Traditions and Second Chances

Stories

Every day millions of people pass by each other and dont say a single word to each other. Maybe its in a grocery store, maybe its in the mall, maybe a busy city, maybe even at church. If we think about it, I think we can all think of plenty of moments that we walk right past someone and dont even say a simple hello. The reality is that we all like to live in our personal bubble. Some people have a bigger personal bubbles than others but at one point or another we all draw a line and decide that its too much to stretch that comfort zone. Who am I to blame anyone? I prefer my comfort zone too. Id call myself a bit of a social introvert and rarely go out of my way to meet new people. Why should I? Ive got plenty of friends and know tons of people. Or so Ive told myself until last week.

So one of my best friends and former teammates Jevon and I decided about a month ago that we both wanted to take a long weekend and just get away and have some fun. We ended up deciding that it would be fun to take a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas. We would fly to Florida on Thursday where we would meet up with one of my old high school buddies that I havent seen in quite some time and then we would cruise from friday-monday. If that sounds like the vacation youve been looking for to get out of the winter chill......it probably is.

So Jevon is without a doubt an extrovert by nature. Me being a tweener leaning more towards the introvert side decided before the trip ever started that I was going to reinvent my personality for this trip and become an extrovert. I also knew going in that this plan was a guaranteed success because all Id have to do is follow Jevon's lead until it became natural (which didnt take long).

Early in the trip Jevon and I decided that a goal of our trip was to meet some new people that we normally wouldnt ever meet. After all, if we refused to meet new people that would mean we would be stuck only talking to each other. Now dont get me wrong, I love Jevon but to be on a boat with 2,000 other people and only talk to one person seems a bit ridiculous.

So off we set. Between the pool, the hot tub, dinner, the casino, shows, and random other nooks and crannies of the boat we were able to found new friends left and right. We met flight attendants, vacation planners, black jack dealers, professional poker players, sales associates, students, business owners, waiters, social hosts, and much more. So many professions, so many stories, and so many locations.

At times I think we caught people off guard. Why would two 24 year old guys want to sit down and talk with random strangers without some kind of hidden motive? Is it possible for these guys to genuinely want to get to know me and hear my story? Like I probably would be, people tended to initially put up a bit of a shield. However, once we convinced them that we genuinely wanted to know who they were, where they came from, even where they were headed, those walls began to come down and friendships were born- even if only for a weekend.

As the cruise continued we were able to find a couple of groups that we spent a considerable amount of time with while also finding time to meet new people and hear new stories. We even had a chance to spend one night in the fine dining room with a group of seven new friends. By the time the last night of the cruise rolled around it was hard to walk around the boat without seeing one of our new friends within 30 steps. If that seems like an exaggeration you can ask....

Rafael, Job, Ferra, Carolyn, Joanna, Francesca, Gabby, Rob, Patrick, Bob, Lauren, Shelly, Juan, Brandon, Lila, Letell, Nicole, Lilly, Katie, Ty, Marty, Chloe, Dubs, Sadia, Sam, Nicolae, Julia, Henry, Edger, Tom, Anthony, Jennarose, Martin, Fifi, Catalina, Stephanie, Maryjo, Marcia, Ashley, Fred, Marcy, Mindi, Fred, Mary, James, Rodney, Sarai, Josh, Rhonda, Bill, Nicole, Jared, Crystal, James, Nigel, Oliver, Les, Tracie, Lindsay, E, Joel, Anne, Calvin, Rob, Jen, Jen, Chris, Kevin, Greg, Tony, Dede, Bebe, Bus, Keith, Charles, Kevin, Stan, Thomas, Lou, Danny, Tino, Mike, Adrian, Chico, Karen, Alex, Alex, John, Norman, Jenine, Jake, Scott, Paul, Donald, Andrea, Amanda, Tia, Lisa, Lenour, Sandra, Ericka, Casey, Nikki, Candice, Paul, John, Mike, Travis, Jimmy, and Shaquille.

So whats my point? That we had a fun weekend and met a lot of amazing people? Not quite. I think it goes deeper than that. I think its an attitude to take interest in the lives of those around us. Until recently I dont think I did it enough and Im sure there are people out there who dont either. Its not always easy. Whats easy is to live in your own personal bubble with the people that you are comfortable with and refuse to meet or invest in new people. Ill be the first to admit that Im not the best at having this attitude nor am I saying that we should all just go around talking to every person we see. What I am saying though is that if we go around living a life of self absorption we will quickly begin to miss out on the lives of others and things we can learn from those whom God puts in our path. Everyone has a story, its about time to start hearing some of them.

The road to....

So often in sports a game is referred to as a battle. Sometimes teams are complimented on their ability to battle. Athletes are asked to battle the elements, the game, the other team, and even themselves at times. Every close game is a battle or a fight. Its one person vs. another or one team vs. another team. Nothing else at that time matters. Only the contest at hand.

