To positively impact how we feel, think and act towards our oceans
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Half Full? Half Empty? Doesn't Matter.
April 30th, 2011 brings me to a hypothetical half-way point in life, and that 44th year led me to a place I never would have imagined.
Now the opportunity is not about deciding what I call where I am now. The opportunity is to contemplate what I have already poured into my life and to wisely choose what I add to space that remains.
Now the opportunity is not about deciding what I call where I am now. The opportunity is to contemplate what I have already poured into my life and to wisely choose what I add to space that remains.
When Men (or Women) & Mountains Meet
"Great things are done when men and mountains meet: this is not done by jostling in the street." William Blake
No matter how noble our cause or heroic our goal it often seems that the most daunting challenges we face are the jobs, bureaucracy and daily frustrations that conspire to make us focus our vision on just surviving another week.
In long distance ocean swims we push ourselves in isolation surviving and moving forward until a little support arrives every half hour or so at the end of a rope along with encouragement and prodding from a committed crew always just a few yards away. While the swimmer stares into the abyss, there are always those nearby who not only believe in the goal but can more clearly see where we are going, the course to travel and the threats along the way.
The details of a passionate and purpose driven life are unique to each of us, but the challenges that work to pull us from that course are common to us all. There will always be uncertainty and fear, and the more time we allow ourselves to get pulled into the scuffle in the streets the harder it can become to regain the confidence and courage to pursue with passion the call we have heard.
When I find myself in the streets I must hold onto that vision of the summit or shore. I have learned I must keep moving forward and watch for the rope to arrive exactly when its most needed to sustain and guide me to where I am supposed to be.
No matter how noble our cause or heroic our goal it often seems that the most daunting challenges we face are the jobs, bureaucracy and daily frustrations that conspire to make us focus our vision on just surviving another week.
In long distance ocean swims we push ourselves in isolation surviving and moving forward until a little support arrives every half hour or so at the end of a rope along with encouragement and prodding from a committed crew always just a few yards away. While the swimmer stares into the abyss, there are always those nearby who not only believe in the goal but can more clearly see where we are going, the course to travel and the threats along the way.
The details of a passionate and purpose driven life are unique to each of us, but the challenges that work to pull us from that course are common to us all. There will always be uncertainty and fear, and the more time we allow ourselves to get pulled into the scuffle in the streets the harder it can become to regain the confidence and courage to pursue with passion the call we have heard.
When I find myself in the streets I must hold onto that vision of the summit or shore. I have learned I must keep moving forward and watch for the rope to arrive exactly when its most needed to sustain and guide me to where I am supposed to be.
Thank you, thankyouocean.org
CLICK TO WATCH AND JOIN THE SOCIAL NETWORK AT thankyouocean.org
Who is the "Real Deal?"
Several times in my life I have found myself having to abandon or move away from all that I previously planned out for my life. Every time that I paid attention to the forces driving the change and continued to listen to that inner voice of core principals I ended up with opportunities greater than I ever could have imagined for myself. I have no doubt that I am where I am because I failed to cross the English Channel in 2006 and Monterey Bay in 2009.
We see so many of the athletic or intellectual elite succeeding again and again, and we are told they are "The Real Deal." Laird Hamilton in big waves, Kelly Slater winning a world title (again) or Phelps setting a world record.
This "RD" status is not a zone limited to the athletic or intellectual elite who seem to always succeed.
The "RD" zone is where we all get the chance to live and perform every day. "RD" status includes the days when the environment turns against you, when the workout sucks or when every step is a struggle. Find your passion and follow it even when on some days "Following it" does not mean you reached a mountain peak or crossed an ocean.
We see so many of the athletic or intellectual elite succeeding again and again, and we are told they are "The Real Deal." Laird Hamilton in big waves, Kelly Slater winning a world title (again) or Phelps setting a world record.
This "RD" status is not a zone limited to the athletic or intellectual elite who seem to always succeed.
The "RD" zone is where we all get the chance to live and perform every day. "RD" status includes the days when the environment turns against you, when the workout sucks or when every step is a struggle. Find your passion and follow it even when on some days "Following it" does not mean you reached a mountain peak or crossed an ocean.
