Off topic reflection, but it still has heart!! You just never know.

image credit: http://eclecticana.wordpress.com/

I want to write this post so that I can reflect on some things.  You just never know what will happen in life.  A friend of my family got into an accident today.  Broke lots of bones, got hurt really bad, and the rest is in the hands of God.  So I have to reflect on the fact that life takes many unexpected turns.  Like the photo above of the tornado, you don’t know when it will touch down or what will happen.  Sometimes you can’t even plan for it.  I have been in tornadoes.  All you can do is wait, pray, and hide somewhere that is less dangerous.

Since being in college, I have had two friends get into unexpected accidents.  One died instantly on his way to work leaving behind a new born baby and wonderful wife. The other hit head on witha semi-turck going 75 miles an hour.  She lived, ended up marrying the doctor who had to give her enemas when every bone in her body was just about crushed.  They have now divorced because she wanted to go back to the party lifestyle.  I say this because it all happened in an instant.  No way to plan, no way to prepare for the difficult times ahead.  I count my blessings today and thank God for his mercy.  My days are numbered as well.

So out of this time of relfection on thankfulness, I take away a couple key components of life.  I must love those around me for on my death bed I will not wish I had worked harder or made more money. I will not wish I had a bigger house and a fancier car. I won’t care about my IRA, I won’t care about my weight, or my points, or my marathons.  All I will care about is how I loved others while I was here.  The places I go, the things I do, the accomplishments I achieve are all wonderful but without people to love whom I can share the victories and losses with, the THINGS are essentially meaningless.

So today I set out to love others as I have been loved.  To share with others the moments in my life that may bring comfort or strength or joy.  I set out to learn how to love people better. 

I also want to say thank you to each and everyone of you for reading this blog.  I want to say thank you for your support and encouragment and advice and wisdom.  The comments you write are meaningful to me as well as the other readers who read them.  To all of you, KEEP ON KEEPING WITH A SPIRIT OF LOVE AND LIFE AND JOY.

I can see the future, but only through a fog!

I can see into my future.  I can see my wife and I, driving up to the mountain with wild kids; all with our ski equipment in tow.  Oh what fun it will be.  In the picture above, you can see that I couldn’t see very far in front of myself during our last ski outing.  It was a blast, but the low visibility got me a little stressed out.

I can see what I want in my family’s future, but at the same time I have low visibility of it all.  I have hopes and I have fears associated with raising healthy children. This post is just about my anticipation of raising kids in an active family.  My wife and I will be starting that journey very soon.  Right now I am just enjoying the practice with this new body of mine.  HAHAHA  But in all seriousness, I want to have a healthy family who does active things together.  Be it riding bikes, running with my baby in stroller, hikes, talk-walks.  Oh I would love to have talk-walks with my daughter.  I don’t want my kids to have to be obese and feel bad about being fat.  I will love them nonetheless, but I don’t want that for them.  I am scared that I will fail in this area.  I worry that I will not set a good example of health for them.  I want to be at ease knowing that my children will experience life with a healthy, active, and participatory dad.  The good thing is that I am on the right track.  I have my goals and desires laid out before me.  I hope that this will lead the way to a healthy future.