week 14

Life mission:  In the fast paced 24/7 world of today we get fixated on boring conventional missions. We all want the house the car and the money. That is perfectly acceptable but when we all seek the same  we create a reality that is boring. Life becomes a routine we all wake up go to bed go to work and school. Well most of us do. When we live this way life becomes like a plane on auto pilot. We know where we want to be but we let something control our path there. We don't take control of our lives. We must stop being like sheep and start becoming more like free thinkers.

My life mission is to make something out of nothing. I want to build things and invent things. I want to change the world. I would love to learn how to build devices that would make our lives better. I believe that humanity moves forward each time a technological breakthrough or miracle happens. I would love to invent a car that runs on water. My life missions would be to create the things that make life better for all of us. I would also love to help people. If i cant become the millionaire everyone wants to be then i want to become the problem solver everyone dreams to be but never become it.

I would leave a legacy of progress and my legacy would cause humans to challenge the auto pilot lifestyle. Who says you have to wake up at 8 am when your best work is done at 4 in the afternoon? My joy would be in seeing young men and women try to live life the way they want to live. Who says we have to be married by a certain age? Do we really want to waste 20 years perusing an elusive goal to please our parents? I would love to create a society full of ideas creativity innovation and invention. Lets travel to mars and party it up in zero gravity.

Here lies Marvin

Born in the town of Cambridge
grew like a tree
and eventually ran free
he traveled the forest and the 7 seas
a man that stumbled upon a personal legend
a tale of invention innovation and change
created a world of his own
A vivid light that took the world by storm was sparked
through the galaxies his world sparkled
though the ages the light grew stronger
and his soul will allow it to last longer
his legacy gave us this gift
may it spread from east to west
from north to south
from up over above us to
the stars in which he now lives on
may he rest in peace.

Week 13

During the season of giving thanks i think of my life and the many things that i have. It is a change from the normal. I normally think of what i have and it is easy to overlook what i already have and what i have gained.  First of i must mention that i am thankful for the simple things that we all take for granted. Things like a roof over my head food on the table running water and clothing. I am also thankful for being alive. We can be gone in an instant and i am thankful for everyday that i get a chance to make something out of my life. These simple things make the core of what i am thankful for, but there are other things that i am also grateful for.

I am grateful to have a job a year ago i went from working at a fast food place to being unemployed. I regained my job there but  i was unhappy with my life. I was fresh out of high school jobless and depressed. But then i got a slightly better paying job and a job that was easier. I am grateful for this job. I am also grateful that i was able to get my hands on a new car this year. After my old car broke me down i had to take the T and i was constantly late. This new car helps me get to were i want whenever i want. I no longer have to walk at 10 am 3 miles to my house. I am grateful for being emotionaly neutral. Although i would love to be happy and fired up about everyday i no longer feel sad, and i am grateful to be in a stable state of mind.

I am grateful to be in good health. I have no medical problems i can run jump throw and dance.
Finally i am grateful to be back in school. The semester has not been a breeze and i still have to work on my focus but I am grateful to have a chance to learn new things and advance in life. I am grateful for this chance to learn skills that will help me acquire a job that i truly love. I will remind myself that i have all these reasons to be thankful whenever i feel things are crashing down on me.

week 12

Story 1: I am a billionaire i live in a giant penthouse my office is like tony starks from iron man. I took a risk in the stock market and it paid off. I am world known for being the smartest investor. I own 90 percent of apple coca cola and Google.  I appear on CNN giving financial advice i have written 5 best selling books and i eat dinner with world leaders. I have 4 kids all whom go to ivy league schools and my wife is a supermodel. I own a penthouse with personal chefs i no longer worry about making it in life because i am one of the worlds most successful persons. Next week i will surpass bill gates for worlds richest man. Although i have immense wealth i also generate wealth for poor countries. I open companies in poor countries and employ over 4 million people in poorer countries. My companies help purify water and install windmills, solar panels and my companies also pump billions of dollars into countries economies. We also plant trees and vegetation to keep earth green. Life is great im rich married to a model and i am making the world a cleaner and safer place to live.

