Time will only tell

     Well it has been sometime since I posted my thoughts and feelings on this blog, not because I am too busy but because I have put all of my efforts into running my 70x7 tour. There have been a lot of emotions that I never knew existed. When I wrote down this very personal goal to inspire myself and other survivors of illness, I just didn't imagine the magnitude or possibly the apathy of others. Let me explain myself more thoroughly. After I began to walk, talk, read, write and deal with my ability to understand others I quickly realized that if you want something to change then you've got to be the change! Live your convictions with hope, passion and honour. Be the person that you can look back at and say "I did it with respect"
     As I began to run farther and farther, the newspapers took notice and inevitably people began to personally email me their struggles and feelings as well. I felt encouraged and compassionate for their plight, it gave me fuel for each and every city that I came across. Well here I am at city 17 and I am taken by surprise, I survived a stroke and now I am trying to find sponsors, money in order to reach city 70! This will be a tough battle and one that has heard its share of empty promises with big smiles attached. My dad always told me "action speaks louder than words" well I have become a firm believer in that now. So I guess all in all, what I am saying is "Be your promises, live your respect, act on your honour"

Live your words and blaze a trail of change.

Why I must

     The last few days have been very reflective for me. I can't really put into words the full spectrum of it all but I will try my best. For me it is as though I am falling out of a nightmare and landing into the most beautiful dream ever. When my stroke happened it was like hitting a huge massive wall, I mean I had faced poverty, bullying and so much more but the stroke literally took the wind out of my sails, in fact I think it took them altogether. Here I was stranded in the middle of the ocean without any way of getting back. I had to literally reinvent myself, find out who God wanted me to be and what I wanted to believe in the most. When desperate times require desperate measures I guess I took that to the extreme. I made my own wind sails and dug deep into the heart of perseverance. You know, now that I think about my journey I see that I have become much stronger, you either fall to the way side or you simply refuse to quit! I had no idea that I had that much strength in me and for the times I didn't have any, God gave me just the right amount. A perfect balance of hope, faith and love. Those really are the perfect ingredients for inspiration! For being able to move mountains of impossibility.
     So here I am just finishing city #3 and I am blown away by the dreams I am starting to see come about. I actually woke up this morning and was singing in the shower. I had to catch myself and just think about the fact that I hadn't sang in such a long time. I was too busy trying to swim to shore that I forgot that I wasn't doing the most peaceful and most enjoyable simple things. Well I have my tune, my melody and no one is going to take it away. The nice thing about music is that it is worth sharing and when it comes from the soul it simply is beautiful.
   
     Time to kiss the dreams of angels and laugh among the clouds of courage and of change! By Evk

Shifting Sands

     With both my hands I reached into the sands of time, looking for those faded memories that once burned bright in the morning sun. They danced, they played among the fields of wonder. Well that was where I once was. I could imagine the soft touch of my babies hands, the laughter, the giggles and so much more. I paraded my emotions, my love for my family with such elated joy. It was a simple time that only required little effort, that was a time of sand castles and beautiful oceans filled with hope.
     Somehow from those luscious fields of beautiful colours that once embraced my eyes with mystery now sit barren. The seasons can change within the blink of an eye. The sand castles have tumbled and the wind has changed. When we face insurmountable odds, we are left to a world unknown, possibly burdened by fear and confusion. It is in those very moments that we need to see the bigger picture, the landscape from afar! I can either be crushed by the waves of injustice or I can create something beautiful out of something less than perfect. The world will hand you only what it has but what you do with it can literally cause others to marvel! When you build a sand castle you get water,sand, a bucket and a shovel. There is nothing more to be required of you except your ability to imagine! Now that is the most important part, because you see without your imagination nothing can be created, at least nothing beautiful.
     I am on this earth for but a short time but let me tell you something, I am going to use what I have and I am going to make something beautiful. I am going to live a life worthy of laughter, worthy of joy and no amount of pain or sorrow is going to take that beautiful gift away....

Friends From A Different Time

     As I grabbed the weights in front of me, sweat began to drip from my forehead onto the floor. There I was giving it my all, my everything. I pursued this goal with every ounce of relentless drive! With a slight grin I looked towards the mirror that spoke of my victory, I could see the fruit of my determination by the reflection of hope. I could see myself standing and lifting weights! I placed the weights quickly on the floor and raised my right hand in a fist. I felt the hours, the minutes and the tears all rolling into one victorious shout!! I didn't care if other people were standing there, I just needed to live the moment; feel the joy of being more than just a victim.
     After I did most of my routine two young gentlemen approached me, they asked if I knew martial arts and if I could demonstrate to them. So I went into a series of quick strikes and threw them around. After all was said and done I told them of my stroke, I told them my story. For some reason it felt like I had the exclamation to my sentence or the ending to my mystery novel. All of it had a purpose, a point with some meaning. It was as though someone finally told me the reason behind my suffering. When I saw those two young mens eyes light up after I explained about my suffering and triumphs they were moved. I felt a passion in my heart swell, a desire to want others to be encouraged! I found my story.....
     Today I am standing on top of a mountain of pain, fear and ultimately sacrifice; but what makes this story so wonderful is not me but all the people that I am meeting in the process. I am no longer in the valley of indecision but on the mountain of change watching the horizon of hope. The view is beautiful and I can't wait to make a difference!!