Throughout NCAA soccer playoffs and even in my own season at Navy in the last few months the idea of battling or fighting has been an interesting concept to wrestle with and explore. Some teams know how to battle and fight, while other teams struggle to understand what that means or how they can embrace the concept. The interesting thing about this concept is that just like any other skill in life or sports its something that can be learned, developed, and cultivated.

As Ive watched Messiah’s soccer team this year Ive seen a team that has learned what it means to battle and fight for not only a win but for one another and for the continuation of a season. After a loss in the first game of the year, they’ve rattled off 21 straight wins and have managed to find a way to win in all circumstances.

As NCAA’s have approached and progressed in the last month its been interesting to hear people talk about how this years run to the final four has compared to other years and how this year the team has had a relatively easy road. The beauty of the whole situation though is that Messiah did exactly what they were supposed to do. They fought their battles and won each one. What other teams were doing, who they could have/should have played that was better, or who had a tougher road wasn’t their concern- they focused on what they needed to do. Now they are right where they want to be, in a position to spend as much time together as possible, battle for two more games, and hopefully win a National Championship.

Another example of this concept occurred today as I was running a 10k on Thanksgiving morning. I have been wanting to run in a race for a while but haven’t really been looking overly hard nor have I had a lot of time to find a race to run in. Well since I was home this thanksgiving I figured I could find a race this morning and give it a shot. Heading into this morning I didn’t do much to prepare ahead of time, nor have I really been running any kind of distances to be in “racing shape”. With that said I didn’t really know what to expect from the race (other than freezing cold temperatures since its Rochester, NY) or how fast I was capable of running.

I told myself at the beginning of the race that I had to run my own race and not worry about anything beyond that. For me that meant that I wanted to be able to run faster in the last mile and a half of the race than the rest of it. For that to happen I knew I had to run at MY pace and not react to anybody around me. That is sometimes harder than it sounds when there is a person 50 yards away and you want to catch them or when a little kid passes you and every fiber inside you wants to pick up your pace and catch him. This race had to be about my battle and what I could control, not what other people were doing or the battles that other people were fighting. Those weren’t important. They were only traps to keep me from accomplishing my purpose. I had to decide if I was going to fight my battle and run my race and end up in a position to attack the last mile and a half or if I was going to get bogged down in other people’s battles and react to the race around me. In essence it was a choice of doing what was best for me or letting the race dictate how I would feel and how I would finish.

Isnt life a lot like sports when it comes to this? Arent we faced with a lot of battles in life that force us to make a decision? Either face the battle head on and put ourselves in the best position possible or let ourselves be affected by everyone else’s battle, caught up in the roads that aren’t ours. Soccer teams, runners, and other athletes are not the only people that must learn to battle and fight. Everybody has battles from time to time. Sometimes it’s a sporting event, other times it’s a career decision, maybe it’s a academic struggle. Whatever the fight may be, there’s always two ways to handle it and 9 times out of 10 one is better than the other. The problem is that we usually choose the 9 wrong answers before we choose the right one. We take a look around at everyone else’s fight or wish we had a different situation well before we rise above the battle and embrace the One that has overcome anything we will ever face. Its only then that we really can block out the distractions and battle the competition that stares us in the face and win.

In the end, life isn’t really that different than athletic competition. We learn to battle, and fight, and we have to rise above the challenge. The road we get put on in life isn’t too far off from the road to the final four. In each one we must battle one thing at a time and we must not get sidetracked by someone else’s bracket………the best we can do is to try to win our own.

One of those days....

"It’s just been one of those days, one of those days
Every glass half full, every drop lemonade
Just one of those days, one of those days
All my worries to bed
And my faith wide awake
Hey, hey, hey
Just one of those days
Just one of those days

There’s a smile I can’t turn down
For a dance across my face
And the way I see things now
A frown would just be out of place"


These lyrics are by Shaun Groves and I think they seem to fit this blog perfectly. Let me explain...

You know when you have one of those days where you look back and simply smile? Im talking about a day where everything in the world seems to be right for a brief period of time. Even though reality is right around the corner, some days are the perfect break from all stress, worry, and anything that can get us down in this world. Days like these are the days when we truly feel alive.

I had a day just like the one I am referring to this past week. As most of you know I am living in an apartment attached to the house of one of my friends from Messiah. Well, due to the fact that he is still in school and is going to be a US Marine Officer after college, he hasnt been home hardly at all. Well the past few weeks he has finally had a chance to have a real summer vacation and this past Tuesday we decided that we were going to take advantage of living in the same place.

The day started at 9am. We left the house and headed to the PA border where his family has a membership to a shooting range. I had never been shooting so it was a sweet new experience. If you are reading this you probably know that Im all about trying new things and new adventures so this was right up my alley. We spent about two hours at the range shooting pistols and rifles. I think I held my own for my first time. I wasnt the most accurate marksman in the world but it was a start. As Dan put it, "you did really well for your first time, I just wouldnt let you shoot an apple off my head."

