I find it funny because the video brings up questions that I have had in conversations with many people this year.  From experience, when you enter your mid-twenties, finding someone to spend your life with increases in importance.   It also makes you think about settling for someone as opposed to finding your soulmate.

I was watching a reality show this week, and a guy made a comment about a woman he was dating.  He said that he had a great connection with the woman, and he could totally see himself building a life with her; but, he had to break up with her due to a lack of physical attraction because he thought she needed to lose at least fifteen pounds.   I know I should consider the source because it is a reality show, but I have heard people dismiss potential partners for a variety of physical reasons.

Therefore, my question of the the day is: what are the deal-breakers in a long-term relationship?  Human bodies change for a variety of reasons. There is more to a person than physical appearance.

Even though technology is very beneficial, there are downsides to it as well.  One being that many people are now out of jobs.  It got me thinking, while technology is a good thing,  is too much a bad thing?

There is no human interaction in any of these situations.  For example,  no cashier was there to smile or talk to them while at the grocery store, movie store, bank, or gas station.

In today's western society, individuals are constantly interacting with members of the opposite sex (i.e., at work, school, places of worship, in sports,  etc.).   Most people in the generation of individuals from 16 to 35, have many close friends of both sexes.  How does having many friends of the opposite sex influence the individual's romantic relationships?  As someone who has numerous friends of both sexes, here are some questions that I have been thinking about lately.   I would like to hear your opinions on this topic.

The first question that I have asked myself frequently is:  Can men and women be "just friends" without the question of dating entering the picture?  

"Do you ever feel like you are missing something in your life? If so, do you consistently focus on that loss to the point where you forget about all the other things that you do have in your life? How do you not let that loss become the focus of your life? How do you switch from focusing on the negative to the positive?"

I saw Michael Phelps compete at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Victoria, B.C. in 2006.  I am a fellow swimmer and find him, like many of his fans, inspiring to watch.  Prior to this time, I had only seen him on magazine covers, talk shows, and at the 2004 Olympics.  I will admit that before seeing him, I thought he was this amazingly talented swimmer who had innate talent and did not have to practice.  Also, I thought because he was a celebrity he was somehow different than other swimmers.   However, when seeing him in this environment, my views changed and I became even more impressed with him.   I realized he works extremely hard and that all those medals are well-deserved. He is human like the rest of us.  He may have the physical strength yet it is his mental strength that I admire most and makes him excel.

Over my lifetime, I have experienced great loss.  Death and goodbye are parts of life.  Hard aspects but are parts none the less.  When it happens to others around you, it makes you reevalaute how you are living and shows you that life goes by rather quickly.  Losing friends and family has made me realize what matters in life and what does not.  Since I love music, here is the song "Things that matter" by Rascal Flatts which reinforces what has been on my mind lately.

I just found this amazing video of the Canadian Men's Olympic Rowing Team which was shot at Elk Lake in Victoria, B. C.  I thought I would share this of some incredible athletes since the video reinforces the mental training component of athletics which I blogged about yesterday in my post .  Also, this is where I learned to row :) .

Practice makes perfect, right? Or, if you keep training and improving, you will win medals, right? The common motivational advice from other athletes is: "Keep practicing and never give up!"

When I hear statements like these, it seems that athletics can be simplified into a formula.  You train for this many hours (10,000 hours as said by Malcolm Gladwell)  or repeat the motion 50,000 times, and you will excel at it.  In many sports programs, the focus is on the physical and technical aspects.  The athletes constantly train to improve their technique to become the best they can be.  They go to practice and do drills to better their performance.

Hi everyone!

I haven't written in a while, there was a death in the family that caused me to take a break  from writing.  I'm back now!

Lately, I have been hearing songs that inspire me and relate to things that are currently going on in my life and the lives of others closest to me.  I heard the song "Jet Lag" by Simple Plan featuring Natasha Bedingfield and it made me think of how I fell for a silly boy (who will remain nameless).

“How do people persist despite setbacks?”  This is a question I have been asking myself recently.

I think we can learn a lot from athletes.  Last semester, while I was rowing in the provincial race, my seat fell off the track and stopped four times.  It wrecked my performance and the performance of our eight boat but I quickly took the seat off the track four times and put it back on and continued rowing.  I didn't even think for a second to stop rowing, quit, and not finish the race.

I learned a lot from this competition and many other experiences over my athletic journey .  No matter how hard you try to control life and practice for the perfect race or game (in sport and in life), things can go wrong.   As much as you try to control it, you can never control the actions of others and the environment around you.  The aspect you can control, however, is how you react to the situation (i.e., your attitude).

Here is some advice that I've come up with for you to follow if you would like to feel better about youself: