How many times in your life do you get the chance to just sit down and write, write whatever you want to because you want to? I was thinking that I better start practicing if I want to get better at writing. I also have to turn in three samples of my writing for my application to my program...better get on it.

Today was interesting I knew I had to teach a lesson today in Elder's Quorum. So I woke up and got ready. I then got a bunch of resources and didn't use all of them, but at least they were there, right? One of them was President Hinckley's book Way to Be. The inscription on the inside says,

"Coben Hoch '2003' 

Christmas

I love you read & learn

Gma Hoch"

The front cover states, "9 ways to be happy and make something of your life."

The wisdom shared in this book by President Hinckley could be used to help the youth of our world. He recounted his experience of learning how to work on a fruit farm. He learned about working for a harvest that wouldn't come for a few months.

You learn to play sports by practicing, you learn to play instruments by practicing, you learn to run by getting out there and doing it, you learn to work by working.

I'm glad to have my job. Really if you ask me how I got it I'll tell you that it kind of fell in my lap. I had a resident assistant as a freshman, who contacted me a few years after I moved out of that housing. He worked for a company that needed to hire some people. I went in and they asked if I thought I could do the job. I started working there not long after and it has been great. I didn't really know much about computers and I especially didn't know how to use html or css. I have been able to learn how to use the system that we set up for people and I have been able to learn how to use html and inline css to set up pdf pages. A lot of what I have learned about html and inline css has come from the internet, people at my work and practice.

Moral of the story..... I'm practicing my writing.

"Well, that's just the way I am."

I believe in the Savior. I believe that His Atonement has no bounds and that it can heal anything. I don't believe that there is a weakness in this world that He can't heal. It's disappointing to know that people say, "That's just the way I am." That's called giving up. That's called laying down. It's not the way God wants us to be.

I understand that life is difficult and that we all have our trials. I understand that some of those trials might last a lifetime. Paul himself had a thorn, but we can't give up. Do we really believe in God? Do we really think He can change us?

One of the best lessons that I have learned comes from a paragraph in Preach My Gospel. "As we obey God, He blesses us. He gives us power to meet life’s challenges. He helps us change the desires of our hearts. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, He can heal us, both physically and spiritually."
It's one thing for a parent to tell their child, "No, you can't have a piece of candy." It's another thing altogether for them to say, "No, stop wanting a piece of candy." I don't really understand how, but God can help us not want to do evil. It's a miracle that doesn't take force. It doesn't take threatening.

"41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; 42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile— 43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;"

God follows these rules too.

Running Fuel

Running Fuel

Directions

1. Pour about 1/3 cup of oats into a bowl. +/- 128 Cal
2. Add about 1 1/2 T of peanut butter. +/- 141 Cal
3. Pour in enough honey to stick everything together while mixing the ingredients. About a table spoon. +/- 64 Cal
4. Place mixed contents onto a sheet of plastic wrap and make sure that it is contained.

+/- 333 Cal Total

Approximate calorie values taken from webmd.com

A Few Tips
To avoid a mess in your bag bag I have found it helpful to put it in plastic wrap followed by a zip-lock bag.
Drinking water directly after consumption will help to keep the fuel from lingering in your mouth.
Try adding raisins or other simple ingredients to the mixture.

Living the High Life

We stop at red lights and stay inside the lane lines on the road. We turn on our blinkers at intersections. We have to obey speed limits and do what the signs say. Wouldn't it be nice to live the high life?

What is the high life you say? The high life is away from all of this. It's where the sun shines and the trails go on for miles. Stop lights never bother you. The only lane lines are the cliffs and rocks. The grass waves in the wind. The leaves shake in the aspens. Your company is your own breath and the sound of your pounding steps.

I went running the other day and the dog to human ratio was almost 1 to 1. I didn't hit a stop light one. Traffic consisted of a few mountain bikers a handful of hikers and a just about that many dogs. I had a little bit of a mix up at a split in the trail and a bit of foot and paw traffic, but they weren't near like the stops I sometimes have to make waiting to cross the road. The dirt helped so my knees didn't ache after I ran. Six miles came and went beneath my feet. Then I had to get back in my car and return to the world of Provo, Utah.

I know we need all the traffic regulations to keep us safe and that if the only roadways were trails my life would be much harder. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

"The mountains are calling and I must go."

-John Muir

Stranded on top of the world!