From the range we headed back to Califon, NJ (home) to move onto our next activity: Dirt biking. This was another activity I hadnt done before and there was a slight risk of death/injury so naturally I was stoked. I had two issues with dirt biking. First, you have to understand the workings of a manual car to ride a dirt bike. I have a decent understanding of how that all works but I like to stick to automatic cars. Needless to say this made it a little tougher. I caught on pretty quick though. Second, I have little fear of injury so I wasnt too concerned about my body or the fact that Ive never driven a dirt bike before. I had a few nice crashes but overall it was a blast.

Once we put the dirt bikes away we gave ourselves five minutes to change our clothes and hop into our bathing suites. We were back on the road in no time and on our way to Penwell Mills. Basically its like the yellow breeches of New Jersey. It was a creek with some spots to swim but more importantly it had three different rope swings. It also had a few trees we could climb and jump into the river. Dan and I both took our fair share of turns on both the tree and the rope swing. Personally, Im partial to the rope swing. While Dan and I discussed the dynamics of doing a backflip of the rope swing, our brilliant maturity and wise minds decided it would be more fun to enjoy the rest of the day with all our body parts where they belong.

On the way back home from the rope swing Dan and I took a look at the clock and discovered that we were going to get home around 4:00pm. If we moved quickly we could make it to the golf course in time to get a good round in before dark. So upon arriving at the house, we took 15 minutes, changed our clothes and hit the road yet again for the golf course. At this point in the day both Dan and I were a bit worn out and I think it showed on the golf course. As I mentioned before, it was one of those days where the glass was always half full. In this instance it was a good thing because both of us played some less than desirable golf.

After a quick dinner at McDonalds we arrived back at the house at 9:00pm. A mere 12 hours after we left the house for the first time that day.

Needless to say, when our heads hit the pillow that night it didnt take long to fall asleep. Word of advice for the day. Make time to rejuvenate not only your body but also your spirit. We all need a break from the stresses of day to day life. We all need a day to feel alive (whatever that means for you).

Later days

Brett

Camp Daze

Have you ever done something that seemed like a tiresome task at one point and then when you revisited that something at another time you were able to see it with a new sense of freshness and excitement?

I felt that very thing this past week. I spent last week in Annapolis Maryland at the Naval Academy (my soon to be new home) and worked soccer camp in 100 degree heat for five days. Ive always seen camp as a fun time to see friends, make some quick money, coach, and be outside. At the same time, I always left camp worn down, tired, and beat up from long days and little sleep. Not this time.

This time was different. I arrived at camp on 3 hours of sleep and a 10 hour work day the day before and left camp energized, excited, and renewed. Maybe it was because I was able to spend a week with some of my best friends. Maybe it was because I had a chance to make an impact on kids lives. Or maybe, just maybe it was because I was doing something that I love.

Moral of the story. Do what you love and love what you do and you wont regret it. Find your passion.

Ill leave you with these words from the late great coach wooden...

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."
John Wooden

Positive moments

Getting gas. Most people dont view that as a good experience regardless of what type of gas Im talking about (Im referring to fuel as far as this blog is concerned). Its just not a good experience. Even if you can find a gas sale youre still spending anywhere between $30-$75 and you dont really gain any enjoyable benefits. Its almost like paying a bill. You get to drive your car from place to place but its not as if you could decide one day "hmm, I dont think Im going to buy gas today."

Well thanks to New Jersey (take note...its likely Ill never use that phrase again) someone must pump my gas for me. Now I wouldnt say Im a huge fan of this law but in this case it has made fueling up an enjoyable experience. One thing you must know is that in NJ all gas stations seem to be owned and operated by different races or types of people. For example, I could tell you what gas stations are run by middle eastern people, African American people, and English people. Well it just so happens that the gas station I frequent is operated by a few english lads.

I have made a new friend at my local gas station named David who has single handedly made getting fuel an enjoyable experience. Every week, I pull in, say hi, and he begins to pump my gas. As he pumped my gas we talk football (soccer) and discuss our thoughts on the English premier league, the world cup, and our respective national teams.

Its interesting to think about how such a small encounter can create such a positive experience for a person. We all know how a miserable person can make a good day into a nightmare in a matter of minutes. I think the same can happen on the positive side of things. If you and I decided that we were going to make a positive impact on every person's day that we came in contact with for one day I dont think we'd ever turn back. Im convinced that this attitude would not only create positive experiences for others but we would live a richer, more fulfilling life ourselves. Isnt that what we are called to do? I believe we are.

Later days

Growing up

It happens in a blink, it happens a flash, it happens in the time it took to look back.

Whats the deal with this fascination with growing up? It starts when we are young. People ask us who or what we want to do when we grow up. If we are immature or rude to someone we are told to grow up. And in time, eventually we can earn the label of a grown up. All these phrases or terms are used in a way that makes growing up such a positive thing. Personally Im starting to think Peter Pan had it right when he wanted to escape to never never land and not grow up.

