I was almost home today from a long run and I was feeling pretty whupped. When I finally crested the last major steep section on the 400m climb (for you gringos, it climbs about 1200 feet in a mile…pretty steep), I started thinking. "Ok, only about, well, how far is it?"

And when I asked that question, my mind raced to find the answer. Without consciously doing it, my mind was flying over the stretch of road that lay ahead of me, through the crossroads, down a hill and past the place where I rescued the kids' ball from a snake den and past the – whoa, sprinklers, yeah, baby, water those plants that feels great! – and down into another valley and finally the last climb home then down the driveway and up the stairs to the – no, down the stairs to the pool and kersplash…yeah, about 475m.

Then a different part of my mind said "hey that was pretty cool! But I wonder how accurate it is?"

And as I was asking that, I realized that my mind was RE-calculating the distance from the place where I was at that moment. "Probably more like 450, actually." Well yeah it's 450, I just ran 25m!

That reminded me of so many times in my life when I have set my alarm, knowing I HAD to get up a certain time, usually some ungodly early time like 4:30AM to catch a flight, and as long as I get more than like 3 hours of sleep, I almost always wake up 2 to 5 minutes before the alarm goes off. Weird.

I've heard from lots of people that it's happened to them. Some pass it off as "well yeah I have an internal clock so when I set my alarm and my brain knows what time it is, then somehow it knows when to wake up."

Ok, but what about if your clock is WRONG? Like, an hour wrong? And you go to sleep not realizing it, and yet you wake up, on the REAL time, when you needed to? That's 100% your mind, because it's somehow tapping into the atomic time and bypassing the error of the clock!

I am fascinated by the mind. It's why I love Adventure Racing. Not only do you have to be an incredible athlete, but you have to be able to overcome so many mental challenges – it's really a mental sport.

There's so much that man does not know about the brain, and yet so much I am capable of and you are capable of, using only what, like 12% or 15% of it?

I'm a firm believer in the mind's ability to attract things, too, although that's one I am still working on figuring out how to fully control.

For example, not long ago I was on a bus, and my mind wandered to thinking about camels. (Stay with me here.) Like, in the Arabian desert, the big ugly animals that peeps ride on, and supposedly the milk is like the cure for all ills…which is ironic, considering it hasn't cured much of the juvenile "you look at my wife arm, I blow us up with dynamite backpack!" but I digress.

So yeah, I was thinking about camels. I think I might have had the thought, "Someday I need to ride a camel. When I go to Morocco. I'll ride a camel then, just for the experience."

And then – I swear this happened – I got to the hostel I was staying at, and they gave me a room…and the wallpaper had pictures of CAMELS all over it! No, I am serious! In Central America, Camel wallpaper! WTF!

It was only in that room, too, because I went in a bunch of the other rooms (it's a hostel, it happens) and there were no camels. Only in mine.

Ok, you say coincidence, but those things happen. A lot.

And no, that's not the same as me saying, like a lot of people do, "I will own a Lamborghini by the time I'm 30." I don't want to own a Camel (maybe that's why all I got was wallpaper).

But in writing this, and in thinking about only, say, the last 12 months, I realize that many of the things that have happened are a result of my prior thinking of "I want that." Even if I didn't write it down as a goal, recite it 5 times every morning while brushing my teeth, blah blah blah.

Another example, a better one than 2 humps wallpaper, is the place I am living. I saw it for the first time when looking at a different house that I really wanted, more than any I had looked at (and I'd looked at a lot. When I saw it, I stopped and stared at it (which, I've found, is commonplace and VERY annoying if you actually live here – "yeah it's cool, now can I poop in privacy?"), and my thought was "that is the coolest house I think I've seen in all of central America. Wow. I would so totally live there…"

To my knowledge though it was not available.

Through a turn of events, though, less than 2 weeks later I moved in. To that house.

It wasn't because I pursued it though, because I didn't. It was simply through a person who knew a person and THEY basically worked the deal because they're cool and then came back to me and were like "hey, this house is available, don't know if you'd like it or not but…"

And yes I do believe that Yahweh loves me and is looking out for me. ;) But I'm not one to chalk up everything good as "well brother, bless God he's done it again!" and everything bad as "that nasty devil is up to his no-good tricks again!". I hate that. It's illogical.

I do, however, believe that God rewards my ACTION, and it's another topic entirely. Well, not entirely, it is related.

But to the point here, I think even just in selecting two goofy examples from the past year I have realized that maybe I'm too much of a hippie (that guy was right!) and too easily satisfied. Because for the most part, I can and do accomplish what I set out to.

My biggest problem is probably being too general, and not caring enough about fame and fortune (perhaps I will start working on caring more). I just don't get off on all that Tony Robbins stuff though about "describe in great detail your dream house…"

But why, biatch? Why should I?

That dream house is effing WORTHLESS if I am not the embodiment of my maximized potential at this very moment.

And I guess therein lies the key point for me. I have chosen the path of becoming the most advanced human that I can possibly be, for me (just because I find that to be a challenging, fun, and rewarding life path – call me weird, it beats working 9-5 for 30 years so I can someday retire and when I'm old and on creaky knees do what I'm doing right freaking now), and in doing so, subsequently chosen to take or leave the material goods that filter in and out of my life along that journey.

Could I pursue – and obtain – a host of other "things" and occupational goals etc etc? Of course. And along the way realize that each and every one of them leaves me totally empty (as an end in itself), because all my efforts were spent playing tangible Super Mario Bros. instead of evolving and enjoying those things along the way. Although I guess Mario has fun on the journey too as long as he isn't too anal about getting every single flipping coin.

I'm not saying people with Lamborghini's are not evolved. They make a helluva lot more money than me at this point, so I'm not going to hate. That's not my point (although many times people who surround themselves with flashy bling and toys do so to obscure the lack in their personalities, confidence, etc.).

I think what my mind has been seeking more than anything, especially the past few years, is to know the depth of what a human can be – how balanced, how well rounded, how much one is able to shift between situ
ations and people groups and occupations and challenges and in every moment, be totally and utterly fascinated with the gift of life.

To be, as Bruce Lee said, water.

I'm not being mystical – I have a firm grasp on reality. It'd be tough to espouse the principles of Ayn Rand's Objectivism if I was living in lala land.

That's part of why I really love her work too – she believes in the capacity for greatness in the human spirit. So do I. The mind cannot focus on both the positive and negative at the same time, so why not choose to focus on possibility and maximizing potential?

And even as technology advances to the point of freaky science fiction (Apple's new iMacs come with "face recognition software to automatically organize your photos…"), I don't believe that the world is going to get taken over by robots who have surpassed humanity.

Because as amazing as artificial intelligence is, it's created from the minds of living, breathing, humans. I think humans are capable of evolving beyond whatever it is they create. That's the fascinating part – if one can create something like a computer that can tell which drunk person is you in forty-seven different pictures, imagine what you and I can do with little-by-little tapping into the other unused 85% of OUR minds!

To gain a greater understanding of myself.
To make powerful my strengths.
To strengthen my weaknesses.
To better understand you, and you, and you, and every person I encounter. For more productive (and fun) encounters.
To spend life finding solutions, creating possibilities, making possible the so-called impossible. And enjoying the hell out of every minute of it!

And in all of that, I believe the answers to the questions humans have asked for all of time ("Who am I?" "Why am I here?" "What is the meaning of life?") answer themselves.