About a year and a half ago I was incredibly unhappy. Stuck in a job I hated every second of, stuck in an apartment I could barely afford, dropped out of college with no idea what I wanted to do with my life.
I since decided that I want hockey to be a main part of my life, and have been trying to get work as a goalie coach, and as of today I am now instructing for a goalie school near me. I am at a disadvantage as I never really played growing up so I am about 15 years behind most people. I am going to try to go back to school in september, and if I do well in that program I may continue with my education and try for physiotherapy, and incorporate that into my resume as a goalie coach, or supplement my income with it. Life is good. more on this later.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
Motivation Comes From Within ( or I Can Do Anything)
Allow me to explain,
As a hockey goaltender I play in arguably one of the most difficult positions in all of sports. One in which my exact positioning is so crucial that being off by as much as 1 or 2 inches can lead to the other team scoring, and sometimes all it takes is one goal to lose the entire game, or sometimes the season. Sometimes in games I get shelled, and it's all I can do to just keep getting up after each shot, or continuing to put effort in after 1 or 2 bad goals. It's becomes very easy to attribute how well you do with your entire self worth (I played like shit, I am shit).
Sometimes you can give each and every play every ounce of effort you have, and make no mistakes and still lose, and that is okay. This is probably one of the most important things to learn, and can be applied to almost any situation or sport: Your worth as a human being is not determined with your success, but rather your ability to persist, even when success eludes you.
Which brings me to motivation, i.e. your reason to persist. As I said earlier motivation comes from within, and what I mean by that is; regardless of external factors only you can decide whether or not to persist. Speeches can be written and pep talks given, but when it comes down to it, when every breath you take burns, when every muscle in your body aches, and hope seems lost, only you can decide to keep going. What reason can you call upon to get back up, to push yourself just a bit further? Look deep down and find that reason. Maybe it's your anger, maybe it's someone who told you that you can't, or maybe you just hate losing. Whatever it is, find your reason, call upon that reason. Bury your pain, and dig for that extra inch, take the best you can do and do better. Understand that all it takes is the decision, your decision to keep going. Nothing more and nothing less. So what's your reason?
Which brings me to a story:
I was playing some hockey earlier this year, and had a really bad game, I let in a bunch of bad goals and just played horribly. I came back to the dressing room all down on myself, when I heard two other players chatting. One was saying to the other that they hadn't seen him in a while. The other replied that his fiancee had been diagnosed with cancer 6 months prior and that she had passed away only the day before. I gave up after 2 or 3 bad goals and resigned myself to self pity after for the rest of the game, and here this man is, the day after his fiancee's death out playing hockey. We can choose to feel bad for ourselves or we can choose to move on.
As a hockey goaltender I play in arguably one of the most difficult positions in all of sports. One in which my exact positioning is so crucial that being off by as much as 1 or 2 inches can lead to the other team scoring, and sometimes all it takes is one goal to lose the entire game, or sometimes the season. Sometimes in games I get shelled, and it's all I can do to just keep getting up after each shot, or continuing to put effort in after 1 or 2 bad goals. It's becomes very easy to attribute how well you do with your entire self worth (I played like shit, I am shit).
Sometimes you can give each and every play every ounce of effort you have, and make no mistakes and still lose, and that is okay. This is probably one of the most important things to learn, and can be applied to almost any situation or sport: Your worth as a human being is not determined with your success, but rather your ability to persist, even when success eludes you.
Which brings me to motivation, i.e. your reason to persist. As I said earlier motivation comes from within, and what I mean by that is; regardless of external factors only you can decide whether or not to persist. Speeches can be written and pep talks given, but when it comes down to it, when every breath you take burns, when every muscle in your body aches, and hope seems lost, only you can decide to keep going. What reason can you call upon to get back up, to push yourself just a bit further? Look deep down and find that reason. Maybe it's your anger, maybe it's someone who told you that you can't, or maybe you just hate losing. Whatever it is, find your reason, call upon that reason. Bury your pain, and dig for that extra inch, take the best you can do and do better. Understand that all it takes is the decision, your decision to keep going. Nothing more and nothing less. So what's your reason?