     Calculated steps by sandal shod feet took me higher and higher up into the canyon. Sucking air in and blowing it out again. Powerade and chia seeds fueling my fatigued body. Over and over I scanned the ground looking at the obstacles in the way. Maiming a foot on a run like today's was not a very good option. Long day for marathon training takes it's toll. I broke out into the campground and took the gravel road ever upward. I thought it special to be able to look down and see my own feet as I ran. The road behind me, I continued on a trail and stopped at a high point. I was stranded. I had come so far and there was no elevator down. I knew that if I tried to run down, the probability that my knee would hurt was very high. I could climb, but going down would have been torture. Looking back now I wonder what I would have given to have had a stair case that always went up and ended at the same elevation, like those I have seen in optical illusions. An attempt to run down part of the hill only racked the outside of my knee with pain. I was stranded on top of the world!

     After some more running I made it to a parking lot. God has a way of putting people in the right place. A paraglider hadn't wanted to soar that day do to the conditions, and so was able to get a ride down in his car. It made a very long run into a manageable one. Some days you look back
and know Someone was looking down on you.

     I've never snorted cocaine. I've never used meth. I've never shot up heroine. Yet I am familiar with the high not seeming to last as long as it used to. I feel sometimes as if I don't stay tired anymore. The burning and the panting and the pain stop after a few minutes and the life that I felt slips away just like that. My body fatigues. I find that out later when I put it though the paces again. I find it very possible to get addicted to exercise. 

     A person can run from their problems for a while, but they eventually have to stop and face the music. No, not the music that has been drowning out all but the loudest screams their heart and brain can muster. The endorphins eventually seem to run out and they find themselves in the same situation they were before, plus physical fatigue. No one can run from themselves forever. No one can run from their problems forever. I would much rather a person let out anger exercising than in a plethora of other more negative options, but it just doesn't solve everything. Just like a drunk wakes up the next morning remembering the problems they tried to forget the night before, a runner finds themselves in the same life before and after the run. WAKE UP!

     Does this mean I will stop running and exercising? Are you kidding me? No! Not until my legs give up completely and fall off from use. I just know that running is not the answer to all frustrations in life. Facing the music isn't fun sometimes. It is of the utmost importance to make good decisions.

     Wrestling made me realize that we can't be scared to make decisions in life. If you don't explode on the bottom you most likely won't get up. You will stay on the bottom and be beaten into the mat. You have to decide to get up. Once that whistle blows, you stand, you sit out, you switch, you granby, you try to stand again, anything to get yourself in a better place. Even if you do something wrong, at least you are moving.

     We may be tempted to try to pause our stopwatches during training runs. The race clock never stops. It doesn't care that you are tired. It doesn't care that you need to go to the bathroom. Time never stops. Time doesn't care that you are tired. Time doesn't care that you messed up.

     This doesn't mean that no one cares. Even when it seems like no one in the world knows what's going on. Hit your knees and you will find someone that cares.

     Anger with oneself may be the most difficult to handle. Others can be forgiven and if you desire never seen again. You never get away from yourself. You can run around the world. You will never get away from your own mind. You might as well be at peace with it. 

Pedal Hard

     Sitting over at my old apartment on a bean bag, watching Tour de France. There were a bunch of bikers jockeying for position and pedaling hard. These guys RIDE their bikes. The talk was turned to the wrecks which had happened this year. Former champions were already out of the race. Watching road biking is sometimes about like watching paint dry. I  enjoy road biking as much as the next, but watching it isn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world. 

     I hung around and talked to my old roommate Joe about girls. Then we wanted to go do something. I had a problem. I had to get my bike back to my apartment before dark. I have no reflectors on my bike, so any reflectors would have had to have been on my shoes or my backpack, if they even had reflectors. I had no headlight. I was wearing jeans and a green shirt.

     Headphones in and helmet on, rock battering my eardrums I took off and then turned around. As the wind hit my eyes my vision was blurred and took a while to clear. I pedaled and maneuvered my way through town back toward my apartment. I reveled in the exertion on my legs and the speed as I rolled on my hard tail.

     I am not a totally reckless rider, but I take my risks sometimes. I will take corners quickly, ride with traffic, and jump around at times. I am normally pretty conscious of my limits and the traffic around me. When riding you have to ride for you and drive for everyone around you.

    Tonight I looked up some statistics about cycling. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts, "In 2012, 4,743 pedestrians and 726 bicyclists were killed in crashes with motor vehicles (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts)." I found this information at this site. http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/data/factsheet_crash.cfm#No1

     Why wasn't I one of them? Well one big reason is that in 2012 I was out of the country. One of my friends during this time said that he didn't want to become a statistic. I don't really want to become a statistic either. What kept me from being one in 2010, when my dad and I took our epic bike trip up into Canada and back down? We certainly had the opportunity to become roadkill more than once. Riding through a canyon in the rain with log-trucks running up your back isn't exactly a party. Hence the miracle of everyday life. Heavenly Father looks down on us.

     Pedal hard! Live life!