Being Open to All Possibilities

This past weekend was one of the best I’ve had in a long time, full of laughter, great friends, late nights, and early mornings(!)… but the preface to it was based on a conversation I had with my friend Jerald many months prior.

Photo by Marlayna

I was in the midst of the beginning of the end of a relationship and not in a good place, head and heart wise.  In the course of conversation he noted two things that really resonated with me:

-          When we’re in grief we live in the past, remembering the good times, and hoping for more of that in the future.  But we basically ignore the reality of the present, and that’s where we actually live.

-          And if you’re going to live in the present you have to be open to all possibilities; the moment you start to hope and plan for an expected outcome, you’re already in the future.

Those two nuggets really helped me through some dark times, as did several other great friends and counsel.  But as I’ve transitioned to a much better place after, the second point has really stayed with me.  Being open to all possibilities has allowed me to accept not just when a bad situation has to be dealt with, but even more importantly to be able to enjoy the far more frequent positive aspects of life.

So the thing I think about today is what will come our way and how are we going to react to it?  Yes, being open to all the possibilities can certainly better prepare you to handle the hard times, but it also gives you the freedom to live in the present while still hoping for a great future, and making memories you’ll be proud to remember.  Ciao for now – Cb…

When I Grow Up...

This is one of my favorite conversations to have: if money and obligations were not a factor, what job / career would you want to do?  And of course the obvious follow up, why aren’t you doing that, or working towards it?

I know I’m blessed to get paid to do a couple of my passions – fighting cancer / promoting cycling, but I would say that good fortune was as much a player in that as intent (assuming one can view getting cancer in 1996 as “good fortune”).  But to be very honest, had I not gotten sick back in the day it’s very doubtful I would have chosen these areas for work. 

My dream job would definitely be to be a pilot, but a really crappy set of eyes and old man time have denied that one.  C’est la vie, I got to ride in the back of plenty of high speed aircraft none-the-less.  And as I was exiting the USAF I literally created a dream job overseeing the Special Ops combat training team I ran as an enlisted guy – think getting paid to be the “bad guys” in training exercises! – but I didn’t see the better politically prepared opponent who gave me the old end around in the jungle that is the Civil Service…

What I used to do...

Now as my last kiddo is approaching 18 and an eventual exit from Chez Brewer I see another opportunity ahead.  For the first time in my life since I was 21, no kids and hence no obligation to anyone but moi’.  Yes, I know I could be in a relationship and who knows what that will bring, but right now it’s got me thinking back to my basic initial question: what do I really want to do?  Odds are I’ll continue to work and grow here at LIVESTRONG as I really do love what I do.  But for the sake of the mind game, I not only have the room to think about it, I also have the opportunity to act on it if I so choose.

It’s an interesting question for sure: so what would you do?  and what are you doing about it?  Good luck and good fortune regardless – make it happen.  Ciao for now – Cb…