Its not that I think growing up is such a negative thing. I am looking forward to things about growing up like getting married, having kids, a carrer, retirement (if that still exists when Im that old). What I don’t like about growing up is that if you ever take a look around in todays society, there isn’t a whole lot to be desired about what most would consider a normal life and growing up. Settling for an average job, working 50-60 hours a week, stressed all the time, and little enjoyment with life seems to be the norm these days. What happened to chasing your dream job? What happened to the 40 hour work week? Whatever happened to the simple life? Why are people constantly stressed if they have a family they love and a job they love? Have people given up completely on doing what they love and living the life we are called to live?

Maybe Im a naïve 23 year old recent college grad but If Im going to grow up I want to do it without being a ball of stress in a dead end job. I think the USA should take some lessons from Europe and learn to enjoy our life a little more. What would happen if everyone truly chased their dreams, worked jobs they enjoyed, helped people who had less, sought after true happiness and and were able to live without constant negative stress? Wouldn’t that make growing up sound more inviting? That’s the growing up Im looking for.

Counting sheep and Pimped out cars

Note: This blog is nothing close to serious so if youre looking for a good thought of the day.....maybe Ill leave you a little nugget at the end.

So last night I was having trouble sleeping. It may be because I had a lot on my mind. It may have been because I took a nap at 6pm. It may have been the 20 oz of caffeinated sweet nectar that I drank around 8pm. Anyhow, whatever it was I was unable to get my body to shut off. So I figured for some strange reason that I would try the old counting sheep trick. Now Im not sure how many of you have actually tried this but It certainly is an impossibility for me. Whoever came up with counting sheep must have had some sort of farm because I dont think its as easy as advertised.

First of all, the sheep in my mind are jumping sheep. They jump over obstacles like horses. Maybe thats my first problem. If I had walking or standing sheep it might be easier but mine jump.

Secondly my sheep jump way too fast. I cant count fast enough to keep up with them. If counting sheep is going to be successful at all I would have to have slowly moving sheep with huge black numbers on their sides to make the counting easier. Neither is the case in my mind.

Long story short I think counting shape is nonsense. Clearly somebody discovered this a long time ago and created other alternatives like Nyquil. Personally I think that works a lot better.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

On a different note lets talk about cars for a minute. Maybe I have a slanted perspective since my car is better than all the other cars out there but I cant seem to understand why people try to make their cars look really "cool". All it usually does is make that person look like a moron and their car look even worse. I was driving today on the highway and noticed this car driving recklessly in the far left lane so I had to take a closer look. Sure enough it was a tricked out car with one of those huge mufflers, a racing stripe over the top of the car and windows tinted far beyond legality. Wouldnt ya know it the car I am talking about was a Chevy Malibu. I have nothing against Chevy Malibu's (although I do dislike most American cars on principle) but if youre gonna get a car and go through all the trouble to TRY to make it look cool, at least buy a car that isnt your standard American family car. Why not just pay the extra money and buy a "cool" car to begin with? Again, I think Im just spoiled that I drive a car thats better than everyone else's. If I offended you with this tangent.....Im not that sorry.


Quote of the day: "What we accomplish in life is based less on what we want and more on how much we want it. The secret to willpower is what someone once walled wantpower. People who want something enough usually find the willpower to achieve it." - John Maxwell

Later Days

Time to clean up....

So I knew back in December that once I graduated I would have about 6 months to clear out my Messiah email account and make sure everything I wanted was either moved to another email account or deleted. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and soon enough 5 months had passed. Now I know everyone handles their email accounts differently but I personally tend to keep A LOT of emails around. Whether I need them or not they tend to pile up. Some I just want because they mean something to me, some I want because I can use them for something later, and then some just never get deleted because I forget to do so.

Well when April rolled around I probably had a couple thousand emails in my inbox from the last 5 years. Little by little I began to chip away at them. One night I was able to eliminate or move an entire years worth of emails. Eventually I had gotten down to two years worth of emails. I found it extremely fun to look through old emails and relive stories, time periods, and friendships that I had collected emails from over the years. Every now and then Id stumble upon a gem of an email that I was glad I hadnt deleted but at the same time had forgotten about.

I can proudly say that today my email account is void of all emails except emails that I have received or sent from a few special people. Its amazing how much work it can be to simply remove hundreds of emails without losing the important stuff as well.

The only question is....Did you send me an email or several emails that got rescued? :)


New email: brettfaro@gmail.com

Later Days

What they dont tell you enough in college...

Whats the point of college? Is it REALLY to give you this fantastic four year education? Are we really supposed to be convinced that without Western Civilization or World Literature we wouldnt make it in the "real world"? I dont think thats the case. I dont think college is designed to fill your head with a ton of book knowledge that you can use in the real world. College in my mind is a place that has been created for immature kids to go and grow up. Its the last step in the school system that tests your ability to mature and grow as a human being. Tests on relationships, responsibility, reliability, faith, individuality, friendship, and hard work are more important than tests on accounting, biology, marketing, or theology. In the end I seriously question if my GPA is any more important than my ability to be able to do laundry.

Unfortunately, somewhere between high school graduation parties and this place that people call the "real world" none of what I just discussed is ever conveyed to us. We are told we have to study hard and get really good grades so we can get a good job. We are told that what we are learning in our classes will be important to know in the long run.

