, cutting, teenage pregnancy, etc.

One of my goals for my students is for them to revisit their lives as adolescents (some are still at the tail end of it ironically) and remember what it was like to go through all the incredible changes. This is the third time teaching the class and each year I ask how many of them enjoyed Junior High - again 80% of my students hated Jr. High and are glad they never have to go through that again. My challenge for my students is to stand alongside the jr. highers they have contact with in schools, youth groups, sports teams, or drop-in centres and to be listening ears as these teens go through some really tough circumstances.

In the words of Ned Flanders - Hi-dilly Ho there neighbour!