Consider the Salmon

Have you ever thought about the Salmon? I don't mean from a "health food" perspective, I mean from a "life view' perspective. If you don't know what I mean, Salmon are the fish that leave the ocean to swim against the currents of the rivers so that they can spawn, or recreate. That has to be one amazing journey, if you think about it. In fact, the journey of a salmon can teach us a lot about life and what life should be like. 

Yes, the guy who often tells you to learn from watching how children grow and develop is now telling you to learn from observing how a salmon lives. What can I say? I am finding hidden treasures everywhere.

Anyway, consider the salmon's journey. They actually swim upstream, up waterfalls, over rocks, and through grizzly bear traps for one purpose: To create life. A salmon's whole life culminates to this one event, usually their last event. Think about it. They grow and develop out in the ocean. Then one day, when they are called, they set out on the journey of a lifetime, all for the purpose of creating. 

Here is the lesson: Salmon don't exist. They live. They have a purpose, and they let NOTHING stop them from pursing their purpose. They don't know how to settle for less than their purpose. 

If a lowly salmon (a fish)  lives in such a way, a way of perseverance and triumph, shouldn't we as humans strive to live for our purpose as well? Shouldn't we fight against all odds to create, to engage, to live? If a salmon doesn't settle for existence, should we settle? No. We should strive to live much like the salmon. We shouldn't settle for less than our given purpose: To create and to live. Yes, you were made to create. I don't know what you were made to create, but you have something to offer. You have something to give. You have a life that was made to live, to be a spark that adds to the world, not takes from the world. 

Salmon swim up waterfalls. That would be utterly impossible if you did not know for a fact that salmon can do it. Salmon don't know impossible, they don't know quit. They only know desire and effort. They only know success born out of intense passion and purpose. In our world, we have taught ourselves how to settle. We have learned to "go with the flow. " Please understand, dead things go with the flow. Dead branches and leaves float downstream. It takes no effort to go with the flow. Any dead thing can float down stream. LIFE swims upstream. Whatever your purpose is, whatever your creative contribution is, it lives upstream. Life is inside the journey of swimming upstream, up waterfalls. over rocks and through bear traps. 

Is there something inside of you begging to swim upstream, a "call of the wild"?  Is there a life hidden for you that is waiting to be revealed, to be lived? If you are not swimming upstream, you are not living. You are settling and you are dead. If you are not satisfied with your life, if you want more, wake up and fight the current. Start swimming upstream and live your life. Fulfill the purpose that only you can fulfill. Create something you were made to create. Consider the life of the salmon.

Health Tie-In Alert 

In case you were wondering, "what in the sam-hill does this have to do with health and movement?" Well, this has everything to do with health and movement. In our world, it is easy to get pulled downstream and let the apathy of our surroundings drown us. It is easy to sit and do nothing. It is easy to say things like, "when you get older, things just fall apart", or "I know I need to be healthy, but I just don't have the energy to go for a walk." Thoughts like that are simply The Raging River of Physical Death pulling you downstream to drown you. After all, if you get drowned, you cannot create, you cannot live, you cannot make the world a better place. 

The truth is, you were made to swim upstream. You were made to add to this world. There are many "rivers" in our lives. All of them will try to pull you under and keep you from the top of the mountain, from your purpose.  There is a raging river of physical death and it's sole purpose is to keep you lazy, sick, obese, hurt, fearful and immobile. Why? Because it is hard to create, to give life and to live life, when you are not healthy. It is hard to love others and contribute to society when you are consumed by your own sickness, your own infirmities, and your own inabilities. One of the secretes to fulfilling your purpose, to creating life, is to walk around in health. When you feel good, you have the strength, energy, and creativity to change the world. When you feel good, you can easily love and give to others. This is why it is so important to swim against the current of physical death and apathy. 

I know this is a bit "out there", but this message is the truth: You were made to move, to be strong, to live and to create. You have a purpose. You cannot fulfill your purpose, you cannot truly live, if you allow yourself to settle; to simply float or sink with the currents of this world. Just like the salmon, you must learn how to swim up waterfalls. It is not impossible. You were made to swim up life's waterfalls. 

I challenge you to get up right now and go for a walk. As you walk, consider the life of a salmon. If a fish can do something so amazing, how much more could you do? 

Shifting Sand

In your daily life, are you surrounded by man-made terrain, or are you surrounded by God-made terrain? Do you blunt and blind your senses with shoes? Do you rob and starve your brain by being sedentary? 

I ask these questions because this weekend I am at the beach. Yesterday I was walking, running, and playing in the sand, the shifting sand. I realize that I was exposing my brain and body to rich sensory information. The shifting sand, the sun, the wind - they were all coming together to create an experience, a buffet of nourishment for my brain.

We were created to be nourished and flooded with rich, sensory information ever single day. It shouldn't be a rare treat. But yet, for most of us, we have traded in our rich sensory buffet for day-old bread and water.  That is most of us spend the majority of our time sedentary, in shoes, under fluorescent lights, or in a concrete "jungle." 

We are simply not experiencing all the rich nourishment and vitality that has been created for us. We are settling for bread and water when we could be out dining on steak and wine (metaphorically). Our bodies were made for the sensory experience that our world is supposed to provide. Experiencing our world in it's natural form - walking in the grass, climbing hills, going for hikes, playing in the surf - is one of the pleasures that not only nourishes our brains, it fine tunes our bodies. It strengthens our souls and literally makes us stronger and healthier. 

We were not meant for a life in the "civilized" jungle of concrete, brick walls, and fake lighting. Blue skies, cotton-ball clouds, and rolling green hills were actually created to romance us into exploration and vitality. Do you want to improve your health? To lift your spirit? To reduce your stress? Take off your shoes and go for a walk in the grass. Let the blades of grass kiss the virgin space between your toes. It will pleasure your brain and lift your soul. It will help turn your hamstrings on and put a spring in your step. 

The point is, bust out! If you want to experience the fullest level of health you were created to have, you need to experience the wonder and gift of all the beauty and textures that have been placed around you. Chairs should only be used to rest in - not live in. Shoes should only be used to protect your feet when necessary. They shouldn't be a coffin of sensory deprivation. 

I know we can't live outside all of the time, nor do we need to forsake homes and shelter. But, we should experience our world often, if not daily. We are putting ourselves in isolation and we are moving further and further away from the vitality we were created for. We are afraid of germs, we live to eat and sit in chairs, and we walk around in a weird stressed state of anxiety mixed with the depression of a lifetime of "what ifs". 