Dont get me wrong- classes are important, and getting good grades are important (kind of), and most people who graduate from college will leave with a ton of knowledge that can be used in the real world. But what people dont tell you often enough are the things that in my mind are as important as the things they do tell you.

1) Cherish your time at college and dont get bogged down by the work, bad professors, or a bad grade. Unless something REALLY bad happened, college is bound to be one of the best times of your life. Think about it....youre living on a campus of your choice, with all of your best friends. You get more vacation time than you will ever have in your life again, someone cooks all your food, and its totally normal to be up until 1am. Sounds good to me.

2) GET EXPERIENCE. Luckily Jack Cole told me this for 4.5 years straight. For the most part though I dont think we are told enough in our college years how important experience really is. At the end of the day, your grades are getting you a job, your resume/experience is. The thing is, it doesnt even matter where your experience is or what youre doing really. What matters is that you are getting experience in one form or another. Why do professors not convey this message? Without experience you land in the real world with a GPA, a degree, and no experience for "entry level" jobs that require EXPERIENCE.

3) Going along with my previous statements, its not stated enough how important networking is. In my experience, its not about what school you went to or how you did in class. Its about what experience you have and who you know. Experience -----> knowing more people. Its such a simple concept. Does it suck for those people who have really good grades and work really hard but dont know anyone? YUP. But thats life. The more people you know, the more likely you are to land a job.

I think colleges should change their curriculum. Instead of making people take classes like world lit or philosophy there should be classes on taxes and professional writing. Why not invent classes on real world finances, home buying, and job hunting? In my mind that would make sense if college is designed to prepare people for the real world.

Heres to college and all the things we learned there- in an out of the classroom.

Later days

Taking a bite out of the Big Apple

Have you ever wanted to experience everything a city has to offer or at least see as much as you can? I know I have and Im pretty sure most people have as well. All to often I think we settle for seeing one or two things in a place or city because they seem to be the "must see's" or "all we have time for" without the luxury of being able to spend multiple days seeing everything. This was the situation I was in on Saturday. I have been to NYC many times but all within the constraints of the aforementioned situation. Too many things to see and so little time. This time I decided I was going to go about things differently.

The first difference on this trip compared to every other time Ive been to NYC is that I took this trip solo. I hopped onto the train in central Jersey and 40 minutes later I was standing in Penn Station ready to embark on what I assured myself it would be a sight filled day. Dressed in running shoes, shorts and a dri fit shirt, I was ready for a workout. I had my camelback on my back with an extra shirt, my wallet my ipod, and my phone. Nothing more, nothing less. In my hand I gripped my handy dandy camera ready to fire at everything and anything.

I arrived in NYC around 1:30pm and my plan was to spend the afternoon running through NYC and seeing as much of the city as I could. My start point was Central Park and my finish line was completely undetermined. My first order of business....train to central park. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for a train that never came and watching rats run around on the train tracks, I decided it would be just as easy to run to central park.

So off to central park I ran. Dodging cars, running around tourists, and waiting at red lights. LCD screens, times square, and honking taxis heightened my senses as I progressed. 34th street, 35th street, 55th street, 60th street.... Eventually the open spaces of the park and the peace away from the choas was right in front of me.





While Ive been to central park multiple times, this was the first time I truly got to really see a lot of central park. The roads, the paths through the woods, the lakes, the lawns, all of it. Central Park is a fascinating place really. I cant say Ive been to a place like it. An enormous place full of God's natural beauty and peace planted right in the center of one of the worlds busiest cities. What I didnt realize is that central park is a pretty easy place to get lost in. Luckily I had nowhere to be really. After about 2 or 3 miles of running I finally found my way out of the park and into the west side of Manhattan.

From there I proceeded to run in a circle for about ten minutes while I gathered myself and figured out where I was. Once I solved that I headed directly west until I hit the Hudson River. The West Side Highway has a lovely bike/running path that runs along the Hudson River all the way down the island. Without any real knowledge of where the path would lead or what sights I would see, I continued to put one foot in front of the other.


So I ran, one park after another, one pier and then the next. So much of New York that I had never seen before. Chelsea piers, gorgeous parks on the river, basketball and tennis courts in the middle of the city. For the first time I was able to see some of the beauty and sights of NYC outside the busy streets, huge buildings, and overpriced food.

While stopping periodically to take pictures and an occasional drink from a street vendor (yes, overpriced), I continued on my way. Past gardens of flowers, past the SS Intrepid museum, and onto battery park and a beautiful sight of the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island.

Once I reached the Statue of Liberty I really only had one destination left before I would feel satisfied with the days adventure: The Brooklyn Bridge. After some street navigation, some help from a police officer, meeting a fellow lost runner, and another stop for a quick drink, I was on the Brooklyn Bridge. If you havent been on it before, I highly recommend it. Its quite a cool contraption and it provides an awesome view of the city that is different than almost any other. While I do suggest exploring the Brooklyn Bridge, I dont recommend running it. Its such a crowded area that running at any speed is dangerous, especially with the crazy bikers on the loose. Biking on the bridge is similar to driving a car the wrong way on a one-way street. Especially with idiots like me trying to run in the opposite direction. Long story short, take the time to go on the Brooklyn Bridge...walking.

