Bones

Over the past four years of schooling I have learned some rather interesting things. Others not so interesting. Among the interesting things I have learned is the slippery slope that emerges when one chooses to be idle, such as choosing not to walk. I am lucky enough to still have both grandmothers in my life. One of them, however, chose a long time ago to have a cart move her around rather than walking under her own power and energies. Her past and current medical issues are evidence of the slippery slope that she has had to endure over the years, but what causes this slippery slope? On a microscopic level bones have essentially two types of cells: Osteoblasts and osteocytes. Osteocytes break down bone while osteoblasts lay down new bone. They are both constantly at work. However, the levels of activity of one or the other may be skewed based off one's activity. When one exercises and places stress on the bones there is far more building than breaking down. Conversely, when one stands idle and places no stress on their bones their is far more breaing down than building. Bones have to be used to grow stronger, or even to maintain their strength. I think Heavenly Father helps us grow stronger the same way we allow our bones to. He places all sorts of stresses on us. I imagine at times He doesn't want to cause pain and heartache to the very children he loves, but He understands the big pictures. He knows what's best for us, and ultimately what will make us happpiest. In addition to allowing us to grow, this process allows us to become closer to and more like our Heavenly Father. And that should be our ultimate goal.

I need to POT TY

This is what happens when you ask to use the bathroom the wrong way in Marine Corps bootcamp. A recruit is supposed to ask for permission to speak. When allowed to speak the recruit is supposed to say, "This recruit requests permission to use the head, sir!" Well, this recruit said he "NEEDED" to use it. And yes, this was my life for 3 months.

A Profound Understanding...

A friend told me some time ago, "Some people come into your life for a season. Other people come into your life for a lifetime." I've thought a lot about that this week. I suppose mostly as a mechanism to deal with what's going on in my own life. In any case, I've had absolutely amazing people come into my life. People that have taught me life lessons, and even allowed me to learn more about myself. A lot of these people, however, have gone their own way. Still, the lessons I've been taught through them have stayed with me. I wouldn't be the person I am today without these "friends for a season." I think it's important to realize that your friends move on, more often than not in a direction that's completely different than your own. That doesn't mean we shouldn't make friends. I think more than anything it should illustrate the importance of enjoying friends to the fullest while they are still in our lives. Life goes by pretty fast if you haven't already noticed, and before you know it the the people that have become so dear in our lives are suddenly gone... Be it through death or just the road they embark on is different than our own. I have another 9 months or so in the state of Utah before I begin a new chapter in my life in Tennessee. Over the 5 years I've been in Utah I've made my fair share of friends, and sadly I'll be moving away from all of them and will have to start from scratch. Technology can facilitate a way to keep in touch, but that's ultimately not the same thing as being able to spend time with people. The doctorate program I'll be attending doesn't require a degree and so I've more or less chosen not to finish earning it. I'm 21 credits shy of said degree. Perhaps that's irresponsible of me. In a lot of ways I agree with that, but at the same time I want to spend as much time with the friends I have and make as many new friends as I can as well. I've spent the past 4 months cooped up at school for 40 hours a week and working 40 hours on top of that. Am I going to remember 30,40,50 years from now that I received a meaningless degree (I'll be getting my doctorate in 4 years anyways), or am I going to remember the special time I was able to spend with friends old and new alike? I think the latter is more likely. And who knows, perhaps somewhere in the mix I'll find friends that will be with me for a lifetime.

Rocky Balboa

A movie has to be pretty good for a sequel to be considered, let alone to be made. The sequel often times has to be even better than the original for a 3rd movie to be made. That's why there are so few trilogies out there. Despite all that, there are 6 "Rocky" movies! Rocky VI was released in 2006... 16 years after Rocky V. What attributed to its success? Why did Rocky, a fictional character, become as iconic an America staple as.... Apple Pie? I think it has to do with the fact that Rocky, like all of us, take punches. While Rocky's beatings were far more literal than ours ever are it doesn't remove the fact that sometimes we get beat up as we go through life. What makes Rocky Rocky is that after he takes his beatings from opponents that are often times bigger and stronger than he is... he carries on, often times stronger and more determined than at any other point in the movie. That's why we cheer for Rocky, because ultimately we want to be like him. Maybe not in the sense that we want to hop in the ring against an Apollo Creed, rather we want to be able to take life's punches and come out of it stronger and more determined to accomplish our own goals.

I've found myself in various "life beatings" throughout the years. Some have been more difficult than others. Some have taught me more than others. More often than not, greater lessons are learned from the more severe "beatings." At the present I find myself in the middle of one such beating. I know that when it's over I'll come out of the ring a better person, but knowing that doesn't take all the pain away. But like Rocky, and as I've always done, I'll take the punches... and after I've taken my hits I'll carry on more determined and more focused than before. In short, I'll be a better... more complete Adam. Those that put their money on Rocky made out pretty big, so too would anyone willing to put their money on me!

I Stand All Amazed

The past couple weeks I've had to prepare for several interviews for doctor of pharmacy programs. There's a list of potential questions I was given to help me prepare. One of these questions was: What are some of your strengths? I was actually asked that question during my interview at East Tennessee State University, and I think my answer was excellent. My answer was that one of my greatest of strengths lays in the fact that I'm quick to identify a problem (specifically within myself) and do everything I can to fix that problem. About a month ago I identified such a problem. I wasn't feeling spiritual enough, and for me that's a big problem. The gospel, like many things in life, is one of those things where if your not progressing your typically digressing. Perhaps it wasn't a dire situation, but it was a situation that needed to be fixed nonetheless. In addition to reading my scriptures with greater frequency and spending more time on personal prayer, I went on a music fast of sorts. No radio and no cds. I listened solely to conference recordings, Mormon Tabernacle Choir or other music that would be considered "Sunday music." I've finished about a month of that, and I find myself with little desire to resort back to the radio. Instead of having a random song stuck in my head I'd have a random hymn stuck in there. Whenever a problem would arise a hymn would come to mind and it would put me at ease. The effects were amazing. If nothing else, it brought me closer to Heavenly Father and helped me to remember Him with much greater frequency. I highly encourage others to try this music fast.

