Years ago in the mid 1980’s, when ‘fitness’ and ‘working out’ had become super popular, mega gyms were opening up everywhere. I guess society needed this at that time, because it was all about ‘the look’. Remember Jordache jeans? Oh my!

This movement in health and fitness and ‘the look’ was, at least in my view, aimed at people in their 20’s. I think at that time even 30 was regarded as ‘old’, at least in my mind. No, no, no… I wasn’t even going to watch Thirty-Something on TV, I couldn’t relate.

I did join a 24-hour gym however and decided to do something with the look of my physical body. As a kid I was always a little thick, especially when was in upper elementary. I remember being devastated when I found out that I weighed the second most in the entire school. I knew that because there was a very large guy in my grade level who was very funny and really nice. Not that I was huge, because I wasn’t, but I was definitely ‘Husky’ and I was also rather short.

Once I finally grew taller in late Junior High and High School, I most definitely ‘stretched’ and soon became the antithesis of husky. Now I was skinny and loved it. There would be no way I would ever be thick, or husky again in my life if I had any control over the matter.

The people who worked at the gym were actually there to help you, and they cleaned all the time. The equipment and facility was maintained and immaculate. Gym staff always wore matching shirts with some kind of motivating phrase on it. The shirts and phrases would change from time to time to keep things current but there was one phrase that was once worn and it has stuck with me to this day.

You are either striving to make yourself better, or allowing yourself to get worse.

Hold on to that one, and make your own decision on which option is best.

I added three new pages this weekend. One is found in the I Remember tab, one can be found in Art Center, and the third page is found in Sky.

I am finding that self-reflection creates it’s own cause and effect situation that can go on and on like a cable-knit sweater. The more I write, the more I want to write. The more I reflect on ‘stuff’, the more I find myself reflecting on… stuff.

This all reminds me of a book I read for the first time about 30 years ago. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pursig. The book title is intriguing enough to want to know more, but the message and meaning of the story is one that brings the reader into the life of a man and his relationship with his son. It’s quite a great read and I have re-read it several times since. The main character is always pondering, always looking deeper into thought and action that underlies personal essence of being.

Although I do not ride a motorcycle, I do ride a Vespa electric scooter to my workplace. Adding this change in my daily routine has afforded me with even more time to reflect, which is really great. No radios and no phone calls. Just me and my thoughts.

It is very interesting how something as seemingly innocuous as hue becomes so substantial in one’s life that it requires/inspires a post on the topic of such. The hue, or color green, is more than substantial in my life. It goes beyond something visual, and extends into all that is emotionally satisfying. A powerful force that trancends five senses. Something that travels beyond physical sense of reality and into the realm of subconsciousness.

My latest post Green Mossy Lake, under the Green heading, relays what the color means to me. Not only the color itself, but what the color has done to my psyche, and how the information has transferred from input to output.

Navigate to the page Green to out find more.

There is something quite incredible about human nature and the desire to aspire. Why do we do it? Aspire. Perhaps the reason is because we can. The possibility is just that, a possibility and not a probability.

Now, the likelihood of aspiration is not a guarantee, but the opportunity to aspire is always in front of us. So what do we do with it?

We have all heard, and most likely said ourselves at one point in our lives, “When I grow up, I want to…” Sometimes the end of that sentence is ‘be just like…’, or ‘go to…’, or ‘make…’ You fill in the blank. But it is aspiration, the desire to achieve something not yet in our hands, yet possibly within our reach.

I think we should never stop saying to ourselves “When I grow up…” Not only from the perspective of aspiration, but from a mindset of age as well. I am an educator of elementary aged children and while I have no biological children of my own, I am Petdad. Dad to a house of wonderful pets that my wife and I love and care for. At one point we had 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 horses. Someone once told me that ‘we’ were like Noah from biblical times where he saved two of every creature on earth before the flood.

Our four legged kids now consist of three dogs, one cat, and two horses, so the number is still the same, just an adjusted shift in species. Our two golden retriever littermates, Bonnie and Clyde, are seen on the top banner as they ran like the wind one day while at the beach, and played like there was no tomorrow.

I do also have children though. Hundreds of them. And I tell my students that every year when they ask me if I have any kids. My answer to them is that they are all my kids, my students, and my youth. The smiles on their faces when I tell them that is what keeps me doing what I do.

Honestly, I never want to grow up. Sure there are responsibilities of life that must be accepted and acted upon, but there is a driving force of innocence and wonder in being young. It is that driving force that keeps us aspiring for greatness in anything we do.

When I grow up, I never want to lose the gift of aspiration that keeps my heart and soul forever young.