The Adventure Begins...

To invigorate means to energize or to fill with life and energy. What would life be like if I could invigorate the ordinary?

I should probably start off by explaining my intentions for this blog. There are really two purposes for starting this that I've narrowed it down to. First, I really want to try to live my life as a sort of hybrid of my two favorite books. I am optimistically hoping that by nurturing this blog I will receive the motivational kick in the butt that I need to really start applying this stuff to my everyday life. It could be a really powerful thing.

I also believe in the power of influence. The reason I that want to teach and coach one day is because I want to connect with as many people as I can and try to be a positive influence on others. It might just be the extra X chromosome in me talking, but there's nothing I value more than the relationships that I form in my life. So I thought that even if one person reads a little anecdote I throw in one day and smiles a little, the magic of influence could prosper even in cyber-land.

It also seems fair that I should summarize the books that I will allude to so frequently on this page. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is an unbelievably inspiring narration that showcases the epic adventures of the world's greatest distance runners. It reveals that everything we thought we knew about running is totally false and familiarizes us with an astonishing secret tribe of athletes called the rarámuri/tarahumara, or the "running people."

The Four Agreements by Don Ruiz is a life-changing masterpiece that offers ideas from the ancient Toltec wisdom of the native people of Southern Mexico. His four agreements are elaborated on beautifully throughout the novel, but can be summed up as the following:

1. Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3.Don’t make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.


By applying the ideas of these two works into my everyday life, I hope to live a very happy and meaningful life. I realize this is rather ambitious and also dangerously cliché, but why not experiment and see if it could turn out to be more than just a naive aspiration.

I chose the word 'adventure' for my title very carefully. Whenever I think of adventure I think of Peter Pan; there's a dude who knows how to make things fun. Why can't every day be an adventure? The word implies excitement, exhiliration, and joy. I want to suck all the marrow out of life Thoreau-style. According to Mr. Pan, "to live would be an awfully big adventure."

Let's do it.