Tag: Be The Best.

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Be The Best.

Up in the air.

Abbotsford International Airshow 2009!
Image by Rick Leche via Flickr

I can’t look into the sky without thinking about Chris.

Whether it’s the moon and stars at night or an intense cloud formation or even occasional blue sky during the day!

Max and I had another reason to gaze heavenwards on Friday as we were guests of friends and business clients Mainland Machinery at the Abbotsford International Airshow.

It had been probably 10 years since we were last there and it was awesome to be back.

From the static displays to the roar of the jets, we had a great time.

You can’t go to that event without thinking and acknowledging all of our servicemen and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms.  We salute them all!!

And yes, as I watched the jets scream by and the parachutes float down, I thought about Chris with every look to the sky.

Here’s a little vid of the day.

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Be The Best.

Maxing out a Sprint Triathlon

My personal lexicon was increased by a new phrase just a few weeks ago.

Sprint Triathlon.

I think that’s basically an oxymoron to start with.

Ok young readers.  This is probably the highest number of big words used in the opening of this blog ever…but in celebration of back to school just 4 weeks away, we’ll continue.

A sprint triathlon is a swim, bike and running race…except the distances are shorter than a full length event.

These are perfect events for those wanting a triathlon experience and are trying something new or simply want a shorter distance.

Don’t be fooled.  This is still an extreme sport!  750m in the pool.  That is a lot of lengths.  18k on the bike.  I get tired driving that far and usually would require 2 Starbucks stops.  5k running after all that? Yah right.

So…my son Max had a goal.  He was going to do this thing.  The Walnut Grove Triathlon.

Cool.  Except he didn’t really have a bike, didn’t have any specific training and didn’t know a soul who was going in this event.

I’m super proud of the kid.  He approached this like he was trying something new and what he didn’t know wasn’t going to stop him from trying. For example, he knew he didn’t have all the specialized gear but that didn’t get in his way.  He finished in 90 minutes exactly and was right in the middle of the pack.  That is an incredible result for trying an event for the first time without coaching or training with a team or the superior clothing and equipment of most racers.

It’s really Be The Best principle personified.

What I mean by that is Be The Best is about so much more than winning.  It’s about competing.  It’s about trying something new.  It’s about not letting the fear of the unknown get in your way.

IT’S ABOUT NOT KNOWING EXACTLY HOW YOU’RE GOING TO REACH A GOAL, BUT SETTING THE GOAL AND THEN STARTING FORWARD ANYWAYS!

Nice job Max.  We are very proud of ya!!

Here’s a little video proof.  Note: (Time clock on picture is not official for each racer because of a graduated start in the pool for the swim portion of the race. Max’s official time was 1:30:00 on the nose)

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Be The Best.

Germany, #2, Lacrosse and why you need to know.

Flag of British Columbia
Image via Wikipedia

The #2 is being proudly worn on a field lacrosse pitch in Germany this week and next.

Better yet, it’s representing Canada.

Even better yet, it’s a shout out to Chris on the back of Ashley Bull who at the age of 16 made the U19 National Field Lacrosse team for Canada.  She is the only player from British Columbia and very close to the youngest on the squad.

Her Grandfather, the legendary lacrosse figure Harvey Bull, told me the story of her getting #2 this past weekend at the boys Intermediate Box Lacrosse Provincial championships.

Team Canada players were assigned numbers, but before they went to Germany to represent our country, they were allowed to select the jersey numbers to wear.  Ashley has not traditionally chosen #2, but wanted to do it for Chris.  What that means to me and our family I cannot properly express.  As the story went, another girl also wanted #2.  Ashley told her the story of Chris and what he meant as an inspiration to her and her teammate kindly, graciously and wonderfully allowed Ashley to wear #2.

Is that Be The Best or WHAT???

You can read more of Ashley’s story here from a previous blog.

I understand from Ashley’s family that the flu is going through the team and knocked her out of at least the first game of the tournie.  Some things are in your control and some aren’t.  As the team heads into the second week of competition, we wish Ashley and all of our fellow Canadians the best of luck as they represent for Canada.

Although there is no TV or webfeed, you can connect on-line with scoring and the most up-to-date info is via Twitter.

I will be thinking of that #2 flying around the field and I know that the same ‘cloud box seats’ Chris had for the boys Provincial final will again be used by Chris and friends cheering on Team Canada in Germany.

GO CANADA GO!!

Ashley…thanks for doing Chris, Langley, British Columbia and Canada so very very proud!!

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Christian Friesen

From Be The Worst, to Be The Best!

Chris’ buds were battling it out on the lacrosse floor this weekend.

