Who do you see?

1 Thessalonians 5:22

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Deepak Chopra

Our minds influence the key activity of the brain, which then 

influences everything; perception, cognition, thoughts and 

feelings, personal relationships; they're all a projection of 

you.

Jon Bon Jovi

Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a 

miracle is and you'll see them all around you.


Edward Bono

Studies have shown that 90% of error in thinking is due to 

error in perception. If you can change your perception, you 

can change your emotion and this can lead to new ideas.


John C. Maxwell

The difference between average people and achieving people 

is their perception of and response to failure.


William Blake

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would 

appear to man as it is, infinite.


Martina Navratilova

Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one 

thing well, you're needed by someone.



Definition of perception/perceive by Websters dictionary:

-To be affected of influented by.
- To take intellectual cognizance of; to apprehend by the mind; to be convinced of by direct intuition; to note; to remark; to discern; to see; to understand.
- To obtain knowledge of through the senses; to receive impressions from by means of the bodily organs; to take cognizance of the existence, character, or identity of, by means of the senses; to see, hear, or feel; as, to perceive a distant ship; to perceive a discord.

  So I have been thinking lately about perception. The perception I have of myself, the perception others have of me, the perception I would like to portray and it all can be overwhelming. I have struggled all my life with this but I think for me, it challenges me and makes me a better person.

How often have you said or heard someone say, "I don't care what others think"? Well that's always a lie because someones opinion of you always matters. It might not be the worlds opinion and it shouldn't be because you can never please everyone. But whether it's your parents, significant other, friends, coworkers, kids, your church, god etc. You care about how someone perceives you and may even alter your behavior or appearance just to please them. To thine own self be true they say. Don't listen to what they say but the funny thing is we always do.

Perceive yourself as the best no matter what anyone else thinks

So how do I please the people that matter to me or the people who are around me? The truth is if being who you are offends people or they can't accept you for who you are then you don't need those people in your life. Sure sometimes easier said then done but when your tired of feeling guilty, being judged and feeling miserable for who you think you are, then you will let them go. Most of the time people push us, challenge us out of love and good intentions because they see so much potential in us or they know the good person inside you choose not to portray. But at the end of the day, if your vision is different then the one they perceive then you have to be honest with them and yourself. And I don't mean if your cashier this week, aspire to be on fries next week and then promoted to flipping burgers next month. I mean you want to be an artist but everyone says you should be a doctor. You want to be a missionary but everyone says your to smart and do something else.

This is your life and mine. You can be as great as you want to be or be anything you want to be. You can love who you want, live how you want, pray to who you want, hang out with who you want, listen or say whatever you want and its up to you. You have to look in the mirror every night and be ok with the decisions you made and still love who you are. And if the people who are in your life don't accept you after that then I promise you that you don't need them. I'm not saying every decision we make may be right but if you can live with it, then that's between you and god.

If you want people to think differently in general about you then you must be more conscious about everything you do and your surroundings. If you are tired of everyone thinking your a bitch then try to smile at all times, speak to everyone, leave big tips, laugh even when its not funny, go out of your way to help someone, wear a t-shirt that says "I'm not a bitch". Tired of being considered an asshole, try thinking about others before yourself, check to see if others are ok around you or call them, smile, cook for someone, bring people gifts or flowers, say nice things (try to mean it), give things away, let her finish first. 

Its in our power to control the image that people have of us and its our job to project the perception we want them to have. You only get one chance to make a first impression but you have a life time to affirm it or change it. If it really matters to you than you can and if you don't care then shake the dust off your feet and move on. Don't let people bring you down for being who you are especially if you know your heart is in the right place. As someone said, don't let people touch your soul with dirty hands and if they do, cut them off. 

Thanks for reading. Please share and leave comments here.

Workout today:
5 sets - 4 reps front squats and muscle ups or pullups in between

then:
5 sets - 4 reps push press and 30 inch box jumps in between

then:
50 double unders
40 wallballs
30 pullups
50 double unders
30 wallballs
20 pullups
50 double unders
20 wallballs
10 pullups
50 double unders

Whatta Monday

Luke 9:25

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

Michael Jordan

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost 

almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the 

game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and 

over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Arnold  Schwarzenegger

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop

your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide 

not to surrender, that is strength.

Vince Lombardi

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You 

don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a 

while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. 