It is time to trade in the stress and brokenness of existence for the joy and wholeness of life. Man cannot live on bread and water alone. We were made for a buffet of rich, sensuous "food". Take off your shoes, go outside and experience the beauty that is waiting to nourish you back to life. Go play in the shifting sands.  

Showing Up

Two thousand years ago, people walked most everywhere they went. And, chances are, most places people often found themselves at where places of employment. Maybe it was a farm, a battlefield, a huge ship, a constuction site, or whatever. Way back when, most jobs were physical. They required some degree of manual labor. So people often walked to work, they worked, then they often walked home. The point is, people moved - A LOT. They were probably in great physical shape. They had to be, their lives depended on their bodies' ability to move. 

Todays world is very different for most of us. Many of us drive to work, and when we get there, work is not too physically demanding. We aren't building pyramids, plowing fields, over-taking castles, or sailing the seven seas. We are holding down office chairs, staring into screens, or texting on our hand-held, condensed "world." Many of us are not in great physical shape because we no longer have to be - our lives no longer depend on our ability to move to earn a living. 

But that is the lie, isn't it? Our lives really do depend on our ability to move well, don't they? Think about it, if we can't move well, we simply are not going to enjoy this life we have to live. In fact, if we can't move well, many of us will think this life is not that great to live and we may spend all our time thinking about how "old" we've become, or how much it hurts to move, or how one day we may have to ride around the mega-store on our Easy Rider. 

We need to wake up. We are heading down a path that leads to a very deep pit. A pit so deep it will be hard to climb out of; especially with a soft, large, overweight, sluggish body. Easy Riders don't climb, folks. 

We need to become like our ancestors before us. We need to go to work. We need to move deliberately throughout the day. I'm not saying we should all trade in our jobs for manual labor, but I am saying we should all be deliberate in our attempts to find ways to move. 

Moving is so restorative that it only takes a little bit here and there to overcome much of the damage we create by being sedentary. Two to three ten minute movement sessions splashed in and throughout your day can keep your body mobile, strong and healthy. Think about that: 30 deliberate minutes of moving every day can keep you out of an Easy Rider/Walmart Cart when you are 50 years old. Two to three movement breaks a day can keep you action ready when your 70 or 80 years old too. 

Deliberate moving should become our "new job" because we are no longer forced to move. So, we must force ourselves to move. We must show up day in and day out. We must find ways to move, to play, to explore. We were meant to live well over 100 years of age, with HEALTH and VITALITY. You know it's true, you just have a hard time accepting it because you don't see it actually happening. Instead, you see a great deal of 50 to 60 year olds trading in their legs for motorized shopping carts, or recliners. 

Show up. Every day. Make moving a priority. Go to work. 

Have We Gone Too Far?

We are starting to get too big for our britches. Or at least it seems like maybe we are. We have started saying seemingly weird things like, "You have to earn the right to move, or do whatever.", or "That person has good, quality movement." I am sure these sayings, and others like them, are not meant with any harm towards anyone but they can be harmful, if not misleading.

We were all made to move. Therefore, by birth, we have earned the right to move. Whether or not we own a foundation to perform various moves is another matter. However, it is a matter that can be easily addressed. All of us can address our movement issues by simply returning to the movements that we were designed to grow by. Our developmental movement patterns are the movements that build a solid foundation of strength and stability from which we can discover and learn how to add other movements. 

Basically, we "earn the right" to move by being born and then learning how to move. We retain our movement foundation and abilities by continuing to move - by being active. We forfeit our ability to perform certain movements by choosing an inactive lifestyle. Inactivity, if anything, steals our movement birthright. Again, this can be easily addressed though because we were simply made to move. If we are not moving the way we should, or want to, we just need to go back to the beginning and re-learn what we once knew. It is miraculous how spending some time on the ground can help us fill in movement gaps in our bodies. 

Which brings me to the point of having "good, quality movement." We all possess good, quality movement. Whether or not we all display "good, quality movement" to whoever is judging that movement is another story. The eye is subjective and perception tints the lens. Anyway, we were all made to have good, quality movement. We were made to move with grace, strength and fluidity. Our bodies were designed to resemble poetry. This ability belongs to all of us. If we are not moving with the grace and efficiency we were made to have, all we have to do is find it. The grace, the poetry, of our movement is kept inside of our brains. It is hardwired into us. Our developmental patterns (spending time on the ground) are the keys to unlocking this graceful potential that we possess. 

The point is this: you are not lacking anything that you need. If you are missing a movement, a reflex, a posture, a strength that you want to have, or that you need to have, it is in you. All you have to do is remember it. All you have to do is "press reset" - relearn how to roll, rock, crawl and walk again. The beauty that you were made for rests in the simplicity of a child's ways. 

You were made to move. It is your birthright to move like poetry. Don't believe anything less than that. 

A Hero Rises

It is a happy day today. My father-in-law is getting married today. Three years ago, his wife, my mother-in-law, passed away. I wrote a blog about that three Aprils ago. Anyway, today, a hero rises. 

Two heroes actually. Our hero is marrying a wonderful lady, a lady who herself lost her husband some time ago. These two heroes are coming together today because they want to share their lives with each other. Its really a beautiful thing.  

I am sure you're wondering, "what in the blue blazes does this have to do with health?" This has everything to do with health. In this life, things happen - good or bad. It is how we handle these things that determine our outcome, our health. We can shrink away when bad things happen, and then ultimately fade away. OR, we can dust ourselves off, rise back up and soar with wings like an eagle. Again, heroes rise. 

We were all meant to be heroes. None of us - not one of us - was meant to do anything except soar through life like an eagle. We weren't meant to be knocked down for the count. We were made to stand.  AND should we ever fall, we were made to get back up. 

Don't miss this. This has everything to do with your health. How do you handle tough situations? Do you shrink in fear or depression, or do you dust yourself off and stand back up? Do you grit your teeth, hold your head up and resist defeat? Are you more like Rocky Balboa, or Chicken Little? Our attitude towards life greatly effects our physical health. Yes, mental health has a direct link to your physical health. If you think sick thoughts, your body will manifest those thoughts. If you think resilient thoughts, your body will manifest those as well. 

I don't know if you are going through any hard times. And, if you have or if you are, I don't presume that I understand how you feel. I don't. But I do know this: you were meant to be a hero, a warrior, a victor. Whatever you are going through, you can overcome it. Don't stop standing. Rise up and strengthen your wings. Soar. 