After conquering the Brooklyn Bridge I figured Id stop over in China Town real quick before calling it a day. China Town was a brief stop before my legs chimed in and told me they were ready for the train. So off to the train I headed. I took the train back to 33rd street and then walked back to Penn Station. On my way back to Penn Station I stumbled upon the Empire station. I almost didnt even notice because I was tired and ready to go home but it was a nice little perk to add to the day. At 6:14pm, I boarded my train back to NJ and left the rest of NYC for another day.





Overall Id say the trip was a success. Id suggest that type of adventure to anyone interested. If running through NYC doesnt interest you, thats okay too. In the words of Matt McDermott "Why run when I can take the subway? Nobody truly likes running anyway."

In summary....

Sites:

Penn Station
Times Square
Central Park
Hudson River
Chelsea Piers
Battery Park
Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
Brooklyn Bridge
China Town
Empire State Building

Total Mileage:

Somewhere between 18-20 miles.

Until next time....

Later Days

What's the deal?

I promise a more extensive post in the next day or so but I think its necessary for me to mention a few new NJ discoveries.

1) The whole no turn left thing. Ive discovered that this phenomenon is worse than I originally thought. Its not that you can NEVER turn left. Its that you cant turn left, MOST of the time. At first I thought this was more reasonable but in reality its worse. What this means is that driving becomes a big guessing game if you need to go left. You cant know if you need to be in the right lane for a round about or in the left lane for a turning lane. Utterly ridiculous.

2) 35 cent tolls. My newest and possibly biggest quandary in New Jersey. As you can see, the picture above is a 35 cent toll area that makes sense. It doesnt show the lane for ez pass but you can clearly see the lane for exact change and the lane where change is necessary. Apparently people in NJ are walking piggy banks because that change needed line doesnt exist. You have the ez pass lane and the exact change line. So basically if you have a hundred dollar bill in your wallet but no pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, you are up a creek without a paddle and will probably get hit with a huge fine. It makes absolutely no sense. For example, the other day I came upon one of these tolls and had to pull over to see what I could scrounge up. I ended up throwing a dime, a nickel, and TWENTY pennies into the change counter. Quite an experience.

Later Days

A Journey into the Future

Somewhere in the laws of physics and science there is a law that says "an object in motion stays in motion unless something interacts with it to stop it." These days I feel like I am involved in somebody's science project. Each day is something new and each month seems to tell me something about my future. Ever since spring of 09 I feel as though Ive been living my life a few months at a time. A new phase of life has started and ended every few months for the last year (soon to be year and a half). First there was my "last semester of college", then there was my last summer as a college student and trying to figure out what that looked like, then came my extra semester of "school" and more importantly soccer. That provided an entirely different experience than any of college before. I was living the dream life while also trying to figure out what my post graduation life would look like. Next game my current state. Post grad living in New Jersey while working in the professional sports world.

This object in motion doesnt appear to be stopping anytime soon. Enter next phase t-minus 3 months from a little while ago. For those of you who dont know (which is probably none of you considering not many people read this), I have accepted an assistant coaching position at the US Naval Academy. The best way I can explain this whole happening is like one of those revolving doors in front of fancy hotels or airports. There is always a continuously open door. When one door passes, another is right behind it to be open for you. Thats pretty much what happened with Navy. To be honest, the fact that such an opportunity could be open to me so fast after graduation was not even a thought until I got a phone call in January from coach Brandt telling me about the possible situation. Fast forward 3 1/2 months and here I am telling you that I am embarking on an opportunity that can hopefully jumpstart my future career in coaching.

So much of the future seems to be far off and distant. It always feels that way until its on top of you and the next thing is right around the corner or another opportunity is staring you in the face. I dont know what the future at Navy or beyond Navy will have in store for me but I have learned that when I trust in the Lord to direct my paths and do my best to do do His will, I have far less to worry about.

Beat Army!!

Later Days

26 miles through hades

Running is a funny thing. On the outside running is one of the most simple life activities a person can do. Moving one foot in front of the other at a faster pace than walking for however long you want is not rocket science. On the other hand, running can be one of the hardest physical or mental activities out there. How this phenomenon happens is beyond me and in no way am I going to be able to answer that question in this blog. All I can do is what I always do- tell you how my experiences have played out.

People tell me all the time they dont know how I run as often as I do or that they dont find running fun. Sometimes people ask me how I find running fun. Lets clear that up right now...I DO NOT think running is fun. I run for three reasons and three reasons only. 1) I find it fulfilling and destressing. There is a sense of pride to say you ran x amount of miles. Running also has the ability to just make the worries of the world disappear-even if its just for 15-20 minutes. 2) I run because I have to do it to stay in shape. 3) I run because I love the competition and pushing my body beyond what I think its capable of.

