Ice Storm 2026

-
I was hoping to upload a pic from our recent ice storm but some glitch is preventing me. In the meantime, enjoy this excerpt from one of my favorite short stories “The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. “This is a delightful spot,” he said, “we must ask the Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.” (The Selfish Giant, by Oscar Wilde)

Inspired To Overcome

-
“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.” (Seneca)

Most people walk or hike the 2,000 + mile long Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in about 4 to 6 months, and every person does it for reasons all their own. It takes a different kind of person to run it in record time. 

"Ultrarunner Karl Meltzer has long dreamed of setting the speed record for crossing America's Appalachian Trail. Now he sets out for his third and final attempt to run the 3,523km (2,188 miles) in less than 46 days, 8 hours, 6 min."

What a person finds during a challenge of any size is that one can be his or her own worse enemy. Not nature. Not the problem. Not the obstacle. Those things are neutral, "good", even beautiful. Those very same things could care less who we are, what we think or how strong we are. We are the problem. We are the challenge. 

Be inspired to be a different person by this short 9-minute version of the film: 


Or watch the full 45 minute film on Netflix or on Redbull.tv at no cost. 

Well, I'm inspired to go harder, faster, deeper. How about you? 

Popular posts from this blog

Rock Me, Epictetus!

-
Image
“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6 b –8 
Read more

The Smooth-flowing Life

-
Image
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel...
Read more