Of course they were!  The first weekend of real summer weather and all the lacrosse guys are inside in a sweaty arena.  As soon as the rain starts to fall, they’ll be back outside for field lacrosse.  And that’s how it goes!

Langley has battled to become a member of the lacrosse elite and this weekend having their Intermediate A (ages 17-18) team challenging for a provincial medal was a very good thing.

Fast forward.  After an excellent tournament, the Thunder are in the Bronze medal game.  They lose, they get nothing.  Near the beginning of the game the Richmond team calls for an equipment check on one of Langley’s top players, James Rahe.  They toss him out of the game for illegal equipment.  Guess what was illegal?  He was wearing one of Chris’ memorial wristbands!!

I simply couldn’t write this blog yesterday.

The words would have been much sharper.

At this point I’m not going to spend too much time on the decision, who made it and what their motivation was.   That call took a star player off the floor and ruined his chance to play in this Provincial bronze medal final.

That’s a Be The Worst moment.

Now…this story has a Be The Best moment too.

Langley was down by a goal with 30 seconds to go in the game.

A certain Mr. Danny Spady, a defensive specialist and one year younger than Chris, had the ball.  Chris loved playing with Danny.  He is a tenacious, aggressive, hard-working, never-quit kid….and he doesn’t score that much!  As was relayed to me he drove down the floor with the passion and aggression that only comes from playing for a cause.

Yes…the decision by the opposing coaching staff and the officials gave the boys just the extra cause they needed yesterday.

You take a guy off the floor for wearing Chris’ wristband…look out…the motivation just got cranked.

Danny’s goal pushed the game into overtime and Brett Dobray displayed his amazing hands and touch with I believe both goals which pushed Langley into the overtime lead (2-1) and sealed the deal for the Bronze Medal.

What a story.

Now…for the boys on Richmond, it was obviously not their call.  That responsibility lies directly with their coach and the officials and for the love of the game, I hope that kind of decision making is reviewed by the league.  For the boys themselves, Richmond had a great season and I wish them all the best with their next steps in lacrosse and life.

In life we know we can’t change what happened.  But what do we know? WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR NEXT DECISION!!  We can be in charge of our next shift.  Our next shot.  Our next thought process.

As I texted one of Langley’s players when I heard this news, I’m sure Chris had a few things to say about the incident yesterday from his ‘season ticket cloud seats’ and I know that he is with you all….always!!

Great job Langley.

Way to turn a negative into an amazing BE THE BEST moment.

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Be The Best.

Water, Rachel, Africa and Life

Ok.

It’s time to get going.

That’s more a statement to me than to anyone else.

I heard this story on the news last night and it’s a story that must be told and retold.

It’s an awesome BE THE BEST story.

Rachel, a nine year old girl from the Seattle area, wanted to make a difference.

Instead of birthday presents she wanted people to give the gift of water to others.

With the help of her Mom, she  launched a donation page.

These are her own words from the page:

On June 12th 2011, I’m turning 9. I found out that millions of people don’t live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn’t have access to clean, safe water so I’m celebrating my birthday like never before. I’m asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday. Every penny of the money raised will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Even better, every dollar is “proved” when the projects are complete, and photos and GPS coordinates are posted using Google Earth. My goal is to raise $300 by my birthday, June 12, 2011. Please consider helping me.

Thank you so much!!!

Shockingly, sadly, unexplainedly, and without warning her life on earth ended in a terrible car crash just last week.

Our hearts are with her family and knowing some of what their journey will be like, we have an invisible bond with these people and stand by them as they march forward.

Social media can be a brutal place.

It can also be an amazing place.

I think you can guess what happened.  Rachel had got within $80 of her $300 goal on her birthday.  She was determined to raise more money this coming year.

Know what the total is tonight?

$685,110….and growing every minute!!!

Now that is amazing.

I know this.

That money is saving countless lives by providing clean water in Africa.

The act of giving is not only helping African families, but it is providing Rachel’s family with an unbelievable boost of support and love as people across the globe stand with them.

I LOVE IT!

Here’s the link to her donation page if you want to check it out.  Great vid about the water situation which was an eye opener for me as well.  http://www.mycharitywater.org/p/campaign?campaign_id=16396

Seattle Times story.

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Be The Best.

Wat-er u doing?

There is something about the sound of water.

Water is life.

Maybe that’s a part of it.

We were given an amazing gift card for a landscaping centre months and months ago from caring anonymous souls! (thank you!!!)

This week that gift came to life as the seed capital for a water feature and landscape project we’ve added to our home.

To hear the water flowing is amazing.