Life is meant to be lived. You were meant to live it. 

Easy Health

Getting healthy, and staying healthy, may be easier than we think. At least I am starting to think it is easier than I used to think. For years I would spend at least an hour a day, sometimes every day, training. Of course, if the truth is known, I was training more out of a needless compulsion and my training had less to do with health than it did with asthetics. I have changed a great deal in the last 25 years, but I still try to train almost every single day. 

But now, I train for my health. I just want to be healthy and capable. I want to move with ease and freedom. I want to be able to do what my kids do, and create adventures with my family. Basically, I want to be able to enjoy this life I have been given. What I am learning is that being healthy doesn't have to be all that hard. Training, I mean, doesn't have to be as grueling, laborious, fruitless, and time consuming as I once made it. I am starting to beleive that a person can achieve and maintain a healthy body in just 10 minutes a day. 

Why 10 minutes? Because I am getting busy lately and I am learning how to train in 10 minute segments. Somedays, like today, I might train for 10 minutes in the morning. And then later in that same day, I might "play" or train for another 10 minutes. Or, I may only get 10 minutes in and that is it. 

I think of this as sort of an Easy Health routine, much like Dan John's Easy Strength. Exept here, I just focus on moving - usually with bodyweight (mostly crawling stuff) - for 10 minutes instead of performing 10 reps with an exercise. 

10 minutes isn't that long. I can sneak 10 minutes out of my day. And even though 10 minutes isn't that long, I can get in some quality, life enhancing movement. For instance, today I lateral Spider-man crawled for 10 straight minutes (crawling sideways on hands and feet, with butt down low - not a bear crawl). Do you know what a person is capable of if they can lateral Spider-man crawl for 10 straight minutes? Anything; not too much they can't do. 

Maybe you don't like crawling. Maybe you like pushups. What if you carved out 10 minutes in your day to just do pushups? Maybe you do 10 pushups on the minute, every minute. That's 100 pushups in 10 minutes. Not too bad. Maybe you do 20 pushups on the minute, every minute. You could work as hard as you wanted to in 10 minutes. You could do some quality moving in 10 minutes. What if you felt so good, and it was so easy to find 10 minutes in your day, you found another 10 minutes later in that same day? Do you think you could find a way to get in some fairly constant movement for another 10 minutes? I'll bet you could. It's kinda easy.

Here is the cool thing. The body is pretty resilient. It will take the 10 minutes of movement we give it, and it will overcome several of the hours that we starve it from not moving. Even if the majority of your day is in a chair - and this has been shown to take years off your life - 10 minutes a day can restore and undo so much of the damage that we create by neglect. Your body knows exactly what to do with 10 minutes of easy, simple, quality movement: It heals and restores your health. 

Is this too simple to work? Yes. That is why you might miss it. Just 10 minutes a day can restore and maintain your health. I'll bet on somedays you could find two to three 10 minute blocks throughout your day. You can get a lot done in 10 minutes - if you are intentional. 

Be intentional. Crawl, walk, run, skip, squat, burpee, whatever for 10 minutes a day, at least once per day. Fill the 10 minutes with as much quality movement as possible. Rest as much as you need to, if you need to. This works. 

Time is On Your Side

We live in a fast world. We are no longer have the microwave mentality, we are the internet mentality. We can get what we want as soon as we can think it. As a result, the way of patience is all but gone away. We no longer have to wait for anything. We want what we want and we want it now. 

Time is no longer something we care to contend with. It annoys us. Be honest, when is the last time you visited your local post office without getting a little impatient if not angry? Time is something you have to know how to deal with if you go to a post office - time is something you have to have at the USPS. Do you think we get frustrated at the post office because they are so slow, or do you think we get frustrated at the post office because we are used to being able to point and click our way through life? Maybe it is a little of both.

Anyway, we don't care much about wrestling with time. We rush things - we rush deliveries, we rush decisions, we rush through traffic and we rush through our training. In all of these areas (even with some deliveries) it may be wise to slow down. Going slow, wrestling with time, can be a tremendous asset for us when it comes enhancing the quality of our lives. 

I could speak on the benefits of taking our time in every area of our lives, but to keep in line with the original intent of this blog, I will just focus on training. When we train, time - taking our time and exploring the movements can be our friend. All to often we train, or exercise, for the sole purpose of just getting it done. We want to check off today's session. We rush through it. What would happen if we took our time and slowed down the movements? This is what would happen, we would become amazingly strong - in both mind and body.

Take Spider-man crawling for example. We could crawl for 20 yards in 30 seconds, OR we could crawl for 20 yards in 3 minutes. We could crawl SUPER SLOW and we could really own the movement. Owning the movement, having the strength to move at a snail's pace is owning the strength needed to move at any pace. 

Moving fast, or even at a normal pace, can often hide weaknesses, or allow you to cheat. Moving super-slow, allowing time to be your resistance, can strengthen your weaknesses and wash them away. Slowing down your movements builds beautiful grace and strength. Being able to move slow, allows one to move fast well. 

Being able to move slow, at a snail's pace, also allows one to strengthen the brain and overcome discomfort, boredom, and impatience. It disciplines your mind and teaches you the ability to withstand uncomfortable, unpleasant, mind numbing situations (like finding yourself at the post office). 

Give this a try. A couple of times a week, practice being in slow motion. Pretend like you are in Mission Impossible and you are trying to move slow enough to sneak by a motion detector. Use your imagination here and explore your slow strength. If you do this, you will unlock a new world of pure movement.

AND, you will be able to last 5 more minutes at the post office!

Incase you are wondering - I am preparing to go to my local post office today. But it is okay. I will endure it because time is on my side.

The Death of Imagination

Do you remember when you were a kid, before the internet, ipods, and xbox? What did you do to entertain yourself? I'll bet you probably used your imagination. In fact, I'll bet your imagination was intimately tied into your physical activities. I'll bet you were Luke Skywalker battling Darth Vader, or Tarzan swinging on the rope swing in the back yard, or Bo and Luke Duke jumping over mud puddles with your BMX bike. You probably became all of your favorite characters, heros, or animals and you acted out their stories (your version of their stories) through physical, imaginative play. 

