It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

To Die On A Treadmill

Will Smith at his finest. Not only is he handsome, he's got brains AND heart to boot:

You don't try to build a wall.
You don't set out to build a wall.
You don't say I'm going to build
the biggest baddest greatest wall
that's ever been built.
You don't start there.
You say, I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.
You do that every single day and soon you have a wall.

To The Batcave!

Cham-pi-on. Pronunciation [cham-pee-uhn] –noun
1. a person who has defeated all opponents in a competition so as to hold first place:
2. a person who fights for or defends any person or cause: a champion of the oppressed.
3. a fighter or warrior.

I have been thinking about a conversation I had a while back with the Magic Man, one of the most positive, stable, fearless great souls I know. He is my rock. We haven’t spoken in what seems like ages, but his words of wisdom appear like magical comedic bursts of strength before my eyes when I am up against my adversaries: negativity (Pow!), indecisiveness (Wham!), low confidence (Bam!), fear (Ka-Pow!), and on and on.

The battle is not yet won, but it is one worth fighting.

We were discussing life and other topics that seem to ravage the brain, like men, and part of the advice he gave was that you need to find someone “Strong enough to be your Champion.” Simple as that. (But there he goes telling a woman who tends to overcomplicate everything!)

I pondered his advice for a long while.

What I eventually realized is what if I don’t find what I am looking for? What if I spend all this time searching for something that may not magically appear in my life? I am not a magician; I can’t just make that kind of thing happen. It’s outside of my control. It would all be a ridiculous game of waiting, and hoping, wishing and wanting. Blah! I am a dreamer (though I'm not the only one), but I must draw the line somewhere.

So the solution is, that I will find within me that someone “strong enough to be my Champion.” I will be my own champion. I will champion the cause, which is my life. I will defeat all of my opponents. I am a fighter AND a fierce warrior. Some strengths are stronger than others, but it all comes from within. If I’ve gotten this far, I can go farther.


I like what Arnold♥ said on becoming a champion:“The only way to be a champion is by going through these forced reps and the torture and pain. That’s why I call it the torture routine. Because it’s like forced torture. Torturing my body. What helps me is to think of this pain as pleasure. Pain makes me grow. Growing is what I want. Therefore, for me pain is pleasure. And so when I am experiencing pain I’m in heaven. It’s great. People suggest this is masochistic. But they’re wrong. I like pain for a particular reason. I don’t like needle’s stuck in my arm. But I do like the pain that is necessary to be a champion.”

That can be applied to real life.




The 12 Traits of Champions by Tom Venuto. Google will show you the way to the full version, but in semi-short:

(1) Champions are positive thinkers; they believe in themselves.
Undoubtedly the most important quality that all champions share is an unwavering belief that they will succeed. Champions always look for the good in every situation. No matter what obstacles they encounter, they always continue to think positive. Without confidence, faith in your abilities, and positive mental attitude, you’ve defeated yourself before you ever step onstage.

(2) Champions visualize their successes.
Champions understand the importance of positive mental imagery or visualization. They do this over and over in their minds hundreds or even thousands of times before it becomes physical reality.

(3) Champions surround themselves with positive people and avoid negative influences.
Champions keep themselves in a "positive shell" and do not associate with negative people, places, or things.

(4) Champions are goal setters.
Champions realize that if they don’t know where they’re going, that is exactly where they’ll end up; nowhere! Champions consistently set long and short-term goals. From day to day workout goals to long term career objectives, champion’s have written out specific, measurable goals with a deadline.

(5) Champions have a burning desire to succeed.
Champions not only have goals, but they ardently desire them. They want it and they want it badly.

(6) Champions are disciplined and consistent.
Champions live and breathe the lifestyle all year round. They know there is no off-season and success does not come overnight.

(7) Champions are persistent.
Champions never, ever quit. They know that if they persist long enough, eventually they must succeed.

(8) Champions learn from their failures.
Champions don't view losses as failures, they see them as learning experiences. Champions know that they haven’t failed until they quit; but once they quit, then they have failed. A champion finds a lesson in every apparent loss and finds ways to grow from it.

(9) Champions have incredible powers of focus and concentration.
Champions set goals and then maintain a laser-like focus on them. They have the ability to always keep the long term objective in their sights while focusing 100% on what they are doing at the moment.

(10) Champions have a deep love and boundless enthusiasm for the sport.
To a loser, training and dieting is work and drudgery. To a champion, training and dieting are a love, a joy, and a passion. Champions are enthusiastic about what they do; they can’t wait to train each day. Champions are doing what they love, so to them it’s not work at all, its fun!

(11) Champions strive for constant and never ending improvement.
Champions are never satisfied with the status quo; they never rest on their laurels. Champions aim for small improvements every day in every way. Champions are open-minded and are always looking for a better way to do things. Although champions are always striving for more, they also realize that success is a journey, so they enjoy each moment and savor every step along the way.

(12) Champions are hard workers; they are willing to go the extra mile.
Positive thinking, goal setting, visualization, desire, persistence, and enthusiasm are vital, but without action and hard work, these traits are all worthless. Champions take consistent action and they are willing to do the things that the losers are not. In short, they go the extra mile.

Extreme Storm Surgin'

Now here's a sport I think I can do...too.

Changing the way you look at the world. I like that. I like the entire concept. No two people have the same experiences. We are restricted to our own consciousness. Confined by our paradigms. We need to break out of these molds and live.

Live fully.

Life is short. We need reminders, because so often we forget. To look and see the world and experience the moments it offers. Dare. Dream. Laugh. More importantly, laugh at yourself. Give. Give to the world, your heart, your soul, your voice ~ in whatever way which makes sense to you. BE. Be brave. Be who you are. Be different. Be present. Be open to new ideas. Be willing to run, to leap and land on our feet or fall flat on our face. We need to have more faith in ourselves and more faith in others. Because we get each other through. We need to live a life congruent to our values, ideals and dreams. To never cease to wonder. To imagine what will be. To see all possibilities, when no one else will.

This is nothing new. But it never grows old.

Think about it.

This is your life.

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

~ Steve Jobs

Can't Go Wrong With Nina

Nina Simone. God I just adore her. High Priestess of Soul. Jazz Extraordinaire. Legendary Icon. Her music sets my soul ablaze…The rawness, the power, the sensuality. Her voice caught & reeled me in the very first time I heard her singing and I have been madly in love ever since. She sings to me when I need her, lifting me up and providing some ever needed inspiration…

Enjoy coolcats...