Personal Journey…Stronger Than Ever!

To all of you who have sent supportive emails of love and encouragement after the “rehab” post several weeks ago, I just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU!

HUGE THANK YOU!

As you may know I am not in drug rehab or anything official like that but I have undertaken a personal journey of discovery that has been unequalled in my life.  This ‘pilgrimage’ as I’ve referred to it, has taken me to the very depths of my soul, surpassing – at times – the path I charged down during my personal experience with Leukemia five years ago!

I would have not thought it possible to plumb such depths at my age and given my predisposition for pondering all along.  As part of this, you may have noticed that I have been blogging much less and have been completely off Facebook for a few weeks.  This step back has been hugely helpful for me as I work with healers from all walks and continents to delve into the important work I’m doing.  I’m engaged in my own Eat, Pray, Love experience, if you will.  Although for me I might refer to it as Sweep, Wrestle, Transform.  Not as sexy or marketable, maybe but just as powerful!  Anyhow, your emails of concern have been touching and much appreciated.  At the same time they’ve prompted me to realize that I need to issue some reassurances.

I am fine!  100%  I have grown more in the past six weeks than I thought was even possible.  I am physically well, running, lifting, swimming, hiking, etc. more than ever.  My last doctor’s appointment yielded great numbers and a perfect check-up.  So please, don’t worry about me.  Set backs – such as the one which prompted this last exploration – are seldom long lived and I am resilient.

The issues that I eluded to in my last blog entries here and on Facebook are evaporating as my soul frees itself with the power of a volcano!  The physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of such a purge have been unbelievable.  So, while I enjoy your support and am deeply grateful for your care and encouragement, I want to reassure you that I am well, superb and continuing to grow.

This whole experience has even added a new dimension to my speaking program and a new book is under way.

If you want to see what’s new – including a week in Switzerland coming this Spring – please visit www.JumperCablesLIVE.com.  If you have a not-for-profit that would benefit from a little piece of the action in exchange for helping me promote the event, please contact me.  In the meantime, please stay in touch and keep that positive energy flowing.  I’ll do the same!

In love and gratitude and in hopes for more peace for you than you might possibly imagine,

George

Today is a good day!

“Again, I awake.  Today is a good day!  To heal, to grow, to connect, to love.  Today is not just a good day.  Today is a glorious day!

I am the luckiest man in the world.  I think I know what Kirk Douglas meant when he said “My Stroke of Luck”.  I just feel lucky, fortunate, grateful, grateful, grateful.”

These were my journal entries from February 2005 when I lay in my hospital bed in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in Albany.  They’re on page 137 of my Jumper Cables for the Healing Soul in the first edition.  I’m re-editing the book now so a lot of this stuff is fresh again for me.  This one always gets me where I live.

I just thought you’d enjoy them.  I hope it helps!

GPK

P.R. – it’s a question of hope

I just wanted to share – quickly – the experience of hitting my personal record time at the Utica Boilermaker 5K run last weekend.

Firstly, it was a lot of fun.  The crowd was great, the weather was perfect (though hot), the course was realtively flat if not outright down hill – and the 20,000 person after-party was fun to watch.  Celebration is a good thing and a healthy distraction from the aches and pains of life, both on and off the road.

At the start I had an unusual amount of junk in my head.  An unusual amount for me.  I was having a really hard time clearing my mind and the usual visualization and meditations weren’t taking hold the way they usually snap me into place.  Then “BOOM”, the gun went off and I didn’t have a choice.  Time to RUN!

I planned on walk-running the way I’ve been training up until now.  I guess I’m ready to move to straight running because after training at a ten-plus minute pace I finished my first mile in just about nine minutes.  Now, I know I’m not going to the Olympic trials with that pace but I tell you, it felt good.  At mile two (better than half way to the finish) I started huffing and puffing a little bit.  My legs felt pretty good, energy was good, using water to douse myself and take just a sip or two.  I felt pretty good.