Tonight Max and I enjoyed a little conversation by the outdoor fireplace with the stream flowing in the background.  Loved it.  We always had great conversations around that fireplace.  In fact, the boys would bug me that ‘let’s go sit by the fire’, would be code for ‘let’s have a little father/son chat’.  We had a great many of those in the past and tonight was good too.

Now…we just need some real summer to go along with it!

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Be The Best.

Ice Cream Cake

Ice cream cake.  Chris loved it.

It was his one food indulgence, but only then it was reserved for birthdays.

I heard the term the other day and it stopped me in my tracks with the clicker frozen on the TV news.

Surrey parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kaulius, were helping out the RCMP on a road check campaign specifically targeting drinking and driving.

Their own daughter was killed in May of 2011 by a drunk driver (suspected and in the courts).

That is a sad enough story and one that should cause us all pause in this summer season.

The fact that these parents were out there trying to raise awareness just months into their journey was amazing enough.

I felt the pain however when the Dad mentioned that they still had their daughter Kassandra’s ice cream birthday cake in the freezer, these months later.  His voice broke as he told how they just couldn’t part with it yet.  They had planned to celebrate but instead had a funeral.

It is something that you must know to know if that makes any sense.

I felt the pain instantly for this family as they are just at the beginning of the journey.  I salute all they are doing in memory of their daughter and the impact of her legacy.

As I reflect on our journey it is now been almost 16 months.

This past June has been one of the toughest so far.

The knowledge of a high-school graduation that didn’t happen.

The knowledge of a college education and lacrosse scholarships that we were not able to see finalized.

All of that was extremely painful.

However…I love the article written in the Langley times about Kassandra Kaulius and her family.  Turning Grief into Action.  THAT is what it’s all about.  Action for your loved one of course.  But I believe, action for yourself as well.  Where are you going to go?  What are you going to do?  How are you going to keep on living a life that will positively affect others?

Giving is a part of Grieving.  Remember that one?

There have been many days where I’ve add to sip some of my own medicine from blogs of the past year and more.

That’s a good tonic.

Have a great week!

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Be The Best.

Father’s Day – the lighter side

Watch as I totally dominate Max in both cycling and then basketball.

(and if you believe that…)

Finally pieced a few bits of vid together from a great afternoon with the kid.

Of course we reminisced and laughed about the times Chris would join us on the bball court at home.  Chris played basketball like he was playing lacrosse, complete with full-on body checks and intense (if not mostly illegal) defence.

After that I showed Max a thing or two about shooting and took him to the hoop a few more times before we biked home.  (cough)

Although not on the vid, I had the chance to play ping pong with my Dad just a few days after Father’s Day itself.

We had a great time.  I’m trying to remember the score, but I just can’t right now….

(When you’re 80 year old Dad beats you in ping pong after recovering from a 2 month hospital stay and 4 surgeries…you’d try to forget the score too…!)

Hey, this sports blog post ain’t going too well for me today.

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Be The Best.

Power of Focus

I have a book in my collection that I’ve lent out and replaced probably 5 times and referred to hundreds of people since I first read it years back.

The core message is that with some concentration on the small things, the big things will take shape.  In other words, small habits make a big difference in long term performance.

From the Amazon book review: At the outset, the book identifies the three most important fundamentals for consistent success: developing unusual clarity; understanding that habits determine your future; and using a “no exceptions policy” approach to focus on what you want.

That book rests beside one of Chris’ provincial lacrosse medals.

The kid was relentless in his positive habits in pursuit of his goal.  Eating right. Push-ups. Cardio. Shooting practice.

It was all part of Being the Best.

I asked him once why at the age of 14 he stopped eating all junk food.  He said that he simply thought about the consequences of eating the food and decided that the payback wasn’t worth it.

That developed into long term positive eating habits that shaped his physique and mental attitude going into competition.

Power of Focus.  If you haven’t read it, put it on your summer reading list!

Have a great week.

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Be The Best.

Father’s Day – y2

Can’t believe it was a year ago today that Max took me to the newly opened Empire Field for a BC Lions preseason game.  What a great day.  Here’s a link to that post.

I talked with my Dad this evening and it’s great to hear his voice strong and stronger.  He wrote a famous list called 70 things to do now that I’m 70.  He’s doing so well I’m expecting an 80 things to do now that I’m 80 very soon.

He inspired a certain Max to write a 20 things to do now that I’m 20 just weeks ago.

Very cool.

Today I had a long talk with one of my sons.  We talked about life now and life in the future.  We shared some laughs about the past…silly stories and stuff that makes our family what it is.  As always we shared how much we care for each other…things that don’t change…NO MATTER WHAT.

I did the same with Max and we were able to share a great bike ride and play some basketball too.

Pretty cool all around.

Rock your week.