Random Olympic thoughts

A couple of scattered thoughts that went through my mind during the Olympics:

-I was not up at 5:00am to watch the Canada Olympic hockey…..but I should have been. 

-If Kung Fu were an Olympic sport can I say I’d be in Sochi right now?

-Why is Canada proud of its coffee, and humble of its athletes? And why am I proud of that fact?

-Jean-Luc Brassard, fast forward to Alex Bilodeau.  Two eras of skiing. Equally cool.

-Why is it OK to scoff at an unsuccessful athlete from the comfort of my sofa?

-If he wanted to compete, would Chuck Norris be banned from the Olympics because of an illegal dose of Awesomeness?

-I wonder if Canada is bringing home more homeless dogs than medals?

-I wonder what a crazy carpet would do on a bobsled track?

 

Can’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

vincekrebs@blogspot.com

My first, and most important personal goal

Unfortunately, I was unable to take in the first I Ho Chuan meeting for year of the Horse.  But I am picking up some items in the blog posts. Sharing of our person goals seems to be one item that was discussed. I am not going to dump a list on anyone reading, but am going to address each one in an independent post.

Back in the day things seem so simple.  You crawl into the old pickup truck, ride next to dad for a few hours down a dusty old road to a clear cool lake, hop in the boat…..and fish.  It’s that simple.  At four years old, the only concern is why the boat isn’t in the water faster, or why do we have to eat something before heading out?

Now, having both a six and eight year old boy I’ve realized the tremendous effort that is required to put a fishing trip with the kids in motion. There is a complex assembly of items that would baffle a Franklin expedition, an organization of personnel that would stifle a drill sergeant, and an allocation of time more extravagant than discovering E=MC².  Often when contemplating a family camping trip or even fishing for the day, I sit back and just ask myself, is this worth it?

I will never forget the times we shared on the water just passing time and stories, times on the dock when a lady had a film canister of maggots (fishing bait for perch) stored safely in her bra.  Well, film canisters have a habit of opening at the worst of times.  Or the time when the boat flew off the back of the truck in Westlock and we didn’t realize it had gone. We chalked all the horns and flashing and signalling of passing vehicles to think the people of Westlock must be drunk, or crazy.  I could go on and on.

So here is the revelation. My Dad is awesome.  The sacrifice and headaches he endured to get me out to the water is difficult to realize.  It is one of so many things that make him the best dad a guy could ask for.  As such, in the busy of keeping up with my I Ho Chuan requirements, my first personal goal is to get out fishing with my dad at least three times this year.

Malicious Toys

In the toy department…. that is where it went down. That little six sided devil innocently sitting in a non-threatening box.  Staring out of its clear plastic container, its sides in perfect harmony looking most like a colorful Christmas ornament than anything.  It certainly did not look dastardly.

I took it home. I tried to make it my friend.  I even approached the relationship slowly by only moving one side, then cautiously moving it back to its perfect position.  And with an eye for the details unfolding with a single move, I made two moves, then carefully rotated the squares back.  My confidence ever growing, I took a chance and made three moves from the perfect harmonies of green, white, yellow, orange, blue and red. 

And that was it. 

That beautiful colorful, harmonious children’s toy turned instantly into a six sided devil.  A sneaky time wasting puzzle that has 43 quintillion possible combinations with no apparent solution.

The Rubik’s cube.  There is no better way than that to explain life.  Ever trying to restore  balance.  Like the Rubik’s cube, complete one side, or maybe two, and the other four turn to  complete disarray.  Restore order to one of the remaining sides and the puzzles harmony is broken on the other.

Those of you that own a Rubik’s cube understand why sometimes for months the Rubik’s cube will sit on the shelf at the state of your highest accomplishment.  That is when you have partially solved it, got further than you have ever made it before, scared to make another turn for fear of completely ruining the partial balance you have created. But here is the catch, it is not perfect, and it never will be without attempting to move forward with it.  That means trying it, with odds highly in the favour you are going to get it wrong and turn it to shambles.

This past year I recognize that there have been many failures with my I Ho Chuan attempt, but there have been successes also.  For me to move forward I have to be sure to reflect on the past couple years and determine exactly which patterns of success are worth duplicating. I have to assume that the upcoming year will be the same as the previous and adapt to that.

Scheduling around a career that has no schedule can lead to failure.  Similar to saying “well I am pretty busy now, but Saturday should open up, I will do it then” is not a good option.  Habits have got to be daily

This year, I really feel I know what I have to do to succeed. It won’t be easy, but anything is possible with this group.  I am really looking forward to working with every member of the team this year and draw on all your strengths for inspiration.  Bring on the year of the Horse!

And yes you probably will see me a time or two with a Rubik’s cube in my hand, attempting to solve it without ripping and removing stickers or looking towards the internet oracle for a solution.