Then at mile three I passed a kid hurling his guts out (poor kid).  Probably twenty-ish and from the looks of the pile/puddle at his feet, it looked like his choices in the past 12 hours hadn’t been real good.  I thought to myself, “things could indeed be worse”.

I pushed past the breathing difficulties and every once in a while (about every ten breaths) I was able to get a deep one into my lungs and I found that it was enough to sustain me.  So at the top of the hill before the last push to finish I went to pour it on.

Nothing happened.  I can honestly say that I left it ALL out on the course.  It was a powerful moment for me because with the energy that I left out there, I left a big piece of poison that I had carried with me for five years.  One that, I regret, has touched if not actually spoiled every relationship, every ambition, every undertaking in my life since then.  That’s what – I now realize – was clouding me at the start.  Along with my spent glycogen and my used up oxygen turned carbon dioxide, along with my water turned sweat…

I left a part of me in Utica.  A poisoned part.

So now, I return in hope.

Hope with me, okay?

Boilermaker

Sorry I haven’t been posting in a while.  Relationship stuff.  It really throws me off.  It throws my running off too.  They aren’t kidding when they say “life gets in the way” sometimes.  The irony is that I know in my bones that running helps me figure things out in nearly ALL areas of my life.

This Sunday is the Boilermaker and I haven’t run in weeks.  I guess I’ll get my ass out there then, huh?

Cancer patients encouraged to keep moving…no matter what!

While this falls into the “I could have told you that” category it definitely bears repeating.  How many people do you know who are otherwise perfectly healthy and still don’t exercise enough?  This Times Union article really confirms what we’ve been saying to survivors for a long time.  Get out and work up a sweat!

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=945903

Programs such as Fleet Feet Sports’ No Boundaries joint effort with New Balance, helps people begin to integrate fitness into their lives by training over 12 weeks to run a 5K.  I’ve personally seen this program completely transform timid and anxious survivors into raving fans of running and fitness.  Why?  FEELING alive IS being ALIVE!

No Boundaries!

Wisdom from the Zig!

As my old colleague once said…

“Today is a great day to get out and take advantage of the opportunities the world has to offer!”

These words from the master of communication himself, Zig ZIglar, struck my young ears at the age of 19.  I was transformed.  I’ve never been the same (for better or worse).  ;-)

Grab life by the shoulders and plant a great big juicy one on its lips!

GPK

With each step, remember your WHY!

You’ve greatness in you!  Always remember that.  Never allow anyone to convince you otherwise.  Hold on to the deepest meaning of your dreams.  They are yours and yours alone.  If someone has the crazy and inconsiderate idea of trying to make their dreams yours, resist that with all you’ve got by holding fast to your own spark.  When we lose our passions to mediocrity, it is not in a burst of overwhelming force. It is from the slow erosion of boredom and neglect.  Mediocrity is borne of indifference.  Excellence is borne of resolve!

If your very soul calls to you to write a book, throw a party, fly to Africa, love someone, drive a convertible or climb a tree, then by God write a book, throw a party, fly to Africa, love someone, drive a convertible or climb a tree!

Life is uncertain.  Live with vigor!

Tying shoe laces, there’s more than one way…

I thought you’d get a kick out of this…

In the Fleet Feet/New Balance No Boundaries program I get asked about all manner of foot discomfort.  A lot of times the way a shoe fits depends upon the way it’s been laced up.  Something we don’t think about a lot.  We figure it’s laced up at the factory – which it is – and that’s that – which isn’t so.  There are actually as many different ways to tie a shoe as there are different types of runners and different types of feet.

Basically, there are no wrong ways to tie a shoe as long the method employed keeps the things on your feet!  Often, however, different lacing methods can put pressure on different parts of the foot and that can cause discomfort, blisters, and other run-ruining conditions.  So, here’s  link to an article that I dug up a long time ago for a client who had some weird symptoms on the top of her foot.  By figuring out some different lacing techniques, she was able to relieve the pressure on certain points on the top of her foot and solving her issues.

