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October 31, 2010 05:47:18
Posted By gregwagner
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So after not finishing the trail that my Dad and I started to hike last weekend, I decided to offer going back this weekend. We got a small bit of an earlier jump and wound up having an incredible hike. (Pictures hopefully to come.) My dad did some searching in his booklet and he found a 3-mile loop that takes you to the summit of Skyline Drive. The view was spectacular.
As we walk the rest of the loop, we come to a place where our wooded trail turned into an entire cliffside of rocks. There was a flat part at the bottom to walk up, but the entire path consisted of rocks that ascended an entire ledge of the mountain. I wouldn’t be surprised if a violent storm would cause some sort of an avalanche, but man was this trail worth hiking.
As we left the park, my Dad mentioned that he didn’t want to take I-66 home. To avoid 66 I inadvertently chose the “minimal highway” option, which took us on a roundabout route home through the middle of nowhere in outskirts Virginia. The fastest route back to Maryland took us through the Virginia toll road. We pay $4.45 at a toll and still have to pay another toll to get into Maryland. Of course, the Maryland toll only allows EZ Pass, which was still in my car. We wind up exiting on Leesburg Pike and finding our way home via Chain Bridge Road.
It was completely out of the way and very aggravating to get home that way, but honestly when things like that happen I chose to view it as an act of fate. Going home 340 and 66 could have been a death sentence or something else tragic could have happened if we didn’t mistakenly go home such a convoluted way. Even my dad said the same thing after he calmed down when I told him we had to take the toll road and found our way after being forced to exit at Leesburg Pike. Whew, what a night!
But things happening in accordance to “fate” isn’t just with life and death scenarios. For example, I have a plastic bag I have been reusing for my gym clothes. I have multiple zippered compartments in my gym bag and usually put my shampoo in one of the other compartments. For some reason I threw my shampoo bottle in with my dirty clothes yesterday. When I dumped my bag, my shampoo had, what appeared to be a mildew substance on it. It turned out that the paint on the bag was coming off (probably from the sweat) but I probably wouldn’t have found out unless I had put my shampoo bottle in my clothes bag. (Being in a rush was actually productive one time!)
It’s all about perspective. Instead of getting angry over things going wrong or inconveniences arising, look at it as being spared from something more devastating happening to you. Things happen in the blink of an eye. Literally, stumbling in the hall or having to unlock the house to get your Ipod that you left in your room can save you from something far more severe.
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October 29, 2010 08:47:18
Posted By gregwagner
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I’ve been privileged enough in my life to have multiple mentors who have impacted me and have helped me grow in many, many ways. Each have helped me continue my path, but one sticks out as the one who altered my path from where I had always wanted to be to where I was meant to be.
Like I said in my previous post, I never imagined that I would ever write a book. I never had any desire to write a book, nor did I ever have a desire to voluntarily speak publicly. Then came Kate Dobson.
I sat down in Rhetorical Approaches to Daily Discourse, Dr. Dobson walks in, sits down and begins talking about pina coladas, what makes one and why we call it such. I had absolutely NO idea what this woman was talking about, but by the end of the semester she hadn’t changed my thought process, but simply showed me how much deeper my thoughts could develop and where it can take me.
Before meeting Kate and discussing the entire spectrum of life with her, I never realized how cohesively and entangled each individual aspect of our lives impacts life on a whole. I know that every person has their own perspective, but it wasn’t until I divulged myself into this course with Kate that I realized how to solely see things from other people’s perspectives. More impact comes from the bias that someone views a thought than the knowledge contained in the thought itself. Breaking away from bias frees you up to connect any two pieces of information together seamlessly and to view the world in any way that any other person can by simply detaching your own mind from the situation and only considering what the other person sees.
It’s funny. Whenever I think of blog ideas now, I constantly outweigh whether this would make for a good 3-4 paragraph post or whether I should develop it further into a chapter to follow-up An Uncharted Life.
It’s not a matter of what to mention and not mention on here, but how much attention I should give the thoughts that cross my mind. There are stories and random events that must be shared on here, but the question of saving a new thought and integrating it into a book is an enjoyable battle to contend with. Blame Kate, or depending on the perspective you embrace, thank her. I know I do every chance that I can.
I found a career beyond baseball because of this woman. That was not and NEVER was supposed to happen or even be possible. Writing, speaking and relating to others are skills that were all nurtured and refined in only one semester with Kate. She and I are now meeting outside of college. We will see what develops from our continued relationship, but as significant as the progressions have been so far, it’s easy to say that extraordinary measures are still to come. Give me another full semester with her and I can’t even imagine the good and knowledge that will come from our brainstorming. You can never imagine the best things that come in your life because you cannot sense how amazing the good is until it hits you right in your face. And then, you find yourself racing your hand across a blank piece of paper, scribbling in a handwriting/language only you can decipher because only you can develop the thought as fully as it is intended.