Imaginative play is one of the greatest tools a child has when it comes to becoming healthy and strong. It is the tool that makes moving and learning fun, the tool that nourishes the brain and the body. Do you remember all the crusades and adventures you once embarked on as a child? Do you remember when monkey bars and trees were made to be climbed, or "lived" in? When grass was made to put stains on your clothes from learning how to slide from a full sprint? Do you remember when you were the star quaterback of your favorite team and you led them to win the Super Bowl? There was a time, when your joy, your movement and your life was intimately tied to your ability to imagine and create adventures in your mind.

Once upon a time, we were all superheros, space cowboys, pirates on the run, or even damsels in distress. Once upon a time, we lived for adventure and we had the bodies that were ready and able for those adventures. 

Then one day, we let our imaginations slip away. At some point we decided that just watching adventures was as good as being in them. We decided that we could "play" and "imagine" through video games, or movies, constantly instead of getting up and acting them out. Somehow, some way, we traded our active, creative imaginations for passive, gluttoness  imaginations. We have starved our brains ability to create and our bodies ability to move by neglecting our imaginations. 

Do you know how to tell if your imagination is broken? Boredom. That is the word and the symptom of a broken imagination. Today, we live in a broken, bored world. Look around, you will see bored children everywhere. No matter your condition today, you were better off as a kid when you were growing up than today's kids are. There are so many imagination starvers and robbers in our world today, our children will have to fight for their health - both mentally and physically. 

It is easy to blame technology for killing our imagination and ruining our health and the health of our children, but that is an easy way to try to escape responsibility. The truth is, it's our fault. We don't force our kids to go outside and play anymore like our parents made us. We don't let our kids play dodgeball anymore because someone is being made a target. We don't let kids swing on monkey bars anymore because they might fall and get hurt. Pretty soon (and it's funny cause it's true) we won't allow our kids to run anymore because they may trip, or hurt their knees, or break a sweat. We are stifling our children's play and imagination because we have placed ourselves in a world of fear and complacency. We need to let our children, make our children, go outside and use their imaginations. We, ourselves, need to learn how to become space cowboys again. 

There is an abandoned world of movement and health that is waiting to be rediscovered - a world of imaginative play and movement that can unlock a reality of health, life and adventure. Think about it, Babe Ruth hit his way into history because he could imagine himself hitting homeruns. Michael Jordan became the greatest, most graceful basketball player in our day because he could imagine himself dominating the court. We need to fix our imaginations. Our imaginations guide us into the worlds we want to conquer. If we allow them to starve, if we accept boredom, we are doomed and we doom our children as well. 

Do You Know Joe?

I have a friend named Joe. I see Joe only once a year during my family vacation. Joe is super cool. In fact, when I grow up, I wanna be like Joe. Joe is 71 years young and Joe has guns. His arms scream "I'm a man!"

Ever since I've known Joe, I've thought he was cool. How many 71 year olds do you know who kayak down rapids, ride jet skis, and exercise daily? How many 71 year olds do you know who are still conquering life?

Anyway, like I said, I see Joe once a year. So, for 51 weeks out of the year, I don't see Joe. This year, when Joe saw me he said "I've lost 25 pounds since February. I looked in the mirror and said 'something has got to change.' I started doing 1500 push-ups a week and running on a treadmill or elliptical for 20 minutes a day. Oh, I also cut back on sugar. No more soda and sweet tea for me. You know what? The weight came off easy."

Ive never known Joe to be overweight. But, did you get all that? Joe lost 25 pounds and said it was easy. 200-300 push-ups a day, 20 minutes of cardio a day, and cutting back on sugar made losing 25 pounds "easy." Joe rocks. 

Joe made a decision, set his sights on his target, and hit the mark. Joe doesn't play when it comes to making a decision. Did I mention Joe has guns at 71 years old, arms a teenager would envy! 

Do you know anyone like Joe? Someone who can make a decision, set a goal, and go get it without any excuses? I'm not pro-treadmill (I dislike them.) I'm not anti-sugar (I like it!) My opinions about health and exercise don't matter to Joe. Joe just goes after what he wants and finds a way to get it done - with consistency - day in and day out. 

The result? Life. 

Joe is a young man. Young, but wise. He knows consistency without wavering is the key to his health, to his life. At 71, his pulse is in the 40s, his pipes ripple with muscle, and his life is an adventure. 

When I grow up, I wanna be like Joe. 

Do you know a Joe? Are you a Joe? You can be a Joe at any age. You can live and love life at any age. It is "easy." Just ask Joe. 

Are You Free?

It's Independence Day here in the United States. A day we celebrate freedom. A day to spend with family, friends, and neighbors as we grill some burgers, dogs, or chicken. We are free. Free to live and enjoy our lives, free to pursue happiness, free to make our own decisions about almost anything.

Freedom is a wonderful thing. There is nothing like being free. Though it may be difficult to truly appreciate freedom unless you are not free. Many of us, by the way, are not free. There are multiple areas and degrees of freedom that a person can experience. There is one area of freedom, however, that all of us should be able to enjoy no matter who we are or what country we live in: The freedom of movement. 

Are you free? Are you free to move? Are you free to go outside and hike up any mountain, or conquer any adventure that your imagination creates? Or, are you caged up inside of your own body? When you see other people outside living adventures, do you long to do the same? When you see children skipping around the neighborhood, or playing in the park, do you wish you could swing from the monkey bars like you once did? Does fear or doubt grip you when you think about sprinting across a grass field, or when you think about picking up an awkward piece of furniture? Do your first thoughts go towards your "bad back" or your "bad knee" when you go to pick up your laundry from the floor? 

Many of us are prisoners in our own bodies. We fear our own ability to move without pain or injury. We are simply not created to live this way. We should be able to play and live like we did when we were a child. Adults are supposed to be "big children". Why would we spend so much time developing our strength, coordination, balance, posture, and athleticism the first 5 years of our lives if we were just supposed to lose it the last 75 years of our lives? That doesn't even make sense. We are supposed to be athletic and agile well into our golden years, until the day we decide we no longer want to be so - hopefully, we never decide that. 

Some of you reading this may think you are free, non of what I am saying applies to you. But ask yourself, are you really free. When you "exercise", if you "exercise", do you spend 30 minutes warming up? Do you spend 15 minutes on a foam roller? Do you have to do "corrective" exercises just to do your other exercises? If your warmup takes longer than 2 minutes, are you really free? Or, are you trapped in a warm-up ritual? Or, even worse, are you held prisoner by the belief if you don't do these things, you will hurt yourself?

This is not right. Our first thoughts should never be about our mortality, our injury history, our tricky hip, or our imagined fear of future injury. We were not made to be fragile. And, we were certainly not made to live in a cage of fear. 