Story 2: The world economy goes down, we plunge into a global depression my stocks go down and i loose my wealth. My companies collapse and at the same time i get slammed with a lawsuit. I loose my company and its assets.  I am left with my last 20,000 dollars in savings and a family of 5 to feed. I go from being a billionaire to another victim of a global meltdown. I shutdown operations and move to the very same fields my company helped to plant. I learn to live of the trees plants and vegetables i planted. The windmills and solar panels still stand i use them to harness energy. The technology i used to purify water still exist's and i use that to get drinking water. With 20 grand i build a log cabin and i manage to live happily from nature. Although i lost my wealth the good work that i did with my wealth still stands. I never expected that the things i built to save other people would one day come to save me.

Story 3:  I become an astronaut i travel to space and become the first human to walk on mars. I bring back to earth the first samples of martial soil and i am hailed around the world as a hero. I meet the men from the first moon mission and salute them. I later learn that i will be going to the moon the first moon mission in over 70 years. When i return from the moon i will bring back a piece of the moons soil i will mix it with earths soil and the martian soil and turn it to a paste. With that paste i will paint a forward pointing arrow on a mural. The arrow will symbolize us as a human species moving forward for the next century and beyond.

I put my guard down and i allow grace to come through
I put down the old rusted shield that has protected me against unknown forces
Grace reaches me a confusing force it is
It rattles my mind and i almost fall to the ground
What is this force what does it want?
It throttles the wind violently back and forth
It fills the air with sand and i cannot see what is in the distance
I cannot see what is behind me
I can only see what is in front of me
I can feel things sink in the quicksand around me but
I can only see solid ground in front of me
Grace is a force of the present
I cannot see the past or the future but i can see what is in the present
Grace is conspiring with the elements of the world
The wind and the sand blocked of the past and the uncertain future
Grace helped me live in the moment for the first time
Grace and  the universe blocked my distractions
And they blocked every wrong path in my way
The only path that is right is the one that is in front of you.
I realize that the universe and its forces conspire to set me on the right path.

week 11

In the future i see myself graduating from college. I see myself going to the world cup i also see myself buying a puppy,being a professional, living life without fear, visiting pyramid, Taking walks along the beach taking a road trip visiting mountains. All while having a smile and eating the best pizza the universe has to offer.

The crystal ball tells a tale of food love and dreams
I see through the mist what the future may be
A crisp morning a bright star that we call the sun shines on me
On the beach i walk with my puppy kicking sand
To the left I see
I see mountains
Green mountains on a tropical morning
as i watch the mountains I sit back and enjoy the best pizza in the world
I shake the crystal ball faster and I see
A future without fear
I travel the world and become a professional
My business is not done in a suit it is done in a weight room
I coach and teach my love for sports to others
The crystal ball sings to me
It sings in a language i cannot understand
But yet i love the harmony
The crystal ball brings peace and warmth i can enjoy forever
as the crystal ball fades i see one more thing
I see life being lived and
Love being loved to the fullest

Week 10

I am really passionate about fitness and health. I love to read articles and books about improving muscle strength. I really love seeing the progress i make from month to month in the weight room.  I also love to run. The feeling that you get while running around the Charles river on a crisp Autumn morning is therapeutic. It reminds us how beautiful life can be. I love taking in the air and watching nature as a pass by the trees the leaves and the gleaming river.

Working as a sports trainer for a very reputable sports team or gym would be a great career. Many people want to be executives,lawyers,lawmen or doctors. But to me those careers would not make me happy. My passion is to help people improve their lives and fitness. If i can coach somebody to better health and sports performance i would be happy. It would be my way of giving back to the world. I would be providing people with skills to live longer stronger fitter lives.  I would be changing the lives of the doctors lawyers and executives.

I would like to work with people who are trying to get into shape. Fitness beginners as they may be called would be the perfect demographic for my service. I would an environment that would not be judgmental or their abilities. I would build self esteem and i would watch my trainees bloom in the weight room. I would love to coach for free to help out kids who are in danger of joining gangs or doing drugs.  I would coach for free for all of those who do not have the money to pay for a coach.

The iron and I like two dance partners
I lead the iron follows
I take a look at the iron before our dance
I become nervous
I take a deep breath and push my chest our
the iron stares at me
shinning the light from the gyms bulb the iron signals
signals that it is time to start our dance
our dance of struggle
loaded with 300 pounds the iron tells me i must start
as i begin our dance and perform my first repetition
i feel my body being anchored to the floor
sweat runs through my face
heat pours from my body
I realize i am dancing with the devil
one repetition is not enough neither is two
nothing satisfies this beast for
the dance does not end until i put the iron back into its rack
and as i rack the weight i realize
the dance with the iron is a trip to hell and back.