With that said, on May 2nd, my fitness freak brother Aaron and mortal me set out on our latest conquest ....Our first marathon. For the running impaired, a marathon is 26.2 miles. All marathons, not just the one we ran. The whole thing really started somewhere in late December. Aaron told me he wanted to run a marathon on January 1st. No training, no prep, just run one. While I verbally told him I thought he was insane and that it was the dumbest idea Ive ever heard, Im not one to back out of a challenge and was prepared to give it a go when the New year rolled around. Luckily for both of us, the Rochester weather did not cooperate and we were forced to stay inside and continue living.

January came and went and soon February was upon us. By the first week of February I had been out of competition for 3 full months. In my book, thats far too long. I needed my fix. So the search for the marathon began. Luckily with the help of Matt McDermott I was able to find one the first week of May on the Jersey shore. Aaron is a trooper and was more than willing to give it a go with me.

One key piece of information that I found out amidst my research after signing up for the marathon is that a typical program takes at least 18 weeks to prepare. We had left ourselves a mere 10 weeks. Whoops. Not a smart move but hey, gotta work with what we got. So after going through the prep and the long runs and the longer runs, it was finally time for race day.

Forecast- 10 days out....65 and partly cloudy. YESSS
Forecast- 7 days out....75 and partly cloudy...not too bad
Forecast- Day before...88 sunny and humid.......ut oh

Turns out the forecast was spot on. Thanks weather man. Poor Aaron had a rocky start to the day. Emma was up ALL night so our sleep was limited. He got sunscreen in his eye immediately, his contacts werent working so he had to ditch one, and we had to take a detour to the race so we didnt exactly have ample time to warmup (or pee for that matter).

Mile 1- 6:56. CRAP. Too fast. Its the infamous trap everyone tells you not to fall into and we had just done that only a mile into the race. Luckily with a potty stop and some adjustments we settled into our goal pace of 7:30 for most of the first half of the marathon. We crossed the line at 1 hour and 40 minutes for the first 13.1 miles. Feeling happy with ourselves.

Enter extreme heat and humidity. Not good. It must be noted that after the first half of the marathon was over we lost about 80% of the participants. Clearly this race for geared towards the half marathon crowd. A crowd I quickly started wondering if I should have joined. Aaron on the other hand was probably wondering why we werent winning the race like he usually does...jk :)

Our pace gradually declined as the miles wore on. 13, 14, 15, 16. Surely 20 must be soon I thought to myself. Ahead I see a sign for mile 17...."we're only at mile 17?!?" This became a fairly consistent pattern for the next few miles. With the clock ticking and our legs growing ever more tired it became a game of mine to run to the next aid station for gatorade, GU, bananas and whatever else the wonderful race crew decided to give out. Those lovely stations were my favorite part of the race. Slowly but surely we continued our pace from one mile to the next. Every mile marker was a sign that even though it felt like I was running under water, we were making progress and the end was near. By mile 24 we had found a new sense of life in our minds and our legs had no choice but to keep up. Our pace quickened and we hit the boardwalk for the final stretch with feeling of pride, anticipation, and excitement. After all, the finish was straight ahead. What we didnt know is that the straightaway was a lot longer than we had convinced ourselves it was. One step after another our pace continued to increase until we were in a dead sprint for the finish. At last....we crossed the line and gained a new title.....marathoners.

Many people have asked me how the marathon went since I ran it and a lot of people have asked me if it was hard. Ive had a hard time putting into words how the marathon was. It was a lot of things. It was fulfilling, it was "fun" in some weird, twisted form of the word, it was painful, it was rewarding, it was mentally draining. All in all, it was a lot of things. When its all said and done, it was motivating. Motivating to improve. To do better, to push harder, to see what this body is capable of. Was it hard?? YES. It was the hardest thing Ive ever done in my life physically. There was a time when I thought the 5 minute mile was bad. Today it seems like a walk in the park. Oh how perspective changes.

If there is one thing Ive learned through this its that the mind is a powerful thing and the body will work a lot harder than it wants to. Sure the body complains a lot and tries to tell you its tired after the smallest amount of exercise but the reality is that if you convince yourself with your mind that your body is fine and continue, it will. Ive learned that if you can remain strong between your ears for however long you need to, your body will have no choice but to listen to your mind. Mind over matter.

Well, I guess I better go find my next race

Later days

This world needs more Ben Faro's

Do you ever have those moments where you are sitting around looking at something and all of a sudden you feel like youve been flashed back to 4th or 5th grade?

Today I arrived home from work and turned off my car. I was just sitting in the driveway, thinking about some things, admiring the gorgeous weather. I gazed into the clear blue sky at an airplane that happened to be passing and all of a sudden I had a quick flash into elementary/middle school. This may sound ridiculous but for a brief moment, memories from those days become so vivid and a smile begins to extend across my face.