No matter what condition your body is in, it can be restored. You can regain your freedom. You may have issues that may take more time and effort, or even a miracle, but guess what. You can still make those issues better. Heck, you may even find a miracle or two if you start moving the way you were designed to move. The body is more amazing than we even know. It was made to be whole: Strong, resilient, athletic. It was not made to be broken: Weak, immobile, fragile. Your brain was also made to be whole: Confident, fearless, strong; not fearful. 

Are you free? Free to move? Free to play? Free from fear? Free from 30 to 40 minute daily preparatory movement routines? Just as this country fought for its freedom, you can fight for yours. Do not settle for less. If you are not free, if you are caged inside your own body and mind, fight to regain your freedom. That is where life happens.

How do you start fighting for your freedom? The same way you fought for it when you were a baby. You earned it, learned it, and created it through learning how to move. Those same movements that once made you free, will still work today. You can absolutely regain your original freedom by restoring your original strength. 

Happy Freedom Day!

Articulating Joints

Joints - we have them. Lots of them. There are 206 bones in the human body. Bones that are joined together at well, joints. Have you ever wondered how many total joints are in the body? I actually looked this up, the answer varies. So I'll just say that the body is simply full of joints. In the human foot alone, there are 33 movable joints. 

We are one big pile of moving joints. Do you know why we have so many joints? It is the same reason that we have so many muscles. Because we were made to move! Our entire design screams out  for us to "move!" Everything about us cries out for movement.

Our vestibular system ties us together through movement. Our muscles are strengthened and trained through movement. Our brains are developed and enhanced through movement. Our bones are connected through moving joints. Our digestive systems are even stimulated through movement. And our skin tells us of every detailed movement that it encounters. 

There is nothing about the human body that suggest that we sit motionless for most of our waking hours. There is nothing about us that suggest we  sit for anything more than a brief rest. Sitting is for resting, not living. 

Your body is supposed to be a fully functioning, strong, mobile masterpeice of movement. It is equiped with countless movement detectors and movement enablers. The only time we should ever be motionless for hours, if ever, is when we are asleep. I'm not sure about that though. Have you ever woken up with your head at the foot of the bed?

Your body was created for movement. Think about that. Most created things have a purpose. A watch is designed to tell time. A dishwasher is designed to wash dishes. A mover is designed to move. You are a mover. To not move is to deny your design. To deny your design is to starve your life. The physical key, the physical "secret" to living a healthy, strong life is movement. 

Feed your design. 

Would You Believe Me?

If I told you that you could have the body you’ve always wanted (Fit, mobile, athletic, strong) by simply moving like a child, would you believe me? Some of you reading this would believe me. What if I told you that you could lose weight and pick up your metabolism by simply moving like a child? Would you believe that, too? 

I can hear your thoughts now: “Sure, anyone could lose weight if they bounced off the walls all day long like children do. They are so full of energy” 

Yeah, that might be true, but I’m not talking about moving like a child in that respect. I am talking about simply getting on the floor each day and learning how to move again: learning to roll and crawl - things like that. Hopefully you already know how these simple childlike movements can help you move better, feel better and restore your body back to its Original Strength. However, these simple childlike movements can also help you digest better, handle stress better, and pick up your metabolism too. 

Think about it. If rolling and rocking improve your reflexive strength and movement vocabulary, if they improve the efficiency of your brain, they can also improve the efficiency of your metabolism. If you improve one facet of your body, you can improve the whole. 

Do you think kids have so much energy and are able to “bounce off the walls” because they are kids? OR, do you think it is possible that they have so much energy because they spend time moving, and keeping things “right.” Kids can eat almost anything they want (kids that move - we have a whole other discussion here for a later time!) and stay fit, healthy and active. Why? Because they move. They move like they were designed to move. They crawl, roll, skip, run, laugh, play. 

What would happen to your body if you did those things? What would happen to your stress levels? Your stress hormones? Would you be more relaxed? Would you have more energy and less inflammation if your adrenals weren’t always in fight or flight mode? Would you digest food better? Would you suffer from acid reflux in indigestion? Would your metabolism pick up and burn “red-hot”? Would you be able to bounce off the walls? 

We dismiss a lot of things kids do by saying things like: “I used to be like that when I was a kid” , “kids have so much energy” , “when you get older, the body just slows down and things wear out.” 

Do you know what you should do with thoughts like those? 

THROW THEM AWAY! 

If you buy into thoughts like that, you will live out thoughts like that. You were made to move well, sleep well, eat well, feel well. Anything less than that is living below your design. If this is you, get some gumption and go after what is yours. Stand up, get down on the floor, learn how to move again and regain your body, your mind, and your life. Do not simply chalk things up to childish ways. Look at things through a different lens. 

You can completely change your life through the lens of a child. Can you believe that? 

Do Not Settle

Once upon a time, before you could even talk, you were filled with grit and determination. You probably don't remember this, but there used to be a time when you would not settle for less than what you wanted. There was time when you were so determined to get something you worked like mad to get it and you would not let any obstacle stop you from your goal. 

What am I talking about? I have seen many babies learn how to crawl, or creep, or slither because something across the room caught their fancy, and they just had to go check it out. They had a mission, a discovery to make, and they actually learned how to move across the floor with extreme effort and determination to get to where they wanted to go. I've also witnessed many parents, myself included, pick up their child, move them back across the room to remove them from where ever it was they were going? The result? Most times the child will just set off on his mission again, undeterred and full of conviction. This used to be you.

There was a time when all of us were once innately filled with determination, grit, and a no-surrender attitude. We were all filled with the secrets of success - unrelenting stubbornness. 

If you ask me, this is proof that we were all meant to succeed, to accomplish great things, to conquer our world. 

What happened to us? Not only have we let ourselves go and become broken physically, we have allowed ourselves to become broken mentally. We were not meant to be quitters! That was never placed in us! We had to learn how to quit because we sure didn't come in this world as a quitter. 

We all need to wake up. We live in a world where a pill is chosen over movement. We live in a world where settling is chosen over conquering. We allow ourselves to let other people tell us how we should think, what we should fear, and how we should feel. We were made for success, not defeat, not surrender. 

Again, here is something we can learn from a child. Children don't wait until tomorrow to get what they want today. Children don't change their minds the first time we tell them "no." Children actually determine themselves into new creative ways to move in order to get what they want. If a child that cannot talk can do these things, so can we. Tomorrow will never, ever come. The word "no" is just a word - it is not a prophecy. Your imagination was given to you so you would use it to create, not so you could lull it to death with mindless chatter from a TV. 