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October 24, 2010 05:47:18
Posted By gregwagner
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I was showering after my gym workout when I came up with a great idea for today’s blog post. (Isn’t it funny how your best ideas always come in the shower? If only I had waterproof paper and pens to write these ideas down.) I kept repeating the thought in my head until I got out of the shower and got a piece of paper to start writing the thought out.
The thought evolved into a much larger point, which spurred an entire supported idea. I just kept adding to where the thought left off and just let my hand continue writing as I found myself in a stream of consciousness-type state. Before, with my thoughts that developed, I would try and see how I could work it into a poem. Since college though, thanks solely in part to taking one rhetorical approaches course, I now see how these initial thoughts can be drawn out and compared/related to so many other aspects of life. While one thought can spur a poem, one thought can do the same for a book.
Before taking Rhetorical Approaches, I never thought of writing anything longer than 3 pages. After a 25-minute bus ride, one thought that came about while showering developed into an entire theme with points and subpoints that filled an entire 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper front and back.
One thought, which would have made a really good poem 5 years ago, has now given me a great basis for another book. I think that I will put my efforts into finding an agent first before I build off of this initial idea and get myself in another 3-month nonstop writing mode though. After all, securing that agent will give me the security to start writing book #2.
And to think, I could start the book by saying that it all started in the shower…
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October 22, 2010 05:47:18
Posted By gregwagner
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My parents have both sacrificed a lot to take care of me and ensure that I rehabilitated myself to and beyond any expectation that anyone had set for my recovery. They put up with the screaming and the crying when I was placed in situations I personally new that I would not be able to succeed in at that time. They dropped everything to come to my baseball games or to drive me wherever I needed to go prior to my getting my license last month. (And yet they still want to drive me places…)
There were a lot of things that each of my parents wanted to do with their lives, and while I know that compromise is a key part of parenting I recognize the compromises they made to raise me under the increased attention and supervision I required. There were many life experiences kids naturally and rebelliously partake in as a rite of passage in growing up. They remained steadfast to me when I was upset about not being able to do certain things because none of us could guarantee how I would react to certain experiences and environments.
As healthy as I became, it didn’t stop me from tripping off in a seizure during a James Bond movie when the bomb sequence erupted. Fluke events happened and my parents were always there, never letting me go through it alone. My parents have been there for almost every scar or bruise. They have not only seen me grow up, but have—at times forcibly—gotten me to where I currently am. Where I am today is at a point where I can be fully independent and can now travel, drive and do all these things without any fear of my health. There’s nothing to be scared of anymore beyond what any average Joe is scared of day-to-day. The “then” and “now” that my parents helped me achieve is everything that I have. Because of it I can honestly do anything, which was definitely not the case 20 years ago.
It’s an amazing gift to have two people desire so passionately to strengthen me with. And all I want to do to thank them is to become as independent as I can and, in the process, earn enough of a living that I can provide them for the rest of their lives so that they don’t have to worry anymore. They spent more than enough energy worrying about me. How poetic would it be if me, who they dedicated so much additional time to, could now provide for them by myself.
That’s what my book is all about and that is what comprises Determination. It’s such a powerful, unrelenting passion because of the source I gain my motivation from. I can never back down with a drive that strong, which is why I know that it’s just a matter of time before everything pays off. My family deserves a chance to relax and rest for the work they have done, and they will be able to do it through the ability that I have gained because of their dedication and determination to me.
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October 21, 2010 03:23:08
Posted By gregwagner
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Yes, today is my dad’s birthday. Yes, my parents birthdays are one day after the other. In fact, my parents were born in the same year.
As I said yesterday, my parents have sacrificed a lot for me. My dad pushed me through physical therapy as a little kid and he fueled my determination once I started playing baseball and voluntarily pushing myself to overcome my disability. He has been there every step of the way.
I truly am a very lucky son. This is a perfect time to explain why I’m so passionate about Determination, getting my book published and honestly just making a positive difference in the world…but that will come tomorrow or this weekend. For now, I’m going to get off the computer and go spend time with both my parents for my dad’s birthday. We are getting cheeseburgers, fries and *gasp* I may even get a milkshake too.
Don’t worry…I’ll make up for the extra calories before Thanksgiving =) If you’re gonna celebrate a birthday, celebrate it right. Happy Birthday, Dad!
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