Its amazing how time goes by so fast. Its sad really. I dont mean sad in the fact that life is progressing, I mean sad because of the fact that we rarely enjoy a time of our life for what it really is....a time of our life. All too often we get caught up in the past, and the future and forget to really live for the moments we have today. The worries of tomorrow seem like huge mountains that we have to climb before the sun rises again in the morning when in reality those worries are just bumps in the road that we need to step over. Wouldnt it be nice if we actually listened to our parents when we were younger when they uttered the words "dont worry so much, just have fun" or something to that effect. What a blissful childhood we all would have had. I think my little brother Ben is the only one that actually heard that message. The jury is still out on whether or not he had too much fun or not but I cant think of better example of a guy who lives for the moment.


This childhood enjoyment/worry complex Im talking about is a funny thing. It doesnt go away!!! It pops up again in high school, and then in college it just makes a home on your shoulder and camps out there for four years. Anyone who looks back at college would probably tell you it was the best four years of their life (or 4 1/2 years, or 10 years if your one of John Keller's several friends). Yet when we're in college, we are constantly "busy", "overworked", "stressed", and "tired". Hindsight is such a pain in the butt. Thats why everyone needs an extra semester like mine to live the college life without a care in the world :)


Botoom line....live in the moment. Dont dwell on the past. Dont spend days worrying about tomorrow. Today has enough worries of its own. I know its not my strength. I struggle to not look backwards or forwards. Im working on it though. Hopefully Ben can continue to give me some lessons. Lets enjoy the moments that are right in front of us so we dont have to look back and wish we had more mulligans left to use.

Later Days

What is failure?

For those of you who dont know, Ive been training to run the New Jersey marathon on May 2nd. Not too long ago I laced up my shoes in hopes of completing an 18 mile run. Long story short I got about 14 miles in before I had to call it quits for the day. I had officially failed for the first time in my marathon training.

The funny thing about failure is that people spend their entire lives trying to avoid it or scared of it when in reality its usually the best thing for us. Personally I think mottos such as "i refuse to fail" or "failure is not an option" are borderline comical. I prefer the slogan "failure is the ONLY option". Failure is the best proven teacher around.

Lucky for me I have been blessed with the best parents a guy could ask for. They taught me from a young age that failure was okay. They taught me that its not about how many times I failed, its how I reacted to that failure. Unfortunately for them, I think they had to learn those same lessons from me :)

I dont think failure is what drives success. I do think the mindset that causes failure is what breeds success. If I stare failure in the face and challenge myself to a degree where I know failure is a very likely possibility, only then is there a chance for unbelievable success. Is success without the risk of failure truly success or is it just finishing an already known result? I think the best successes come when there is the biggest chance of failure. Sometimes those great successes happen after the biggest failures.

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I respond to it. -Swindoll

Later Days

New Jersey

As I drove into New Jersey at the end of January there was a feeling of hope and excitement. It couldnt have been a nicer January day, the sun was shining, Bon Jovi was on the radio, and everything was looking up. I think there is something about a new experience that we remember for a long time. Graduating from high school, going to college, graduating from college, getting a job. All these experiences are mile markers in a young persons life. These are the things that get checked off that imaginary list that every person has but nobody ever really talks about. That sunny winter day definitely fell into that category for me. I was excited, anxious, and prepared to start something new and different in my life.

I must mention that it was a big day for New Jersey as well. That day marked the day I decided I was going to give Jersey a chance. Jersey gets a bad rep and I wasnt sure it was deserved. Its kind of one of those states you make fun of simply because everyone else does and it seems like the right thing to do. After all they do have like thousands more waste dumps than any other state in the US and its one of the smallest states. However, I put that aside and was willing to start fresh with New Jersey. Unfortunately for the state it has let me down, Ive made a list of pros and cons that I have found in my short stint in New Jersey thus far.

Pros:
1) Gas is cheaper
2) They pump your gas
3) They have the shore (which the jury is still out on since I havent been yet)
4) Where I live is very nice and rural

Cons:
1) They pump your gas
2) You can NEVER turn left
3) The roads are built with craters so you have to play mariokart when you drive and dodge the items
4) There is always traffic no matter where you are going and its never for a valid reason
5) Everything except gas is more expensive
6( No major city (and contrary to popular belief by those who live in jersey, NY and Philly actually are not in NJ)


Ive still got plenty of time left in Jersey and Im hoping for a turn around. There is still hope New Jersey!!! Just not for the nets.


Later days

Im back...

So after a long hiatus of blogging I have decided that with a new chapter of life should also come a new blog. Yes, I am aware that my life really isnt exciting enough to warrant one blog let alone a second but thats just a reality that we are going to all have to cope with.

When I last blogged I was reminiscing about the journey of a lifetime and discussing how traveling around the United States with two of my best friends was such an amazing experience. We had just finished an expedition from the atlantic to the pacific and back again. To be honest I figured that would be my last blog post because lets be honest, life doesnt get too much more exciting than traveling the world with your best friends.

Since that time, a lot has happened. More traveling, more soccer, more friends,and certainly more memories. Ill get to all that but for now I just want to say that Im glad to be back blogging and I look forward to boring all three people who will read this with my uneventful life :)

Brett