On to State

Today my son's hockey team one their bracket in the Blackhawk Cup Illinois State Championship!!!! They were seeded second going in so we got a bye on the first couple rounds of round robin play. We played Friday night, Saturday night, and tonight and won all three games. My son of course is already playing down the whole thing. "If we get second place it's still ok." And of course from me "If you get off the ice knowing you played your best then you win either way." I think it really has helped him with the pressure of competing knowing that he only has to do his best. Of course, he also knows that if he doesn't do his best he'll hear about it. He's a hard worker though - so it's an easy job for me.

As I type the hamsters are rolling around in their exercise balls. I watch them dash across the floor and think forward to my treadmill workouts for the coming week. I wish they made climate controlled exercise balls for humans. At least you get the satisfaction of moving through your environment as opposed to the mental slap of going nowhere on the treadmill. Oh well, I suppose it will make me mentally stronger this season.

Have started re-reading The Book of Five Rings. I read it years ago in college and was thumbing through it a bit the other day. The few passages I read hit me in a much deeper way then when I first read it. The passages seem now to reflect what I've learned during the course of becoming an Ironman. It's funny how our experiences shape how we interpret the world around us - we see the world not as it is but as a reflection of ourselves. If we don't like what we see in our reflection it's our responsibility to change it. We hold the keys. We need to do the driving.