Everything about you was made for success. You were never intended to settle for cholesterol pills or shiny late night informercials. You were never supposed to be filled with thoughts of fear and a bunch of "what ifs."  You were once a conqueror. It is your innate desire to overcome. Don't suffocate what was given to you from your birth. Learn how to fight again. Learn how to crawl across the room again and grab that shiny red ball that keeps begging you to come play with it. 

This world is crazy. We don't need pills. We don't need fad diets. We don't really even need microwaves. And we certainly don't need to quit and give up when things get tough. We are capable of achieving and becoming anything that we set our minds to. Deep inside all of us there lives a "no quit" attitude greater than any negative force this world has to offer. It was given to us the moment we were born. All we have to do is dust it off and exercise it again. We were not meant to settle for less.  

Forecasting and Other Prophecies

The world is changing. Some time ago it was okay, if not good, to just intuitively know things. Today, we need data. We want numbers, stats, figures and information so we can make decisions and predict the future. I get that, I have a degree in statistics after all, so part of me really understands this. But we have a tendency to take things too far. We have started taking information and making bold predictions, if not harmful curses.

Take the corrective exercise world for example. We have all kinds of movement screens we can use to see how well, or how un-well, a person can move. This is not a bad thing. These screens can point us in the right direction when it comes to trying to help a person move better. And if that was the only use of a screen, that would be great. But that is not always what we do. Sometimes we take the information, the data, that we have determined from the screen, and we make predictions, or forecasts, or curses. 

We have been taught, or we have learned ourselves, to look at movement screens and make grave statements about the person being screened. We might say things like, "Oh, look at all these asymmetries you have. You are X-times more likely to get hurt than a person who doesn't have these asymmetries.", or "If you can't move this way, you should never try to perform this exercise, your risk of injury is very high." , or "Man, I surprised you have been playing soccer this long without an injury, look at your screen scores!" You get the idea, right? We have started cursing people that we screen. 

OKAY - If you are a "screener", just breathe. I am not picking on you. I have done this in the past. I ask forgiveness for doing this, too. I was wrong. AND, I am not saying screens are evil. I am only saying we need to be careful of how we interpret the subjective information we gather from screens and we need to be mindful of what we voice to those that we do screen.

Movement screens should NEVER be used to condemn a person, or to place fear and doubt in a person. That is cancerous. Sure, there may be statistically significant data that correlates with higher risk of injury, but that doesn't mean we have to forecast that injury to the person being screened. I know people that would probably score horribly on a movement screen and yet they can outperform, and have outperformed, most of their peers for years and have never sustained one injury. Perhaps they were able to do this because they never had a seed of fear (injury) placed into their heads? 

The truth is people who climb trees have a significantly larger chance of falling out of trees than those who don't climb trees. But the people who climb trees don't think about that. They are too busy climbing. They are too busy living. Numbers and stats don't always have to have meaning. Usually they only have the value that we place on them in the first place. 

We should not be using screens to plant seeds of fear, doubt, and pending injury into people. We should only use screens, if we use them, to try to build up and improve the quality of life for the person being screened. No one needs help accumulating more fear and doubt in their lives. No one needs more reasons not to move and engage in life. We need hope, not fear.

We should all be out there climbing trees. Yes the odds of falling out of a tree are greater than they would ever be if we were never in a tree. But way up in the tree, the view is beautiful. You can see for miles. Life happens way up in the tree. Teach people how to climb. 

There is No Emergency

In case of an emergency, walk, don't run, to the nearest exit. Be honest, you wouldn't walk. Everything in you would scream, "run!". Most people live in the "run!" world. Everything is an emergency. The thing is though, there is no emergency. And yet most people live their lives in a state of emergency. 

We are too stressed out. Our world of microwaves, instant clicks, deadlines, credit cards, and instant messages has taught us how to be high strung. Our society lives in a perpetual state of fight or flight. We all need to take a deep breath and relax. There is no emergency. At least, there isn't supposed to be. 

Life is not supposed to be spent in a state of emergency, in a state of fight or flight. We are only supposed to be in fight or flight mode when we need to be. It is not supposed to be our standard operating mode. Right now, chances are, you are breathing using your accessory breathing muscles - your emergency muscles. Why? Are you in a state of panic? You shouldn't be. 

I am going to teach you the most ridiculously easy reset you could ever do to help your body relax and restore your health and vitality: Diaphragmatic breathing - the way you are supposed to breath naturally. 

Many, many people are walking around in a state of emergency because they breathe using their emergency breathing muscles. They are stressed, anxious, irritable, easily fatigued, their stress hormones are out of balance and they have digestive problems. All of these issues could easily be solved by just relaxing, and breathing the way we were made to breathe - with our diaphragm. 

Are you overweight? Are you a chest breather? Are you always tired? Are you a chest breather?  Are you always nervous and you don't know why? Are you a chest breather? Do you get completely wiped out 2 minutes into a run, or your exercise routine? Are you a chest breather? Is your posture a mess? Does your head enter the room before your body does? Are you a chest breather? 

Becoming a belly breather - being a diaphragmatic breather - the way you were designed to breathe, can reset and restore your entire body. You can literally restore your strength, your health, and your body by learning how to become a diaphragmatic breather. This simple "exercise", this simple "reflex", is a key component to living life the way you were intended. 

Learn how to use your diaphragm. Take several breathing breaks through out the day or just be mentally aware of how you are breathing. Spend some deliberate time learning how to find and use your breath the way you were intended to. Once you learn how to do this, you will make this "reflex" automatic and without thought. You will be well on your way to life. 

Remember, there is no emergency. But if there ever is, knowing how to breathe will help you easily overcome whatever threatens you. Breathe on!

Freedom

In the heart of man, there are many seeds that have been planted: the desire to be super-human or immortal, the desire to be able to conquer life, the desire to save or rescue others - to be a hero, the desire to seek out God, and the desire to be free. 

Deep in man's heart, he longs for freedom. Freedom - free from bondage, slavery, suffering, oppression, depression, sickness, or whatever. Man longs to be free. 

We don't have much of a choice as to where we are born, or what government we are governed by (well, in today's world, that choice may actually exist, but it hasn't always). There are some outside constraints as to how much freedom we can experience. However, there are many aspects of freedom that are in our control. 