Unfortunately, so is losing.

William Rudolph

Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do 

something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody 

goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a 

crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a

champion someday.

Vince Lombardi

Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.

Alyssa Milano

First, accept sadness. Realize that without losing, winning 

isn't so great.


Colin Powell

I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a 

leader is to always display a winning attitude.

Billie Jean King

A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.


 How is everyone doing on this fine Monday? Well it's finally over thank god! I had my competition this weekend and lets just say it didn't go as well as I hoped but probably better than expected.

  We had a 3 event competition (4 events if you made top 5) Saturday at an awesome gym called Crossfit Lorton. The crew was great there, very hospitable and they had some great athletes! I think I have a crush on one of them to but thats another story and I love everybody :O)

  Anyway the 3 events were:

                          1.  row 2,000 meters for time

                          2. 50 burpees, 30 squats (95lbs for                                                      intermediate men) and 10 toes to bar.
                               You had to do as many rounds as you could                                  for 10 minutes. Of course I didn't know that                                  until the event started!!

                         3. 5 rep deadlift - You had 6 minutes to find                                      max weight for 5 reps.

Sooooo, I had really no clue where my times would be or 

what I was capable of doing. All I knew is I couldn't wait for 

it to all be over. So on the first event I rowed 2,000 meters in 

7:17. The guy who won rowed in 6:42 (Christian who goes to 

my gym. He's a professional but you can't tell anyone). I was 

apparently more nervous than I realized because I started 

way to fast :O) I stopped 7-10 times because I had to catch 

my breathe. When it was finally over I almost crawled out. So 

I took 15th on that one.


Then came the burpees, squats and toes to bar. I thought I 

was good until I realized you had to keep going as many 

times as you could for 10 min. There is no mercy in crossfit 

for people who are fat! I'm 265-270lbs and cardio for me is 

seeing how many trips I can take to the buffet bar before the 

Asians kick me out! So after 10 minutes of absolute pain and 

torture I did 133 reps. First place guy (Tony who is 

new lol) was another guy from my gym who did 202 reps. 

I took 26th place in this event and 21st overall. Oh well...


Next was deadlift. By the time my heat started (there was 9 

heats throughout the day and I was in the 8th heat) the 

heaviest lift was 475lbs for 5 reps by a guy from my gym 

(Stephen). My 2nd goal for the day, first goal which was 

make top 3, was to beat Stephen Rombado at every event! 

For people who don't know Steve, he's between 50 and 80 

years old, been crossfitting for years, bodybuilding and has 

nipple rings. So by default he's the coolest dude in the gym 

and closest to my weight. So I opened with 480lbs for 5 reps 

just to beat him, then did 500lbs, 510lbs and finished at 

520lbs for 5 reps. I won that event moving me into 9th place. 


In order to make finals you had to be in the top 5 so my day 

was done (thank god and I survived barely). We had almost 

20 competitors there who did amazing and I'm proud to say 

I train at Crossfit Forward. Owners were both there to 

support, we cheered each other on, ate together, laughed 

together, cried in pain together and there might have been 

some alcohol but just in case, I do not recall officer. The men 

took 1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 36th out of 39 people 

and I know I missed a 1 or 2 sorry. The women did 

phenomenal as well. 

  All I can say is some of us didn't win but we came out to 

battle and now we know where we are at. Honestly I was very

disappointed with my performance but I really can't 

complain. I've lost 30lbs (on a non cheat day), I'm stronger, I 

can run again and I'm almost cute again. I've made awesome 

friends and because of them I don't mind getting up at 4:30 

every morning to go do a shitty workout. The athletes at 

Crossfit forward are phenomenal and you will only get 

better. Shout out to Corina who went to Philly and won a 

crossfit event up there! Shout out to Megan who dominates 

the volleyball court with her amazing ass-ests. And can't 

forget Kent Ingalls who always wins and Herb for letting me 

win sometimes!

The aftermath!!

 I don't know what to tell you people. No more excuses, no 

more putting things off, its time to get it done. Tomorrow 

isn't promised and you will never get this time back. Go be a 

better you starting today. Have a great week people. I look 

forward to sharing with you more accomplishments in the 

near future and the great people that helped me get there. 

Why don't you be part of the story?


Oh side note I actually got the best deadlift so far in the 

country for the festivus games, wow. 

Now we here!