Check it out and let me know what you think.  The link is to Ian’s Shoe Lacing Site.  This guy’s done a really cool job.  He outlines 33 techniques for lacing, is translated into several languages and he’s even got an iPhone app for lacing.  This Ian guy’s on his game!

http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacingmethods.htm

Engage, think, share!

GPK

Team iCanSir Coach, Lisa Millis, said it better than I ever could!

(unedited letter from Lisa Millis – Team iCanSir! Coach – published with permission)

Team icansir,

I am still on a natural high from our race on Sunday and wanted to send along a note of thanks to you for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of something I believe whole heartedly in . . .HOPE!

Through each of your journey’s through cancer you have taught me to look differently at survivors. You may have some battle scars, but they have not hindered your strength, positive energy, or spirit for living because you shared it all with me this past weekend.  I have had the honor of working with both hospice and C.R. Wood Cancer Center for several years and have met tons of patients and their families, but you all are different.  I will always remember our time together as my most special time with an amazing group of ATHLETES not just survivors!  Even with our ringer substitute the “Cheetah”, I can honestly say it was the best 26.2 miles I will have ever run in my lifetime!

COACH’S RACE RECAP

Leg #1  Super Girl learned about the kindness of the Burlington spectators and how fast 3 miles can actually go by when we iron out the little wrinkles that try to slow us down! “This is it”?  This is the end already”?  Great job Beverly!  It will only get easier the more your feet hit the pavement!

Leg #2 Nana(Sharon) Dug deep for the out & back 6 mile loop, past a hot air balloon, high fived an Eagle, enjoyed the mountain view, used the Port a Potty on the run, and even learned how to talk, run and listen to music all while going up hill!  AMAZING and a true inspiration to me for continuing to move & laugh in life!

Leg#3 I met our ringer whom I named the Cheetah in the first 2 minutes when he took off before my watch was even programed.  After forgiving him for being an ENGINEER, I learned that the Cheetah is a very strong athlete with a lean mean pace, has a great sense of humor, is passionate about his kids and was able to harness his love for Rosalie to run an extra 11 miles in record time (never having trained for it)! I wish he had been with me the entire race because he pulled me up several hills with his humor & attitude!  My only problem with him?  He doesn’t like coffee.  What’s that all about?

Leg #4 & 5  After sleeping on a park bench for 3 hours, GPK was like Five Star Dave on Travers Day at Saratoga…unstoppable! There was no way I was going to hold back a Cheetah & a Race Horse so I went with it.  George kept us laughing, got us singing, and even threatened a cop before meeting people along the way that he had inspired, mile 22 he made a connection with a runner who used his energy to finish the race. This was all in addition to keeping the pace constantly moving right through to the finish line!! Talk about no boundaries, I’m in awe!

GEORGE, YOU ARE THE REASON THIS IDEA CAME TO FRUITION.  YOU HAND PICKED EACH OF US AND BROUGHT US TOGETHER TO RAISE AWARENESS, COLLECT MUCH NEEDED FUNDS AND TO RALLY FOR HOPE THROUGH RUNNING!  YOU DID IT AND YOU HELPED US DO IT TOO! THANK YOU!

Opportunities to be a part of something larger than ourselves help us become better people at our core.

A priceless life lesson I will work to embrace!

A note to our spectators:  All the training aside, running a race like this is not the same without the warm feeling of knowing there are people there who care if you finish, how you finish, if you’re tired, if you forgot your Garmin charger, waiting to snap a picture or two, and thoughtfully negotiating through crowds for 6 hours (in all kinds of weather) to celebrate the finish with a local microbrew . . . . all because they care.  Anna, Mary, Laurie, & Rosalie(substitute spectator) we could not have done this without you and we are honored you cared enough to make the trip for us!         No Boundaries!

Peace, Love & Hope,

Lisa

Watch this space…

Jumper Cables for the Soul – my 3.5 hour personal transformation program is coming soon!  Watch this space for information about the Jumper Cables program to be held on a cruise this summer.  Cruises will sail on Lake Champlain and Lake George this summer so get your deck shoes out and get ready!