I could climb a thousand mountains or a hundred hills but without the sunrise of hope I will see nothing more than a dark valley of indecision...

By EvK
     

The Moments in Between

Todays post or thought is very short and hopefully sweet. 

"People don't like change unless it is in their wallet" by EvK

      I said this after working in the hospital for a few years. I noticed peoples behaviours were almost all the same. When one little thing changed they were up in arms. Surprisingly enough the cheerful patients were none the less scathed. Now it seems trivial but I was impressed by this. The happy go lucky people were simply that....happy! They were the kind of people who simply didn't let things bother them, they had much more important things to do like laugh and share their excitement for life with others. Have you ever noticed when children are completely involved with their toys and everything else simply doesn't matter? They are engulfed in mystery and excitement, the world is at their fingertips. Children are amazingly filled with dreams and imagination, not lost in worries or debt or what have you. They live and breath life! They bend so easily to many circumstances because they are excited. Is your life filled with worries and doubts and fears or are you willing to live with a heart encapsulated with joy, wanting to see what leaps from around the corner? I will choose to be the duck and let my worries fall away... 

To The Plow

Photography by Ursula Kowcun


Now I know that this blog is solely dedicated to my written works of poetry but sometimes it is good to reach outside the box. I made a comment about plowing and I felt it was worthy of thought. When we go through tragic moments in our lives, we hope that we can survive. We want to rise above our circumstances, become resolute. When weathering through our difficult and sometimes lonely situations we forget the deep seated pain that hides underneath. It is only when be begin to dig and plow through our emotional baggage that we find resolve. Ever since I committed to writing a autobiography book I began to find a new world of buried rocks. Thoughts and feelings left to breathe among the dark walls of pain. If I want my life to be fertile and productive I need to dig deep and carry away the rocks of shame, hurt and abandonment. I want a garden of new beginnings! I want to burst out with a life of faith, hope and love!

The Burning Light - excerpt from my autobiography

Just a few weeks ago my kids, my wife and I were at an outdoor movie event. Of course it was late at night and so they had flood lights on and vendors with bright lights by their tents. As everyone began to arrive at the showing they took their seats where they felt the best viewing would be. We of course wanted to be towards the back so the speakers wouldn't be so loud. As we sat there for some time waiting for the movie to begin, the sky grew dark and the lights became more predominantly bright. In fact most of the lights were directly in the eyes of those in the back. I looked across the field of onlookers and noticed many people were covering their faces from the bright lights. It was strange in some ways because many people looked very frustrated by the annoying distraction. I was more than frustrated and felt I should do something about it. My wife encouraged me to just get up and change the direction of the flood lights. I told her that they must be that way for a reason and so I sat for 10 more minutes complaining about it. Finally I got up and walked over to the flood lights that were at chest level and rotated them away from the audience. Surprisingly as I walked back to my seat many viewers who were along the way to my seat said "Thank you so much" When I sat down I was perplexed as to why no one else got up if it annoyed them so much. I then noticed the piercing light from the vendors station so I got up again and went to the vendors and asked kindly to block the light for those who were being blinded by the brightness. As I returned back to my seat more people said "thanks man" and "what a difference". When I sat in my seat the movie became enjoyable once again.
You see sometimes we put up with things even though they are simply solvable. Instead we often just allow those circumstance to annoy us and we just tolerate them. You have the option to be different and make subtle changes that make a world of difference. It may sound trivial but you would be surprised at how many people just put up with things instead of making the difference. By nature we like to be indifferent even though our clothes and sometimes our words say otherwise. Martin Luther King Jr. was someone who decided that black people shouldn't put up with discrimination, to be blinded by a light of ignorance, instead he said " I have a dream!" He let others know of his dream and then he made it reality!! Are you willing to be different? Willing to crush indifference and be the change that you are so longing for?! You can, if only you make the first step.

Running for stroke survivors

I will be running for stroke survivors and providing moral support to cancer survivors!

This is an exciting run. Being a stroke survivor and being able to give encouragement to cancer victims as well!!!

I will perform the run on August 1st at 11:30am at the corner of 200st and langley bypass.
Still in need of the following:
1.Runners to run the last 5km
2.Bikers to bike the last 5km
3.Driver to bring me back home (or it will be a long walk home)
4.Sponsor for financial backing (special foods for running,vitamins etc.)

Above and Beyond

 

10 Health Benefits of Apples

10 Health Benefits of Apples

The apple is indeed an amazing fruit, ripe with so many advantages. Easy to carry around on a busy day. Get yourself a bag and start to eat healthy on the go. Take an apple, a banana and some mixed nuts (a floral of broccoli) and you will be eating healthier than most people do in a month. Why wait until you have health risks and physical limitations?! Take a simple step and provide for yourself healthy habits. If people look at you crazy for eating so healthy than so be it. Make today the day for a healthy future.

Share this website with others so they can change the way they eat and hopefully you made a difference in someone elses health as well.