Which brings me to a story:
I was playing some hockey earlier this year, and had a really bad game, I let in a bunch of bad goals and just played horribly. I came back to the dressing room all down on myself, when I heard two other players chatting. One was saying to the other that they hadn't seen him in a while. The other replied that his fiancee had been diagnosed with cancer 6 months prior and that she had passed away only the day before. I gave up after 2 or 3 bad goals and resigned myself to self pity after for the rest of the game, and here this man is, the day after his fiancee's death out playing hockey. We can choose to feel bad for ourselves or we can choose to move on.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Oh You (Me) or Somebody That You Used To Know
Here I am pendulum still in full swing, everything changes always. I've given up plans for now, I do much better making shit up as I go. Having said that I would like to present my new life plan following my status update. I am still on welfare. I didn't get coffee with her because we never contacted each other while she was in town. I've joined a gym, ran my first 5KM and in general feel like I've gotten my shit together. I've decided that I am going back to school, looks like it's going to be for 2015 though, and it looks like it's going to be for something sports related, something that will give me some credentials when I apply for instructor positions at local goalie camps, and I also need to get my general coaching certification this summer. I also (as I just mentioned) have joined a gym for the sole purpose of training for the upcoming Play On tournament. Last year was a real disappointment for me, this year I want to (and am) train as much as possible, I want to get a shutout, I want to win a goddamn game, I've upped the stakes a bit with a no shave beard and shave head pact if we don't win at least one game this year. I've been trying to up my stamina, as well hence the 5km runs, my pace is slow now but I hope to have it at or below 25 minutes by the end of May. I've also learned a lot about myself recently for example running is like 95% mental, when I ran my first 5km I wanted to quit on lap 3 of 25 and instead decided to power through, making quitting not an option, when I ran it again (with the goal of always being at least 1 second faster) I realized I was afraid. I was afraid of failure of doing my best and having my best not be good enough, and I realized that I can choose whether or not to fail. If I put the effort in, I can succeed. I just need to learn to not be afraid of trying. I feel like I am on the right track, we are going to win this year, even if it kills me, even if its 1-0 in the shootout after 60 shots in 30 minutes. I will grind out at least one victory.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
"...For Ruins Wrapped In Gold"
She's agreed to coffee when she comes into Kingston during her Christmas break. I don't know what my plan is or why I even asked. I can't hit on her. I don't necessarily want to either. We haven't talked in years, how do you maintain a conversation when you haven't hung out in two years.
On a positive note I have a second interview for a full time job on Friday. I also haven't relapsed on my position, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes to break up with her. I constantly picture myself with other women, I am really looking forward to the freedom, just not the conversation.
On a positive note I have a second interview for a full time job on Friday. I also haven't relapsed on my position, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes to break up with her. I constantly picture myself with other women, I am really looking forward to the freedom, just not the conversation.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Two Years a Slave
So as you may have been reading, I have been going through an obsessive her phase recently. I was going through my Facebook messages with her, and I noticed our last communication was from almost two years ago. I figure I'll start a conversation with something along the lines of "this is your two year check in". You know eventually. I can't believe it's been two years. Fuck. Well here goes.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Expressing my sentiments using dead people's words
I've been in a writing mood lately. I miss staying up late by myself. When I write, I feel like I am conversing with a part of myself. Like I am sorting out my thoughts into piles for later consideration.
I've heard a lot of quotes that struck a chord lately
"Instead of stressed, I lie here charmed"
i.e. in a dark world I still find the silver lining
"Love is watching someone die"
i.e. be it a family member or life partner you may very well watch them die someday
"Well I've been hoping for months, I've been hoping for years, aw but it don't get much dumber than trying to forget a girl when you love her"
i.e. exactly what it says.
What makes a great quote? is it the ideas behind the words? The phrasing of said words? Or the people who said them?
I like to think that it's a little bit of the first two. Of the billions of people on this planet, surely you are unlikely to have had an original thought or feeling unique only to you. So clearly the uniqueness of a idea isn't important, but perhaps an idea that is shared and felt by as many people as possible is.
The phrasing your idea properly helps. Your idea could be among the most relatable and common ideas out there, but without the proper words, your idea is expressed either to specifically or without any direction at all.
