Archive for the ‘General’ Category

About Me and My Blog

Saturday, January 1st, 2000

Kid fishing

I grew up very poor.  For several years as a teenager, I had to hunt and fish for food.   Many times if I did not catch a fish (or shoot a rabbit), I did not eat.  Throw into the mix that my parents were divorcing (and I was used as a pawn between them), I was confused, depressed, and alone for most of my teenage years.  All through high school, I was not able to really learn who I was.  I never had a girlfriend, went to any football games, went to any dances (you get the picture).  After all, the biggest problem I had was where my next meal was coming from (and whether I was even going to have one).  I had no time for socializing.  I was out hunting, fishing, or foraging for food.

After I graduated from high school, I went off to college at Penn State University.  My freshman year was spent reflecting on what I had in college vs what I knew at home.  I was mostly an introvert, but I did room with one of my best friends from high school.  For my sophomore year, I got a new roommate and my life was about in a radically GOOD way.

One day on the way to physics class, I was walking behind two people who I knew.  I love to people-watch and I love to listen to what people have to say.  On this particular day, one of the two people in front of me was swearing like no tomorrow.  I remember thinking, “How can anybody talk like that, it is so offensive.”

I stopped DEAD in my tracks.  Why?  Because I had picked up the habit of swearing as a teenager.  If people think swearing like that is offensive, and I swear, then some people MUST think that I am offensive.  This was a profound realization for me, and it took me several days to come to terms with it.  Nonetheless, I was not deterred.  I was determined to break this “bad” habit of mine.  Within four weeks, I stopped swearing altogether, and I felt proud.  It was at that moment in my life, that I realized I had control over my life and I had the power to change anything about me that I did not like.  No longer did I have to question why I had to endure the events of my teenage years.  Those events certainly SHAPED me, but they do not have to dictate who I am.  Thus, I went on a TEN-year transformation to eliminate what I considered my “bad and offensive” habits.  I was finally able to make myself into somebody who I actually am proud to be.

Along the way, I have learned a LOT of things.  My ex-wife had a philosophy that I particularly liked:

If I am in doubt, I try it.  I never want to look back on my life and think “what if I had done that?”

That stuck with me and still does to this day.  Live life to the fullest – NO REGRETS!

Along those lines, I have been told many, many, MANY times that I lead a fascinating life full of fun and adventure.  Since graduating from college, this is the only way I know how to live and know nothing different.

I live by three principles (inspired by my ex-wife):

  1. If it sounds fun AND
  2. If it is not illegal AND
  3. If it will not hurt somebody (I am fair game to be hurt/injured 🙂 ) else THEN
  4. TRY IT!  You just might find something fun to do!

This mantra has served me well in life.

By all statistics, I should have ended up as a drug-using criminal on the street corner with a long rap sheet.  Instead, one fateful day in college turned my entire life around.  I seized the opportunity that the universe gave me and I have made the most of it.

I truly feel very fortunate to be where I am today.  I never forget my roots and where I have been.  I am grateful to have done so many fun and interesting things in my life – from playing poker semi-professionally to officiating professional ice hockey for eleven years, to skydiving, to scuba diving, to whatever life gives me next.  I look at the world in a different light.  For example, what does this phrase say?

O P P O R T U N I T Y I S N O W H E R E

Most people will say “Opportunity is nowhere“.  You know what?  I see “Opportunity is now here“, and that is how I live my life.  I hope to share some of my adventures with you in my humble blog.   Thanks for reading!