Creating Your Own Reality

If what I have done is true, then may these things come to be.

--The Diamond Cutter

What?! It’s May already? My birthday is tomorrow? What? 27? How did that happen?

They say that time flies when you’re having fun, and I feel like the past few months have flown by like a roller coaster through Las Vegas. My life has gone from spiraling completely out of control to balling out of control in just a matter of months. And the only thing that I did was get clear about who I was and what I wanted. I was able to re-clarify the vision for my life and step into my own reality. When you’re living the dream, all of the right people, situations, and interactions come your way!

So, let me give you the quick update in the standard life categories: Love, Work, Travel and
Ultimate, Motivational Speaking, and Other.

Love

Shelly and I have been dating for more than seven months now. What started with moving in together on a whim in September has become one of the best decisions I have ever made. I find that with every passing day I grow as a person just by being around Shelly. She has made such a dramatic difference in my personal confidence and the way I live my life. She is supportive, caring, and beautiful. Not to mention, she loves peanut butter, The Cape, sun glasses, Top Chef, hand bags, volunteering, Dustin Pedroia, Fantastic cleaning spray and making little children smile. What more could you ask for in a woman?

I think that our relationship has allowed both of us to stretch outside our comfort zones to learn more about ourselves through each other. The satisfaction of being in a relationship that excites you and evolves every single day is a blessing.

And we recently redecorated our apartment in the Back Bay and cleaned up the back patio area. We have a grill, love the Red Sox, and enjoy having people over to our apartment! So you’re welcome to come over with meat, vegetables, and some sort of dessert. Just give us about 24 hours notice…

Work

I woke up on March 3^rd and said, “I am going to have a job by the end of the day.” Now, I didn’t even have a job interview scheduled. I just knew that I was going to have a job by the end of the day. So, I got out of bed, made some coffee, and checked my e-mail. Low and behold, I had an e-mail from The Daily Jolt in Cambridge, MA asking if I would be interested in interviewing later that day.

For those of you who do not know, The Daily Jolt, it is a network of 200 of campus-specific websites that provides all of the information that you need to start your day. The Daily Jolt provides news, forums, polls, procrastination links, event listings, job, housing, and ride boards to the individual campus communities. And the best part is that the platform is run by students on each campus, which allows each campus to have its own local flavor.

Well, to make a short story long, I replied to the e-mail and was invited to start training the next day. Talk about creating your own reality! So, I had created a great part-time job that allowed me to explore a few other options that were on the table and to help a few friends get some unfinished business finished. But, it looks like I will be moving into a full-time role with The Daily Jolt in the very near future, we’ll just have to wait and see…

Travel and Ultimate

I traveled to Italy for 10 days during the month of March with Jason Adams, Ryan Scribner, and a collection of other big ballers. We visited Milan, Cinqueterre, Rome, Florence, and Rimini. It was an absolutely unbelievable experience because we were able to enjoy the fruits of the Italian culture without the crowds of tourists. Not to mention, I was there for Paganello, the largest beach ultimate Frisbee tournament in the world. I would love to tell you that D-Rex won the tournament, which seemed like a possibility when we were 6-0 on Saturday, but we came in 7^th out of 32. It was still pretty impressive for a rag-tag group of players from Seattle, Eugene, Boston, Washington D.C., Brussels, Vienna, and Melbourne.

If you want to see a quick video of the trip, you can watch it here: Don’t be fooled by the pictures that say “Italy,” the video is called “Three Men and a Duck.”

Motivational Speaking

I have had the fortunate opportunity to expand my motivational speaking business this past month by giving two great workshops. For anyone who has attended my Living at the Edge Workshop (or read some of my previous blog entries on the topic), I am using the model of The Box of Possibilities to fit almost any context.

At the beginning of April, I spoke to the Northeastern Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team to help them come together as a team before heading to Nationals. The basic concept was that in order to overcome the mental challenges on the field, you have to first know what your limits and barrier are. You have to understand the moments when as a team you either successfully or unsuccessfully overcome adversity. It was a very powerful workshop for these ladies as individual players as well as a team. I can proudly say that they not only expanded their boxes of possibilities, but they also won the Northeast Region. The Northeastern Valkyries are headed to Nationals for the first time in the program’s history!

I will also be giving two workshops in the next few weeks. The first is on May 28^th entitled "Living at the Edge" at Studio Om in Wakefield, MA. The second is June 7^th with my friend and yoga teacher Priscilla Flynn entitled, “Playing at the Edge: Yoga and The Box of Possibilities.” In the second workshop, we will be incorporating the concepts of being at the edge of your box of possibilities both cognitively and physically. Go to Yoga Sanctuary to learn more. Shoot me an e-mail if you're interested to learn more about either.

Other

I will be playing Ultimate Frisbee for Quiet Coyote again this season,

I went to Game 5 of the Celtics/Hawks series and watched the Red Sox crush the Blue Jays

I read The Diamond Cutter and The Valkyries

I saw David Chase, producer of The Wire speak at The Kenned School of Government

I made a new friend in Italy named Duck Rex (check him out on Facebook)

I just got back from Lake Tahoe for Brian Stout’s Bachelor Party