Your lifestyle, the actions you choose from day to day, play a large role in how much freedom you get to experience. If we are complacent, or apathetic towards moving (as we were designed to do), we can actually imprison ourselves to a life of obesity, pain, stiffness, fear, depression, and dreams. Movement is the key to freedom, the key to living.

We can actually put ourselves in bondage and become slaves to a chair, or a sedentary life if we do not engage in moving like we were created to do. Walking, skipping, running, playing - these are movements that we were made for. They are not intended for drudgery, they are not "exercise". They are vitality. They are freedom. 

Look around you. How many people do you see that sit around and say things like, "When I was young, I had all kinds of energy." , "I used to be a great football player when I was in high school." , "When you get older, things start to fall apart." , "I have to be careful, I have a bad back." , "Son, daddy can't throw the football with you. His knee hurts." This list can go on almost to infinity. 

Life is not meant to be lived in bondage to our broken down bodies. Life is meant to be lived in freedom through our resilient bodies. We are not made to sit around and remember how well we used to feel, or how well we used to be able to run and play. We are made to experience how awesome it is to run and play when we are 80 years old. We are made to be able to go hiking through the wonder and beauty that God created, we are meant to be able to play with our kids and their kids. We were not meant to be imprisoned in our own bodies. 

Deep in your heart, you long to be free. You long to live and experience life. You have a huge degree of choice as to whether you nourish that desire and enjoy vitality. You also have a huge degree of choice as to whether you suffocate that desire to the point that it haunts you and aches your heart. Your heart, your soul cries out for life, for freedom. Find a way, MAKE a way, get up and move. Move and TAKE your freedom. Live.

Superhero Powers

If you could have one super-hero power, what would it be? Of all the wonderful powers you can think of, or that someone else has thought of, which ONE would you choose to have if you could have it? 

I think I would choose, and have chosen, super-resilience. I would choose to be impervious to injury; bulletproof - if you will, like Superman. If you know anything about me, you know I'm a Superman geek. Anyway, I would choose to be bulletproof, because if you can't get hurt, nothing can stop you. If you can't get injured, and you know it, life is yours to live. There would be no fear of engaging in anything - physically. To me, that would be an awesome super-hero power to have. There would be no brakes. If you saw a mountain, you would know that you could climb it, or push it. Even if you don't succeed the at first attempt, if you can't get hurt, you are free to engage, to embrace,  the challenge. 

The power of being bulletproof, could lead to the power of living without fear. That is like getting 2 powers for the choose of 1. Think about it. How many times have you ever heard someone say things like, "I'd better not try to lift that, my back will probably go out." , or "I would love to go hiking, but I hurt my knee a few years ago, and I need to be careful." People limit themselves, their lives, because of the fear, the anticipation, of being injured. 

We are not supposed to live this way! We are supposed to be free! To live without reservations. Oh wait. Suddenly the power to be bulletproof leads to 3 powers: resiliency, no fear, and freedom. Whoa. That is a 3 for 1 special now. 

The point is, we are supposed to live. To really live. Not just take up space, not just long to be able to play like we used to, to feel like we used to, not just imagine having a good time or a good life. We are supposed to take, to grab, a good life - to walk it out. We are not supposed to be afraid, or imprisoned by our self imposed thoughts of pain. Your body was made to be resilient and strong! It is capable of so many wonderful things: Things that man envisions superheroes to be able to do. Those superhero thoughts come from us because deep down inside, there is a superhero that is craving to come out and live. 

I said that I have chosen to be bulletproof.  I have. There is a superhero in me, and I'm letting him out. You can do the same thing. You can live. Don't believe the lie of being normal and just merely existing. Be different. Choose your superhero power and then go take the life you are supposed to live. 

What power will you chose? Be strong. Be bulletproof. Be fast. Be elastic. Be powerful. Be witty. Be brave. Be. 

The Path Taken

This is my story. The events of this story are true. You may not agree with where I am coming from, but you cannot take away my experiences nor the path I am traveling on. Read this with an open mind and know. Also know that no superheroes were injured in the events of this story. They were, however, made.

In the last week I was introduced to two articles in the media about crawling. Perhaps these articles were seeking me, I don't know. One article was about a tribe that did not walk on two feet. Their entire lives were spent on all fours; they bear crawled everywhere they went. The other article was about a tribe where the children skipped crawling, they simply bypassed that developmental movement pattern. In this article, the writers were eluding to crawling not being necessary for "normal" child development. 

Both articles were interesting. And "scientist" can speculate and theorize all they want about these two outliers, but in the end, that is all they are: Outliers and distractions. Here is the deal: You were made to crawl. Crawling is a gift. It builds you. It builds your brain. It builds your body. It ties everything about you together. It helps develop you cognitively and emotionally. It helps to make you strong - in every sense of the word strong.

Here is what I know: About 3 1/2 years ago, God turned me on to crawling for making a resilient body. I wanted to be Superman... Anyway, Becoming Bulletproof was eventually born. Today, crawling is the rave! It is in every "movement" discipline; old ones and new ones. Everyone is talking about it. They talk about it, they theorize, they speculate. Some actually do it. Like I said, crawling is now everywhere. 

As I said above, crawling is a gift. You were made to crawl - so much so that it can actually restore your body's reflexive strength and mobility no matter what age you are, or stage in life that you are in. 

Last night as I was thinking about these two articles and all the discussion around them and crawling in general, I started thinking, "But, they don't know what I know." 

Now hold on, this gets deep. I've been crawling for a long time now. I know crawling. I can Spider-man crawl further than Spider-man, himself. Crawling is not some theory to me. It is FACT. It is - leads up to - strength. 

In my thoughts about crawling, last night, I decided I would prove what I know. I decided to Spider-man crawl, NOT BEAR CRAWL, one mile. One mile. I knew I could do this. 

(Here is where it gets deep, by the way.) I can crawl one mile - like Spider-man. But not by my own strength. I am smart enough to know that God gave me crawling, and through crawling, I have built a resilient and strong body. But I also know that God is my ultimate source of strength. To crawl one mile, I would need to rely on more than my own strength. I would need God. 

So, the decision was made to crawl one mile. I started thinking about how long it takes me to crawl one quarter of a mile (about 15 minutes) and doubt started to creep into my head, "Am I strong enough to do this?" The answer is no, not on my own. 

I opened up my bible to Isaiah 40: 31

"But those who wait on The Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up

with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not 

faint."   

Then, on the next chapter, this caught my eye: Isaiah 41:10

"Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." 