The Alchemist review

The Alchemist a book by Paulo Coelho is a must read for anyone going through a life challenge. We follow the story of a young Shepard. Who travels through the cities and deserts of northern Africa, in search of treasure. Along the story the main character Santiago meets several strange characters. He meets a gypsy a king disguised as an old man, he later meets a crystal merchant a British scholar and an alchemist to name a few. He also faces an array of challenges along the way. Each challenge he faces and resolves brings a life lesson to the reader. The life lessons learned here can be applied immediately to ones life. Reading this book is like talking to a psychologist. You learn several coping techniques you especially learn to be mindful and live life by the second.

Most shocking to me was the part of this book involving the British scholar. At this point in the story Santiago meets a Englishman who is in search of an alchemist. The Englishman feverishly tries to find a way to turn metals into gold. He reads countless books and learns almost all that is written about alchemy but he still fails. This hit me and ironically made me realize that there are things in life that cant be learned from just reading. The English man toiled all his life with books,but he missed life's lessons. I realized that you have to be aware and open minded. It's great to read and learn from academic sources, but when like the Englishman  rely on one source of information you end up being ignorant and you miss out on other great  baskets of information.

I like the book and i believe it conveys many heartfelt messages.  Great books  often times are books that you can relate to, and i certainly can relate to the characters in this book. The book was not overly complex and the chain of events developed quickly. Many other books have overly complex plots and drag over volumes. What i really liked about the book was that it reassured me that I and 6 billion other people in this world will face hard times, but to my joy  and their joy we will all get through those hard moments in life. The only complaint i have after reading this book was that the ending did not offer complete closure. There are parts that ended but are left to speculation. We can assume at the end that Santiago and Fatima will marry but we can only assume. I really wish the book elaborated more on this. Finally i wish the book  at some point at the end involved the king that convinced Santiago to start his journey.

I would recommend this book specifically to any young person starting out in life. You will learn a lot about life from this simple book.  This book is great for that first semester student at bunker hill, dealing with a life challenge. I can go as far as to calling this book a fable because many morals are learned here. I recommend this book because you will learn Mindfulness you will learn that every life legend that was worth something had many challenges along the way. The Alchemist can also be read by any person regardless of age who needs to be reassured that the troubles of today signal the success of tomorrow.

He traveled from the green Andalusian fields

Brave he was
The boy who dreamed of treasure
Traveled the  world
he stumbled upon the warm sands of Africa he
was a crystal merchant

he was a Sheppard
he was a teacher
only this boy could understand the soul of the world
for he spoke without words
in search of the pyramids he went
along the way he found danger in dunes
but nothing could stop him
for he realized his personal legend
he spoke to the world and unleashed a symphony
a symphony that taught us
"when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” 
he unleashed the power of his heart
and from then on
The world knew of a brave boy named Santiago

Week 8

We have many things in life that we take many of them for granted.  We sometime forget that the things that we have others would risk their lives to get. We are all guilty of taking stuff for granted. I am no different. I take for granted having a nice car. I bought the car used and i am making monthly payments and when i first got it i loved it. I still love my car, but as time has passed i find myself wanting a better car. I fail to recognized that i have a better car than mot kids my age. I take for granted my cell phone. I work with cellphones and i constantly activate new lines for people. Whenever I  activate a new line or do an upgrade i become jealous. I take for granted my phone. But I forget that i still have a nice phone and that many people around the world would love to have the phone that I have. I get angry when i have no hot water left in the shower,but many people don't even have a clean source of drinking water.

Although i take for granted many things i find myself to be grateful of other things. Im grateful to be alive and healthy. I am glad to have a job i am glad to go to school. I am grateful for my baby brother for my home I am also grateful for meeting new people at school. I am grateful for those people who encourage me to improve my self. Life has many frustrations but that has not stopped me form being grateful to be alive, in one of the greatest countries on earth.

I could breathe the crisp autumn air. I  can stop think and taste my black coffee better,instead of gulping my coffee in 30 seconds.  I can enjoy the sound of the raindrops flicking on the asphalt I can be more mindful and enjoy life more. I can listen to my favorite music and really focus on the sounds and feelings the songs transfer to me. I can stop and enjoy the energy of my friends I can enjoy the way they treat me as if i was their cousin of brother. Stopping and enjoying life as it is makes me feel better. I feel like i am home i feel safe and secure, and i know everything will be alright.

Crisp autumm breeze
will drift us to the apex
like mountain lions we climb