A Blissful 2014

Greetings!  I hope your 2014 was a good one. Ours, like most came with its fair share of disappointments. We missed out on a few opportunities, and lost dear friends. Each of those occasion pressed Shannan and I to reflect on life and appreciate health, happiness in all the things that bring joy.  

Traveling is one of those joyful things for us. This year we did fair share of seeing new places and returning to favorites. I count myself fortunate to have enjoyed phenomenal opportunities to go running in Saint Andrews, Scotland, Mexico City, Mexico and Reykjavik, Iceland among some of the new spots. Each location proved beautiful and terribly interesting.

For me the highlight of running for this year came in our early summer trip to the southwest. Don't hear this as an ethnocentric American rant. No, it's far from it. I posted on this site about the triple digit heat while in Texas and New Mexico. Many times I've written about how the desert is my muse. She works a haunting magic on me. The Rio Grande, even as she was low, compelled me to wonder about her power, and history. Running in this landscape proved personally, emotionally and spiritually invigorating.

We still have travel planned before the year is over. Given the climate and setting of our remaining destinations, I have no qualms in making an early statement of the best running location of the year, for me anyway.

Find your bliss. Travel. Run!

Tom

Thank You

Greetings!  In the late 90s I took a graduate administration class with retired United Methodist Bishop, Bevel Jones. Across the term Bevel stressed the importance of gratitude. He insisted on using words of appreciation no matter what. However, he was even more adamant that some occasions demanded a written note. This was long before the age of texting. I took heed of his words back then and have made a practice of showing appreciation any and everywhere applicable. Those who know me can vouch that I say "thank you" a great deal every day. I do all I can to make each utterance meaningful to the person who I offer my appreciation.

In every class I have ever taught from public school to the university I push forward Bevel's admonition to show appreciation regularly and meaningfully. There are many folks you suggest that "thank you" are the most powerful words in the human language. In 2012, I read Rhonda Byrnes' book, The Magic. It was a follow up to her phenomenally successful book, The Secret. The newer book is a practical guide for fully incorporating gratitude into your daily life. Following the reading I use gratitude learned from Bevel Jones to daily lists, prayers and other regular activities. All that said, I am so grateful for this week where with family and friends we are all keenly aware and grateful for the joys of life. I am thankful for much.

Give thanks. Run.

Tom

Pro Wrestling Workout?

Spring 2010 marked my entry point into the world of home fitness on DVD. Shaun T.  was my first personal trainer. At present, I have a number of his workout programs. I also have several others from Shaun T.’s parent company, Beachbody, as well as some lesser known home exercise programs. For me, these in-home workouts add variety to my running schedule as well as fantastic options for rain and inclement weather.

In my professional life, I’ve conducted research related to pop culture and professional wrestling for number of years. This is of note, as recently Stephanie McMahon and HHH, of WWE fame or perhaps infamy, entered the increasingly popular realm of home fitness with the WWE Fit Series. The first rollout has a workout for men with HHH and another designed for women from Stephanie.  I’ve seen the 1-minute trailer clips.  The DVD exercise programs cost $9.99 each.  I find that to be surprisingly affordable. So I ordered HHH’s program. I expect it to arrive this week.

Shannan mocked me when I told her I made the purchase for research and for fitness. We’ll see how it goes.  I’ll review the workouts once I give each routine a test drive.

Work and Run.

Tom