Put your hand up

All of last week I was interviewing for doctor of pharmacy programs. It was quite hectic without even considering the amount of school I was missing. The interviews went as well as I could have hoped for, but I wanted to share a "non interview" related experience I had this previous week. My interview at East Tennessee State University had gone on for an hour more than I thought it would and I only had three hours to make a 2 1/2 hour drive to a school out in rural Virginia for my next interview. I had my mapquest directions in hand, and that was about it. My cell phone reception discontinued before I even left the freeway. I got off the freeway onto a "state highway," and knew I was going to have problems finding the place. As I continued on, the "highway" became more and more narrow and less and less... well, pavement. It eventually became a dirt highway and narrow enough to where if a car would have been coming from the opposite direction, one of us would have had to have stopped and put it in reverse for a while. It was getting pretty near my interview time and there was nothing in sight aside from coal mines and seeminly never ending rolling hills. I saw a truck stopped in the road a little ways a head so I stopped and asked if I was going in the right direction. I was dressed in my white shirt and tie for my interview and the "fella" looked at me like it was the first time he had ever seen such a combination. He looked puzzled for a moment and told me I could in fact get to where I was needing to go if I continued on but added that it was a long ways a way and that the roads were pretty bad. I had only 20 minutes left before my interview so I went as fast on that narrow mountain road as I could go. There were no signs so I had to do a lot of guessing, and that method concluded with me wandering into a completely different state. Ooops. By this point I was getting rather frustrated. I had pretty much been lost for the past three hours, without cell phone reception and there were no road signs or signs of civilization for that matter. After another hour of what ended up being aimless wandering I decided to miss my interview altogether and head back the way I came and spend the night in Tennessee. Again, I was pretty frustrated. Heck, I'll even go as far as to say I was mad. I was mad that it was so rural. Mad that there were no signs whatsoever. Mad that people would actually want to live out there. I was even mad at the fact I was so absurdly lost in a state that voted for Obama! I was definitely searching for things to be mad at, and I was filling my bag full of things! As I was in this morbid state of mind I approached a man while driving. He was in front of his very humble dwelling going about his own business. I was driving a Toyota Corolla, and since it wasn't a truck was a dead give away I wasn't from around the area. Even still, the humble man turned towards me as I drove, smiled and waived at me. It was such a simple gesture. He probably didn't even think anything of it. I waived back and before I was even able to put my hand back down, I had a feeling of peace overwhelm me. Attitude is such an imporant aspect of life, and I was quite literally amazed at how big of an impact that simple smile and waive had on my attitude. I was no longer angry. If anything I felt a little foolish for having let it come to anger. Applying this into a greater context, if we will but expend a small amount of energy and smile at those that walk by, or if we're willing to so much as waive... I submit that such small and simple acts can have a profound effect upon those around us. After all, the smallest act is greater than the best intention.

They Jacked Our Meat!

One day during the summer before our senior year of high school my friend, Wolfy, and I decided that we were going to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We didn't have any money but he had a season pass, a free friend pass and a free parking pass. Again, we had no money so before we made the hour long trip to the park we packed ourselves some sandwiches. We had just arrived at the park and were getting everything out of the car. I asked Wolfy, "Where'd you put the sandwiches?" He said, "No, where did you put the sandwiches?!" They were an hour away in Wolfy's kitchen! It was 10 am. The park wasn't closing until midnight, and we planned on staying the whole 14 hours! At about 3 pm our stomaches started churning... we were hungry! We started going into restaurants and asking for water cups. When they weren't looking we poured as much pink lemonade into our cups as we could! The sugar allowed us to function, but we were still in dire need of solid food. We stuck to our original plan of staying until midnight, despite our empty stomachs. The park started closing and we headed for the parking lot with the rest of the crowd. By this point we were moving ever so slowly. We just didn't have any energy left. We had just gotten to the parking area and started looking for our car... when I saw something shiny on the ground! My eyes immediately dilated. It was one of those plastic packagings that you would find at an Albertson's Bakery. I thought it was muffins, or something like unto it. I ran up to the plastic packaging. They weren't muffins. No, it was half of an albertson's chicken. Just sitting there. On the ground of the Six Flags parking lot. Never did a thought enter my mind to discourage me from eating it. We didn't even wait until we got to my car. As fast as we opened the packaging our fingers and lips were covered in chicken grease. We continued to walk to my car and literally devoured that half chicken. Now the distance between where we discovered our half chicken and my car was about 30 yards. As we were nearing completion of our chicken feast we heard a man's voice yell, "HEY! THEY JACKED OUR MEAT!" Wolfy and I looked at each other, scampered around my car in opposite directions, met on the other side and finished our chicken as fast as we could! We were literally shoving chicken in our faces. We licked our fingers the best we could and then bolted in the car for a quick get away. But OH NO! We left the headlights on the entire day! The battery was dead! We uttered some silent prayers hoping we weren't about to get beaten up. We didn't thankfully but we were the last car to leave the parking lot. So much for a quick get away! Our stomachs still weren't quite full. Between a coupon and 213 pennies we found in my car we were able to purchase 6 tacos at a Taco Bell and then made our way uneventfully home. It had been a long day.