Well, the New Year's Day celebrations are over. Millions of people all over the globe have made promises and pledges to do this or to not do that. At the age of 50 I have given up on resolutions. Not that I don't believe in goals or that I can make new things happen. I have just developed the philosophy of life that luck is a product of hard work and that your life is a reflection of who you are, not who you wish you were. Many resolutions are made by people who wish that they were somebody else. I wish for all people to find who they are and strive with all their energy to be the best "you" that you can be.

I am listening to Pandora Radio, http://pandora.com/ Can I recommend that you check this site out if you aren't familiar with it. So great! Michael Frank, Sting, Garota De Ipanema, etc. Enjoying the "Deep Groove Jazz station that I have created while I am writing this blog. Create your own radio station, just like you wish it to me, commercial free.

After a day that I had a fine 5K training run in the Bosgue of the Rio Grande River and being on my second glass of wine and my first plate of sushi my state of mind would have to be in a wonderful place But I am feeling so at peace with the world. I feel like Achilles felt in the movie "Troy", when he stated, "The gods envy us". As a Christian man is have a different belief system. But I can empathize with him.

There are times in a run where you feel "super human". I have told my wife of these times. For example: You are running at 5:00 AM and the sun is just coming up. The world is between dark and light; the most difficult time of the day to see well. You are running in the street into the traffic. The car is coming toward you, head lights approaching. You are in the 7th mile of the run and you are feeling so strong. The headlights get closer, coming right at you. Yet you don't cut stride and you don't change your line. You think to yourself, "Surely the driver sees you and the car will share the road. But if it doesn't, I will still win. It can't really hurt me. I am stronger than it is". The car does see you; at the last minute. You realize that it didn't move over because it didn't want to share the road, but because it didn't really see you until the last minute. Your mortality is really questioned at those times. But in the midst of the endorphins and the strength of the moment your are immortal.

This is what Achilles was referring to with his statement in the movie. Even in our mortality we can feel god like. Can the gods experience our emotions as humans? He didn't think so. Achilles was the greatest warrior. He thought that we couldn't be killed. He felt that when he went into battle that he was beyond being in any danger. Therefore, he was reckless and fought from victory. In a way, this is the way a Christian lives his/her life. We have already won the battle. Christ won this for us on the cross. So, we can live our lives with abandon and truly carefree as we glorify Him. . We can reach for glorious rings on the merry-go-round of life without risking or jeopardizing important things. As a runner, I can belief that I can set a PR every race. I can compete from that victorious platform.

Does that mean that I win every game, set every PR, slay every dragon? No, of course not. But as an athlete, an academic advisor and a coach for many years I have learned that if you play a game thinking that you have already lost, then you are giving yourself so little chance to win.

Let's go out is life and learn, or re-learn, the art of play and WIN every game..

Paul828