The Philippines

I have been spending the past four months coaching and training in Subic Bay, the Philippines.
My contracted work is up and I am moving back to Florida. This is an excerpt from what I wrote on the Team TBB Forum:
These kids don't all have laptops and ipods
There are no extravagent gifts at the birthday parties- not even cake-
Prayers are always saidAs is please and thank you
Social graces might be a little rough- life out on the provinces is differentSome of these kids did not grow up eating with forks and spoons...
What did I learn here in the Philippines?
That it is possible to have nothing and everything at the same time.
That my heart could break and burst with joy at the same time...
Subic Bay wasn't a reality show - it was real life:
Kids washing the only two pairs of shorts they have by hand every day
And hoping it doesn't rain so that the laundry will dry.
Waste not. Want not.
Everyone shares.
They think of others and do their best and dream big.
They inspire others as you guys inspire them. You all inspired me.
I learned alot here in the Philippines. About myself. About others. About coaching. About life.
I will count my blessings...and there are too many to count.
Thank you friends-Team TBB, Melvin, Brett, Grand Seasons,SBMA,the Du and Tri group.

Be Not Afraid

Sometimes you meet people or hear something and you know it is going to have an impact on your life. This past Christmas I went to Catholic mass in a hotel in South Africa . I got lost on the way was very late. I was upset that I was going to miss the homily because I had a feeling that I was going to learn something very important and useful. Well, I got to mass and it was almost over but the priest decided that he wanted to go over two important points. First, that people should learn how to relax...that being a perfect blade of grass doesn't mean that you stick straight up all of the time. Sometimes that perfect blade of grass needs to bend in the breeze or push around a rock. That perfect blade of grass always reaches for the light but it doesn't have to stick straight up all of the time to do that. "Relax and go with the flow", the priest said.
The second point the priest mentioned was to not be afraid. Jesus doesn't want you to be afraid. God mentions not being afraid 365 times in the Bible- once for every day of the year.
Think about that - my how practice would change if you were never afraid. Never afraid of dying during a hard set, never afraid of someone beating you...What if you had no fear in racing and you were always free to do your best everyday?
That mass changed my life.