We Create the Greatness in Our Lives
"Examine yourselves, let each of you discover where your true chance of greatness lies....Seize this chance, rejoice in it, and let no power or persuasion deter you in your task." from Chariots of Fire
Most of us want to accomplish great things, and the possibilities are as unique and infinite as the personalities that surround us. I have often felt like an outsider who just could not feel at home on the path and future my family, peers and community seemed to expect of me. In my teens I was given the opportunity to step outside of that box of expectations when I spent my 16th year in Australia as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. The experience changed me. The challenge became holding on to that passion and vision of accomplishing something more once I returned to the everyday world most of us carve our lives from.
For years stories in the paper, on the news or in an alumni newsletter left me feeling that I missed my opportunity to do great things in the world and make a difference. The problem was not that I had lost the opportunities, the problem was that I was not paying attention. I had missed seeing the impact I had on my family, the kids I worked with or the people I came in contact with each day. Somewhere over the years I forgot that the opportunity to create that "Greatness" was inside me as much as it was inside the people I read about.
Everest is a mountain, the English Channel is a swim, and Ironman is an event. Places and pursuits come alive with potential from the passion behind the human endeavor each of us applies to them.
Hillary and Norgay did not create a legacy when they stood on the summit of Everest. They achieved a legacy of greatness from how they climbed and what they did after they stood there.
Most of us want to accomplish great things, and the possibilities are as unique and infinite as the personalities that surround us. I have often felt like an outsider who just could not feel at home on the path and future my family, peers and community seemed to expect of me. In my teens I was given the opportunity to step outside of that box of expectations when I spent my 16th year in Australia as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. The experience changed me. The challenge became holding on to that passion and vision of accomplishing something more once I returned to the everyday world most of us carve our lives from.
For years stories in the paper, on the news or in an alumni newsletter left me feeling that I missed my opportunity to do great things in the world and make a difference. The problem was not that I had lost the opportunities, the problem was that I was not paying attention. I had missed seeing the impact I had on my family, the kids I worked with or the people I came in contact with each day. Somewhere over the years I forgot that the opportunity to create that "Greatness" was inside me as much as it was inside the people I read about.
Everest is a mountain, the English Channel is a swim, and Ironman is an event. Places and pursuits come alive with potential from the passion behind the human endeavor each of us applies to them.
Hillary and Norgay did not create a legacy when they stood on the summit of Everest. They achieved a legacy of greatness from how they climbed and what they did after they stood there.
To Make a Positive Impact - Just Keep Showing Up
You don't have to be the first, go the longest or run the fastest to make a difference. JUST SHOW UP! I promise you, people will notice, and you will change lives.<< MORE >>
A constant source of strength and motivation
1967 - Farallones to Bolinas - Stewart and Pauline Evans
2007 - Ocean City Island Swim - Bruckner and Michelle Evans-Chase
2007 - Ocean City Island Swim - Bruckner and Michelle Evans-Chase
Pursuing Goals Beyond Your Horizons
Bruckner Chase Speaking at Rotary's ESSEX Conf 1-15-11 from Bruckner Chase on Vimeo.
Ocean Ambassador and former Rotary Youth Exchange Student to Australia speaking to the Rotary Eastern States Student Exchange Conference on the impact Youth Exchange can have in expanding our vision and goals beyond the horizon.
It's not about avoiding extremes, It's about how you get there
According to the Dalai Lama, "A balanced and skillful approach to life, taking care to avoid extremes, becomes a very important factor in conducting one's everyday existence."
I am a marathon swimmer who loves water below 50 degrees. My wife is a 3rd year PhD student embarking on a new career path in her 40's. Most of our friends have done more sprint and Ironman distance triathlons than I can count. I can pick up my phone and dial people who have stood on top of Everest, run across deserts and been to some of the deepest places on earth.
Yep, avoiding extremes is not really happening for me.
My life has been and will always be shaped by what I have learned pursuing experiences that appear extreme. The irony lies in the fact that I have never succeeded or excelled in any endeavor if I did not enter the water or toe the starting line feeling balanced, centered, focused and connected to those people and feelings that have always given my life meaning.
I am a marathon swimmer who loves water below 50 degrees. My wife is a 3rd year PhD student embarking on a new career path in her 40's. Most of our friends have done more sprint and Ironman distance triathlons than I can count. I can pick up my phone and dial people who have stood on top of Everest, run across deserts and been to some of the deepest places on earth.
Yep, avoiding extremes is not really happening for me.
My life has been and will always be shaped by what I have learned pursuing experiences that appear extreme. The irony lies in the fact that I have never succeeded or excelled in any endeavor if I did not enter the water or toe the starting line feeling balanced, centered, focused and connected to those people and feelings that have always given my life meaning.