Wow. I'm was going to crawl one mile. It is already done, I just had not done it yet. 

To really drive this home, when I woke this morning, my daily bible verse app said this:

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13 

Do you think this was a coincidence? No. I don't. 

This morning, I crawled one mile, like Spider-man (butt down low, back level) in 49 minutes and 10 seconds. I never stopped. I never rested. My knee never touched the ground. The last 1/8 of a mile, I literally felt carried by the hand of God. I can do all things....

Why did I tell you all of this stuff about crawling and God? Because this is my story. To tell you less of the events would be to hide the truth. 

Also, there are two points to my story. One point is by far larger than the other - and you may not agree with it, and that is okay. God is the source of true strength. There was a lot more involved than just the strength my body trying to crawl for a mile. 

The lesser point is this: I know crawling. I understand it. I experience it, in some ways like no one else. I don't just think about it. Crawling makes you stronger. It makes you resilient. It sets your posture and your gait patterns. It coordinates your limbs, your brain, your everything. It can make you smarter. It teaches you: It can teach you so much about your body and what you are capable of doing. It can even help you become a superhero.

I crawled a mile today. Granted, it was not on my own strength. But, I am strong. I am tied together very well. Crawling was the gift, the tool, that tied me together. It is also the tool that has enabled me to move so well, so powerfully, so gracefully. I feel better at 38 years old than I did at 22 years old. I feel like Superman.

Regardless of whether or not you like my story. I know crawling. I know it can help you become the superhero you were meant to be. There is no debate. This is not theory.

If I did't lose you several paragraphs above, Thank you for reading.

  

A Drop in The Bucket

Have you ever heard the phrase, "It's just a drop in the bucket."? Where I am from, people use this phrase to indicate that something is small and seemingly insignificant. Like say you owe 1 million dollars to the bank. Giving the bank $10 towards that debt would just be a drop in the bucket. It might not seem like you were any closer to paying off your debt. Though, you would be.

Drops in the bucket, small as they seem, can eventually fill the bucket - no matter how large the bucket is. Every single itty-bitty drop adds up. One drop adds to another, to another and to another. The only thing that would keep the drops from adding up and filling the bucket would be to stop dropping, to stop making deposits. 

What in the blue blazes am I getting at? Two things: 

Don't underestimate the little things. 

Keep making deposits no matter how fruitless they may seem. 

For an example of this, let's look at rolling around on the floor, a reset from Original Strength and Becoming Bulletproof. Rolling seems "little" in the grand scheme of movements that you think you ought to do, or want to do. It seems insignificant. Especially if you have a huge goal or desire like being a great runner or even a strongman competitor.

Rolling, spending 2 minutes on the floor, every day is just a drop in the bucket for either of those goals. It doesn't even seem like it has anything to do with either of those goals. But, it does. Rolling can, and will, make you a better runner - a powerful runner. It helps build reflexive rotational strength - it is reflexive rotational strength. Rolling allows the body to withstand and take advantage of the forces that running generates. Rolling, which is so easy a baby could do it, allows the body to safely transfer forces of up to 10 times your body weight when you perform something like running sprints. Wow! Rolling, that simple drop in the bucket, allows the body to produce power and force - safely and efficiently. 

Same thing goes for a strongman competitor. Something as seemingly insignificant as rolling can tie the body together and allow a person to lift 3 to 4 times their bodyweight and carry it for 100 yards. Rolling lays the foundation for strength: One roll at a time. Done day in and day out, rolling can add power and strength to the "strongman" - safely.

Do you see what I mean? Something like rolling - something seemingly useless, insignificant, childish - if done regularly and consistently, can fill a bucket until it overflows. It is often the things that are small that make the biggest differences. Small movements, small gestures, small acts of kindness, small leaps of faith - they are small, but they fill buckets, they tip the scales, and they move mountains. 

The point of this is to stay the course. Whatever you are seeking, whatever you are training for, or living for; keep at it. Don't stop and don't dismiss the things that you think can never add up. Strength comes from the art, the discipline, of faithfully putting drops in the bucket.  Add little deposits of action, little drops of faith, every time you get the chance. Eventually you will fill up your bucket. Eventually you will be as strong and powerful as the waterfall that overflows from your bucket. 

I Went for a Crawl...

Today is my 38th birthday. In the last few years, I generally like to have a special "workout" to celebrate. Last night as I was trying to decide what I would do, the only thing I could come up with was crawling - the thing that makes me feel like a superhero. 

So today, I went for a crawl; through the neighborhood. For 40 minutes I crawled like Spider-man, only better because I doubt that he has ever crawled for 40 straight minutes. When you go for a crawl through the neighborhood you have plenty of time to think. You think about all kinds of things, too. For instance, why do people have no problem staring at you while you are crawling, but when you try to make eye contact with them, they seem fearful or act as if you are not really there? It's amazing how uncomfortable people can become when they encounter something they esteem as unusual. People that would normally smile and give a courtesy head nod, will not dare to make eye contact with you if you go for a crawl. 

Anyway, like I said, you have plenty of time to think and evaluate your life when you go for a crawl through your neighborhood. So today, I thought I would share some of my thoughts with you: 

I thought about how I've always wanted to be bulletproof, to be Superman. I've never outgrown that childhood dream. 

I thought about how I've even prayed to be Superman. Silly, I know. Or is it?

Today, while, and after I crawled, I realized I am never alone, or forsaken. 

I have a wife strong enough, patient enough, and loving enough to love me. Even though I do crazy things like crawl through the neighborhood. She doesn't understand it, but she accepts it. She has weathered the storm called "me" for twenty years. That is a blessing incapable of words.

I have two beautiful boys who also love me, AND think it somewhat normal that their dad can actually crawl for a mile. Can you imagine the conversations they might one day have at school? Can you imagine other little boys not ever even seeing their dad run, much less crawl?  

So In all my thinking this morning I realize this: I have everything I could ever want. My prayer has been answered. I am Superman. 

Don't freak out. I wear my underwear underneath my clothes, not on the outside. But, I can do, and be, whatever I want to do, and be. I am blessed. 

Here is my point: You can be Superman. You can be Wonder Woman, Wolverine, Batman, Spider-man, Cat Woman, Miss Marvel, Captain Marvel, Captain America. Whoever, whatever image you keep inside of you. It is there for a reason. Calling to come out. Nothing is impossible unless you concede that it is. You were made to be a superhero. That is a fact. Learn how to fly.

It's 9 am and my day is already fantastic. Have a great day!