To everything, turn, turn, turn

There is a season, turn, turn, turn.

So, 9 months. The time it takes to give birth, finish a school year, or read War and Peace. That's how long, as of today, that I went under the knife. And day by day I get an ounce stronger and a measure happier.

As with everything in life, there's room for improvement. The health of my family could be far better. Certain close friends could be struggling less. The grand jury could have returned with a just verdict in Ferguson. But this is the real world, and life isn't always just.

I've also been dealing with a pinch of survivors guilt lately. If you've been reading my blog you will understand why. But it goes a little deeper than that. As my mother and uncle's health deteriorates (my uncle is struggling after a liver transplant), and I finally start to see improvements in my health, it's difficult for me to temper my optimism and happiness. But everything in life is a compromise, a balancing act, I guess. So I choose to appreciate what I have, while I have it.

When I first lived in Santa Cruz a generation ago I became friends with Matt during our first semester at Cabrillo College. We were in the same creative writing class where we pieced together overly saturated words hoping to charm women with deep poetry and brooding short stories. He was the far better writer, and we embarked on a years-long battle for the attention of teachers we both had crushes on with our tortured prose. We've always remained in touch over the years, and despite any distance or time apart we made sure to reconnect and catch each other up on life's trials and tribulations. He moved back to Santa Cruz last year, eventually convincing his soon-to-be wife (not a lot of arm twisting there) to join him, along with her three kids, so he could be closer to his family and his young son. That and who wouldn't want to live in Santa Cruz, I mean seriously.

There were three places on my list of destinations - Lake Tahoe, Bend, Oregon, and Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz eventually won out based in large part to the close friends I had who already lived here, not the least of which are Matt and Jen. Since moving back we've spent more time together in the past three months than we have in the past three years, and I've had the opportunity to play uncle to his beautiful son, Benjamin (love that kid!). I've also managed to sucker Matt and Jen into early morning workouts overlooking the ocean, which they are crushing by the way. I'm determined to have these two lean and ripped by the big day.

Welcome to the gun show!

Feel the burn!

Yeah, Santa Cruz doesn't suck.

One of my favorite things in life is seeing people reach a goal - get stronger, get smarter, basically just attempt new things. Succeeding at something, no matter how small that success might feel at that moment...it makes me feel good to see the sense of pride in the face of the person stepping outside their comfort zone.

No matter where I might be a year from now, 10 years from now, I'm grateful to have this time in my life to share with good friends, and I plan to appreciate every moment and look back with not a shred of regret.

Sometimes life kicks you in the stomach. You've got a choice - You can lay down and curl up in the dirt, or you can kick back and say, "That all you got?" 

To kicking back, my friends.