I am on a feel good pop kick right now, which is a good sign, I feel motivated and quite upbeat. I also discovered a few things about my body recently. I went on a run on the road near my house and was able to run the 2 KM about half of which was uphill without stopping, stopped at the turn around point walked for a minute caught my breath and ran all the way back to my house. I was happy that I was able to run that far but I found it easier than usual. Instead of constantly trying to push myself forward, I was more focused on one foot in front of the other. I didn't even really think of quitting I was too busy ignoring my body being out of breath.
I also worked a 14 hour day today on only 3 and a half hours of sleep, and at first I was balls tired and after lifting the 12 or 13 hundredth bundle of newspaper my arms were killing me. I found that if instead of always asking my body for one more _____ then a rest, if I instead made no other option than to keep going. To stop just was not an option. If that makes any sense.
So that was my sleep deprived rant, good night darkness.
I've heard a lot of quotes that struck a chord lately
"Instead of stressed, I lie here charmed"
i.e. in a dark world I still find the silver lining
"Love is watching someone die"
i.e. be it a family member or life partner you may very well watch them die someday
"Well I've been hoping for months, I've been hoping for years, aw but it don't get much dumber than trying to forget a girl when you love her"
i.e. exactly what it says.
What makes a great quote? is it the ideas behind the words? The phrasing of said words? Or the people who said them?
I like to think that it's a little bit of the first two. Of the billions of people on this planet, surely you are unlikely to have had an original thought or feeling unique only to you. So clearly the uniqueness of a idea isn't important, but perhaps an idea that is shared and felt by as many people as possible is.
The phrasing your idea properly helps. Your idea could be among the most relatable and common ideas out there, but without the proper words, your idea is expressed either to specifically or without any direction at all.
I am on a feel good pop kick right now, which is a good sign, I feel motivated and quite upbeat. I also discovered a few things about my body recently. I went on a run on the road near my house and was able to run the 2 KM about half of which was uphill without stopping, stopped at the turn around point walked for a minute caught my breath and ran all the way back to my house. I was happy that I was able to run that far but I found it easier than usual. Instead of constantly trying to push myself forward, I was more focused on one foot in front of the other. I didn't even really think of quitting I was too busy ignoring my body being out of breath.
I also worked a 14 hour day today on only 3 and a half hours of sleep, and at first I was balls tired and after lifting the 12 or 13 hundredth bundle of newspaper my arms were killing me. I found that if instead of always asking my body for one more _____ then a rest, if I instead made no other option than to keep going. To stop just was not an option. If that makes any sense.
So that was my sleep deprived rant, good night darkness.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Having read (and written) a few rants I've noticed that they always seem to start normal and coherent and eventually digress into incoherent lamp pineapple napalm.
1:05 AM 11/26/2013:
Hello darkness,
What follows is the rant that can only be brought on by an all day marathon of The Community:
Have you ever had dream that made you question your route in life? Better yet if you've seen the movie Inception you might understand where I am coming from. At the end of the movie, The Mark is supposed to just up an disolve a multi-billion dollar industry built by his dead father based on a dream he had in an airplane. Crazy right? Well I could almost buy it after the dream I had this morning. It was about her. I've been thinking of her a lot lately. In this dream I can only remember a few specifics when I woke up. I remembered that the dream had been years long. I had spent what seemed like literal years in this reality. When I woke up my first thought was "please let just some of what I just experienced have been real" I remember an immense sadness when I realized it was a dream. Again nothing specific, and I am glad. I get the impression I had built some sort of life with her in this reality world. I had lingering feeling for a few hours after. That kind of feeling you get when you meet someone in a dream who isn't real but you somehow fell in love with anyway. That feeling of a finger in a wound you forgot was there. This was enhanced by the fact that it was her. I mean it wasn't just some faceless figure, it was her. She is real. What I dreamt could be at some point happen. It won't but it isn't impossible. If I hadn't been thinking about her a lot recently, I am now.
I don't know if I can describe love. Sometimes I feel like I can describe what it's not. I have been seriously considering breaking up with my girlfriend for almost a year and a half now. Which while typing that out a little red flag popped up. I sometimes I can't tell if I love her or not. I mean there's nothing wrong with her, but she's not the one. I think I love her in a way, she is a larger part of my life. But that feeling I woke up with reminded me what love should feel like. This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
One of the reasons I've stuck around this time is, that she is my first real girlfriend. We've been through so much together. I do care for her. Furthermore at this pace we will be moving in together soon, which can not happen. We basically live together now, and there are no issues, which could mean marriage in a few years. So I've been struggling with throwing away marriage material. But just because it's not broken does it mean it's right? furthermore I am stuck at her house until such a time that I get a full time job meanwhile I work part time with her grandfather, so that would make an awkward situation and if/when we break up when I move home, I don't want them to think I was just using them. However I can't leave her now because I still need a forward operating base to job hunt.
