I make the bus, it gets me to the gym and it is dead, as I suspected.  Granted, not many people come to the gym at 5:30 AM, but there are more than 3 people upstairs doing cardio and 1 person downstairs lifting weights.  It’s amusing, and slightly baffling to me, how people complain about how productive they are and yet will drop everything at the first assumed reason that they can use as an excuse to bypass and get out of their routine.

It’s especially true with fitness.  So many people complain about where they are and how difficult, if not impossible, it is to get where they want to be.  It takes effort to transform yourself and lift yourself to where you want to be.  It’s an effort simply to maintain where you are.  If you continually use any reason that comes up as an excuse to avoid going to the gym or skipping your diet, how are you supposed to get where you want to be?  It’s a lesson that doesn’t only apply to fitness, but holds true to anything in life.

Determination is a permanent facet; it does not turn on and off in accordance with delays and obstacles that arise across your week and in life.  Make do, adapt and continue towards where you desire to be.  It seems that our natural inclination is to find an excuse not to do something than overcome it.  That being said, it is our mindset that keeps us from attaining our goals, not the conditions placed in front of us.  Life is meant to be lived.  Living means adapting to what is given to you, even in less than a day’s notice.  So instead of backing down and sulking about it, take it in stride and continue to thrive towards where you want to be.  That's how you get there.

Now I can sort of, kind of understand if you are wheeling in a work bag, but it amazes me how many people use the automatic door open button when I walk into work each morning.  There are people with small roll bags, light purses and even nothing at all who walk by every other door just to push the button and walk through.  I even saw a woman pull one door open and then wait to push the button for the next door.  What is going on?

Are we inherently lazy?  I mean, society as a whole complains about how out of shape we are and, not only do we not do anything additionally about it, but we actually continue to make ourselves worse off towards that goal by utilizing means created for those less able.

I’m sorry, but being fat or out of shape does not equate to a disability.  No, you do not get the right to stare at me when I sit in priority seating on the bus or on the metro and no, I am not going to give up my seat to you the more you stare at me.  You have just as much control over your own outcomes as I have had.  Yes, it’s hard but life is not meant to be lived by coasting by.  That is what initially makes you lazy and look at where that is getting you now.

Go outside and open a door, or better yet walk up the stairs to your floor and leave the elevator alone for the day.  Yes, I’m sure you will be winded, but getting into shape won’t come by pushing buttons.  You gotta start somewhere so, at the very least, perhaps we can stop complaining about how out of shape we are until we have finally put forth an effort to correct it.

Yes, to lose weight, you must sweat.  By tomorrow you don’t feel gross anymore and you’ll feel a bit less exhausted and weak from actually doing something.  One step at a time and, before you know it, you’ll be a changed person.  None of that will come until you take the first step.  Do it today and leave the automatic door for those who actually can’t open it on their own.

I got my personal trainer certification last year and, to extend my certification, I have to take a required amount of continuing education classes.  The first endeavor for this year: becoming a certified nutritionist.

Given what I’m trying to do and help other people achieve, this is an absolute no brainer for me.  The course is on a Saturday in two weeks.  Not only am I excited about helping others achieve their fitness and now weight goals, but I learned so much about how everything works together from getting my CPT that I can’t wait to find out how much more I learn and realize from getting my nutrition certification.

This is going to be a good year friends, a very good year!  Just you wait…recipes, workout regimens and lifestyle routines are coming.  Let me know if you are interested!  Have a great week and happy new year!

I dealt with discrimination for years while I played baseball, trying to prove to everyone how a disability does not have to stop me from being able to perform just like everyone else.  How far I have gotten myself an continue to get myself is constantly turning into a more unexpected and amazing story.  Apparently pitching that story is going to be the next challenge, which honestly I hope is not as arduous and emotional as dealing with the baseball coaches I had across my childhood.

I’ve always believed and truly come to appreciate that the best things are worth pursuing and never giving up on.  There is absolutely no reason I should have stuck with baseball for 13 years, but that focused dedication gave me the ability to run a marathon and taught me how to overcome limitations, no matter how daunting and impossible they seem.

I had my hopes shattered by baseball, and though I am starting to get rejections from certain agents, I still have a fair number of submissions out there and more to send out.  I believe in what I’m promoting and, more importantly, others are growing and being impacted by what I’m sharing.  Each step that even one person takes re-invokes my desire and need to get this book sold.

So literary agents, bring it on.  If I can leg press 5 times my weight with a stroke-effected right leg, I can handle your rejection if that is what you send my way.  See, I know the meaningful impact I’m making to others and that carries me infinitely further in pursuing this dream.  I know the importance behind what I do and I forever embrace the miracle people say that I am for the value that it brings.  With the trivial subject matter being published, (if we can even call certain topics that) there is no reason to deny a self-grown, heartfelt and dogmatically determined story like mine.  Others not only deserve to read An Uncharted Life, but they need to because they need to not only see what they can achieve, but be able to feel the sensation of pushing beyond what was once perceived as impossible and then further realizing what can be attained even beyond that “impossible” achievement.

It’s possible, trust me.  I have striven to be normal and, in doing so, I have discovered what it means to be extraordinary.  Everyone deserves that feeling because everyone can achieve it.  All I want is to do my part to help them believe.

I swear that I am as careful as can be whenever I walk or drive anywhere, but he peripheral vision in my right eye still catches me every now and then.  Today for example, there was actually a car pulling around the circle in front of mybuilding in the morning.  I crossed in front of the circle without seeing it.  It’s a good thing the car stopped, although it wasn’t going fast anyways.

I am constantly aware and checking my right side when I’m driving because I am actively cognizant that it is a blind spot, but when I’m in a natural environment, like walking, I think you tend to relax and act natural.  I’m not innately programmed to check my right side as much as I wish I was that way, haha.  It sure would make things easier.

It’s just another limitation I have to overcome further.  I’ve learned to compensate for my lack of peripheral vision; now I just need to keep myself more safe.  Usually everything is fine, but it just seems that once a month or so I’ll walk into someone’s shoulder because they were too far on my right side to see out of the corner of my eye…because I don’t see out of the corner of my eye.

It’s just an annoying issue to deal with, but hey I’ve been through worse, right?  This is nothing to overcome.  Just in case though, maybe I will update my will :-P