Genesis

Genesis. The Beginning - the Alpha. I've always wanted to be a "paperback writer" and now I get the chance to do so although I'm sure my audience will not be as large as I'd like it to be. As the late great Benjamin Franklin said
If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten
either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.

Hopefully this Blog will be a combination of the two. As I am right now on a journey - in Hawaii en route the Asia via my homeland of the Philippines and Singapore. Being on the road for the past 6 months one learns a lot. As with everything there is a trade off - not having the comforts of home - the stability and support of family and friends, it sometimes gets lonely from time to time. But having made so many new friends along the way - it is much easier to maintain the solitude. As Dr Gilbert has said "whenever you get depressed you should shift from an internal focus on yourself to and external focus on someone else - the best way to help yourself is to help someone else" For all of you who don't know me as well. I will be quoting Dr Rob Gilbert - sports psychology prof at Montclair State Univ. often as he has been one of the most influential people in my life.

OK back to Hawaii. Hawaii is truly a magical place. I have been to Hawaii 5 times now:

1st time in 1997 - for the Keahou half Ironman
1998 - for the Hawaii Ironman World Champ
2000 - for the labman Hawaii Live high Train Low camp
2004 - for the Honolulu triathlon + training camp
and now 2005 - for the Canadian national Training camp and HNL Tri

Each trip has had its own special moments - "we remember not the days - we remember moments" I have been really blessed to have so many special moments. Last Saturday was my first trip to the Green Sand Beach - Hawaii has 3 colours of sand: white- the most common, black - from lava rocks, and Green from a certain type of Coral. But what is most appealing about the green sand beach is the 5K hike to get to it - "the road to the top is often difficult and unpaved" as was the 5 mile hike to the Flowing Lava sights. Taking those long difficult hikes reminded me of the Tao - the way. Often in life we get so goal oriented - we want results so quickly - we forget the process. The road to the goal is what we need to focus on. As Benjamin Hoff said in the Tao of Pooh "in this world of microwave ovens and high speed internet - we think we can SAVE time - but you can't save time , you can only SPEND time" thus we need to choose where to spend our time - our most valuable asset. I have spent the past couple hours of my time in introspection and am now trying to communicate these thoughts. However there is always an inherent Flaw in the transmission and interpretation of language. That is why great art - transcends. Music, Poetry, painting, sculpture, even athletics - transcends the limitations of the individual - Great art happens when one realizes that "Ah Ha!" that is exactly how I feel. The purpose of life is realize ones passion, the meaning of life comes from sharing that passion. another interpretation of that is - the meaning is life is to find your gifts - the meaning of life comes from giving those gifts away.
I'm sorry I have so many quotes - but I will defend myself with yet another quote - to quote 1 person is plagiarism, to quote many is research - to quote everything is genius - and ah ha - back to the title of this entry - genius, genesis - the original creator - when we create that is when we are most God Like - whether it be physical creation - man woman -> child or mental, spiritual artistic creation that is when we manifest God in this world. with that thought I shall end this first verbose entry - til next time - thanks for reading my meandering thoughts ;)