Furthermore how far do I go for happiness? I mean I want to have kids before I am 30. That gives me 9 years. I want to be married for a year, dating for two before hand, so Ideally I would have to meet my future wife in the 5 years to have kids at 29. Do I choose my partner like I chose my career? Is hapiness more important than progress. Is there a point at which I should settle? Should I just be really selective while dating? Just pick them apart to mke sure they are perfect? Or will I look past their flaws subconciously and realize later my mistake?
I've been feeling disheartened on my dream job recently. I finally played a few pick up games of ice hockey for the first time in months. My first skate went ok, but I felt like my skating was off a bit, the next two games were a lot worse. I couldn't stop hardly anything. I feel like if I can't even skate the basics how am I supposed to teach anybody anything. I also need to get a job before I can even get any of this off of the ground. Hopefully I hear back soon. I need to get this done. I just don't know the words to say yet. I am not looking forward to this. Are we going to be able to be friends later? or are we going to fade away quickly.
I really miss HER. I think. Evidence for this theory stems from me reading old MSN conversations from 7 years ago. Jesus, has it been that long? For 7 years I have been obsessing over this girl. I am cringing so hard reading the things I wrote seven years ago that I can feel ulcers growing in me. I just remembered how she kept kicking my ass at reversi. If there ever were a motivating reason to invent a time machine, this MSN conversation is it. I was going to get some sleep but I am too pissed off at my past self. I was SUCH A DICK. It's like I was trying to throw it away. GAHHHH!
I actually found something I wrote, and I really like it, it's from seven years ago.
Do you think of me, like I dream of you? Is my time wasted on nothing but a picture? What could be isn't, and what I know is that when this is over, one of us is going to be hurt and I think I know who it is, if you're not worth dying for then what is? In a year you'll be nothing more than a faded memory, a painful reminder of why I keep to myself, and why I promise myself it won't happen again, but I doubt it won't.
It's almost like I predicted the future with that one.
Monuments to a broken past.
I like that line.
Fuck. She did like me. I'm not crazy. Evidence given: use of "xo" at the end of later MSN convos, also her responses. Or I am batshit insane. Which is entirely possible considering it took two hours to write this. I finally found the conversation I am looking for. I was looking to see if her answer was a no or a not right now. I think it lies somewhere in the middle. "Damn, this is hard to say, don't get me wrong, I do like you, but a relationship isn't what I want out of life right now". I guess I could have waited it out. I don't know anymore.
Something else I wrote:
one more time, then I'm done, I swear. I always say that this is the last time, but I know it's not true, can't make it stop, one more hit, one more scar, one more broken heart.
So much angst.
Here I am reading 7 year old opinions as if they have even a little bit of relevance almost a decade later. I find it strange that one conversation can have so much effect on my life. I am also beyond happy that I kept this information and conversations for so long. It's nice have a documented history to rely on, to slow the decent of madness. I know somethings are missing, I might be able to track some of it down. Don't know if I will bother though.
Hello darkness,
What follows is the rant that can only be brought on by an all day marathon of The Community:
Have you ever had dream that made you question your route in life? Better yet if you've seen the movie Inception you might understand where I am coming from. At the end of the movie, The Mark is supposed to just up an disolve a multi-billion dollar industry built by his dead father based on a dream he had in an airplane. Crazy right? Well I could almost buy it after the dream I had this morning. It was about her. I've been thinking of her a lot lately. In this dream I can only remember a few specifics when I woke up. I remembered that the dream had been years long. I had spent what seemed like literal years in this reality. When I woke up my first thought was "please let just some of what I just experienced have been real" I remember an immense sadness when I realized it was a dream. Again nothing specific, and I am glad. I get the impression I had built some sort of life with her in this reality world. I had lingering feeling for a few hours after. That kind of feeling you get when you meet someone in a dream who isn't real but you somehow fell in love with anyway. That feeling of a finger in a wound you forgot was there. This was enhanced by the fact that it was her. I mean it wasn't just some faceless figure, it was her. She is real. What I dreamt could be at some point happen. It won't but it isn't impossible. If I hadn't been thinking about her a lot recently, I am now.
I don't know if I can describe love. Sometimes I feel like I can describe what it's not. I have been seriously considering breaking up with my girlfriend for almost a year and a half now. Which while typing that out a little red flag popped up. I sometimes I can't tell if I love her or not. I mean there's nothing wrong with her, but she's not the one. I think I love her in a way, she is a larger part of my life. But that feeling I woke up with reminded me what love should feel like. This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
One of the reasons I've stuck around this time is, that she is my first real girlfriend. We've been through so much together. I do care for her. Furthermore at this pace we will be moving in together soon, which can not happen. We basically live together now, and there are no issues, which could mean marriage in a few years. So I've been struggling with throwing away marriage material. But just because it's not broken does it mean it's right? furthermore I am stuck at her house until such a time that I get a full time job meanwhile I work part time with her grandfather, so that would make an awkward situation and if/when we break up when I move home, I don't want them to think I was just using them. However I can't leave her now because I still need a forward operating base to job hunt.
Furthermore how far do I go for happiness? I mean I want to have kids before I am 30. That gives me 9 years. I want to be married for a year, dating for two before hand, so Ideally I would have to meet my future wife in the 5 years to have kids at 29. Do I choose my partner like I chose my career? Is hapiness more important than progress. Is there a point at which I should settle? Should I just be really selective while dating? Just pick them apart to mke sure they are perfect? Or will I look past their flaws subconciously and realize later my mistake?
I've been feeling disheartened on my dream job recently. I finally played a few pick up games of ice hockey for the first time in months. My first skate went ok, but I felt like my skating was off a bit, the next two games were a lot worse. I couldn't stop hardly anything. I feel like if I can't even skate the basics how am I supposed to teach anybody anything. I also need to get a job before I can even get any of this off of the ground. Hopefully I hear back soon. I need to get this done. I just don't know the words to say yet. I am not looking forward to this. Are we going to be able to be friends later? or are we going to fade away quickly.
I really miss HER. I think. Evidence for this theory stems from me reading old MSN conversations from 7 years ago. Jesus, has it been that long? For 7 years I have been obsessing over this girl. I am cringing so hard reading the things I wrote seven years ago that I can feel ulcers growing in me. I just remembered how she kept kicking my ass at reversi. If there ever were a motivating reason to invent a time machine, this MSN conversation is it. I was going to get some sleep but I am too pissed off at my past self. I was SUCH A DICK. It's like I was trying to throw it away. GAHHHH!
I actually found something I wrote, and I really like it, it's from seven years ago.
Do you think of me, like I dream of you? Is my time wasted on nothing but a picture? What could be isn't, and what I know is that when this is over, one of us is going to be hurt and I think I know who it is, if you're not worth dying for then what is? In a year you'll be nothing more than a faded memory, a painful reminder of why I keep to myself, and why I promise myself it won't happen again, but I doubt it won't.
It's almost like I predicted the future with that one.
Monuments to a broken past.
I like that line.
Fuck. She did like me. I'm not crazy. Evidence given: use of "xo" at the end of later MSN convos, also her responses. Or I am batshit insane. Which is entirely possible considering it took two hours to write this. I finally found the conversation I am looking for. I was looking to see if her answer was a no or a not right now. I think it lies somewhere in the middle. "Damn, this is hard to say, don't get me wrong, I do like you, but a relationship isn't what I want out of life right now". I guess I could have waited it out. I don't know anymore.
Something else I wrote:
one more time, then I'm done, I swear. I always say that this is the last time, but I know it's not true, can't make it stop, one more hit, one more scar, one more broken heart.
So much angst.
Here I am reading 7 year old opinions as if they have even a little bit of relevance almost a decade later. I find it strange that one conversation can have so much effect on my life. I am also beyond happy that I kept this information and conversations for so long. It's nice have a documented history to rely on, to slow the decent of madness. I know somethings are missing, I might be able to track some of it down. Don't know if I will bother though.
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