Tag: Lax

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Be The Best.

The best time to plant a tree is…

You may have heard the proverb/truism, ‘the best time to plant a tree was yesterday, the second best time to plant a tree is today’.  Probably the best time would have been 20 years ago, but the point remains.

I like this saying.

Why?

One of the things that I’ve done since Chris passed away was get more serious on a consistent level  about doing push-ups every day.  (I know there are a number of people that have taken up this same challenge.  Fantastic!)

Slowly, I’ve worked up to 50 per day still way off Chris’ 200, but that’s ok…I’m the ‘old man’!  There’s been a few days where because of schedule or whatever, I haven’t got those push-ups done.  You know what’s easy?  Making that first ‘miss day’ a second and the second a third.

That’s when the tree quote thing becomes very important.

The best time to do push-ups was yesterday.

The second best time is today…like right now.

Be The Best.

I love this business quote by the owners of Kin’s Farm Market, one of my business clients.  They said, ‘our business is simple, but not easy’.  Love it.  Many things are relatively simple.  Do some push-ups every day…relatively simple.  But not so easy in practice.

Change itself isn’t that easy, but the small steps along the way are relatively simple.

Interesting.  I continue to learn along this journey and Chris himself was an amazing example of a kid who heard from coaches and college players that a good diet was key to success and so he made small, simple decisions to eliminate fast foods, pop and junk food from his diet, one day, two days, three weeks, four months and then years.

He told me that his ‘trick’ was asking himself every time he looked at a food that was tempting and asking himself if it would be worth the work to burn that off or would it be easier just to avoid it in the first place.  Pretty amazing will power for a young man.

Simple…not easy.

Better to plant yesterday, but yesterday is gone so let’s deal with today.

These simple thoughts have put me down on the ground many times in the past 6 months, pounding out a few more push-ups when I didn’t really ‘have the time’ or some other excuse.

Chris…I will continue to use your passion to inspire me…and I know you continue to inspire many.

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Be The Best.

It’s dark, but love shines.

The days of Spring and Summer are now behind us.

For those of us who live in the Vancouver area of the Great White North, we experience those breathtaking summer nights with sunlight reaching to 9:45pm and beyond.

As the days grow shorter and wetter, many of those sunsets that were so powerful to me are now packaged up and waiting to surprise again next Spring.  It had been over a month since I last listened to Love Shines, that powerful and moving song that AC (Auntie Cathy) sang at Chris’ service.

I just listened now and as I did I looked out the window at the total pitch blackness.  The words are Love Shines and Darkness Flees.  Only thing was, it’s still dark outside.  The meaning of the song became even more powerful to me tonight.

Of course.  We can’t escape the physical darkness.  So too in our journey, there will continue to be dark times.  We cannot escape those.  BUT love is shining through that darkness and allowing our lives to continue to be pulsated with light through the love of family, friends, colleagues, lacrosse connections etc etc.  I think our own actions and choices to be involved in changing lives through Chris’ fund and other opportunities (giving is in grieving), also helps to chase the virtual darkness.

This weekend, AC gave me an update on her upcoming album.  She’s going out on a limb.  As an artist, I think it’s the most difficult thing to do to put yourself out there not only as an artist, but also as a business person.  She is self funding her new album driven by the passion of Love Shines and other songs that will help bring hope to many.

You can get involved all the way from pre-ordering the CD to a larger investment that includes a House Concert at your place for friends and family!!  Cool.

What I love about this is the passion, goal setting and desire for change to help propel a dream.

If you haven’t listened in a while, have a listen now online (yes, that’s free!).

If you get excited about the project, check out AC’s website with all the details.

Love Shines and Darkness Flees.

Love it.

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Be The Best.

Grandma’s Quilt

You may remember those blogs about quilts.  You can connect here if you haven’t read them already.

Some amazing work by Kim, a part of my incredible marketing team at BCIT.  Amazing work on many levels and we love it.  Anyone who comes over wants to see the quilt.  I love seeing the lacrosse players pick out their numbers or friends and family recognize the jerseys and clothes that were Chris’ favourites.

I want to show you another quilt tonight.  (who knew this was going to become a quilting blog..!)

The Friesen side of the family had a few days together in the summer of ’09 and my Mom (Leona, Grandma) had an idea of making a quilt at that time.  The goal was for each family member to design a square.  It could be stitched or simply designed with coloured pens.  Each square was to represent something about that person.  Most family members completed their squares over the few days with the last few squares added in the weeks following.

What a cool idea.

What do you think Chris drew?  Yah, not that hard to guess…a couple of lacrosse sticks and a beautiful message to Grandma.  “I love you” in his own handwriting.

He loved his Grandma so much.

Each year he looked forward to her canned peaches and would eat a jar at a sitting if we didn’t catch him first!

What a testament to a Grandma’s love.  What a testament to Chris who wasn’t afraid to tell people he loved his Grandma and Grandpa…even as a 16 year old kid at the time.

What an idea to make this quilt.

I saw it completed just a few weeks ago and this video gives you a close up look at this priceless piece of art.

“I love you”.  Powerful.  We love you too Chris.  Always.

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Be The Best.

Terry Fox – Into the Wind

Last night, Steve Nash, an NBA MVP and proud British Columbian, brought the story of Terry Fox to an American TV audience in a show called, Into the Wind.

I missed the show, but will definitely be watching for another viewing.

It was all the talk on the sports talk-show on the radio as I battled traffic out of Burnaby today.

He ran a marathon every day.

Are you kidding me?

He ran a marathon every day…with one leg.

For 143 days, he ran that distance as an amputee.

Terry Fox was the epitome of determination.

Terry Fox was the epitome of passion.

Terry Fox epitomized Be The Best.

Jay Triano, the Toronto Raptors head coach and another proud BC boy, knew Terry Fox from Simon Fraser University.  He was quoted in Saturday’s Toronto Star.

“He talked about chasing his dream, a big, big dream,” said Triano. “He showed that you have to set your goals high and even if you don’t achieve them, you can still win.

“That’s with me every day.”

Don’t you love that?

He showed that you have to set your goals high and even if you don’t achieve them, you can still win.

Love it.

I spoke with a good friend who had just finished an Ironman race a few weeks back (3.8k swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run).  He completed in 17 hours.  Wow.  That’s a story by itself.  Absolutely amazing.

He told me how mental the process was.  It was sheer will and determination to put one foot in front of the other and keep going in the marathon after a grueling swim and an intense bike ride.

Incredible.

I can’t imagine how Terry Fox did it for 143 days.

Some people ask us how we do it.

One foot in front of the other one, one step at a time.

Terry showed us the way.

He showed us how to win.

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Be The Best.

I met a kid.

My work at the BC Institute of Technology is fun in that I have the opportunity to connect with the next generation of world changers.

Our students tend to be focused on where they want to go and what they want to do.

I met a student yesterday by complete happenchance and just loved his story.

He was a first year student in the Marketing Pro Sales option and had worked for Future Shop for a few years post High School.

His sister had come to BCIT and she told him it was a lot of hard work but worth it in the end.  A very good explanation.

So what did this kid do?  Get scared about the impending work load?  Party hard cause there was going to be a lot of work in the future?  Run away?

I loved his response.  He told me that last January he purposely took a second job to crank his working hours to over 60 per week.  Not really for the money.  It was to PREPARE himself mentally and physically for the workload he knew was coming.

Why?  He knew the payoff would be worth it in the end.  From my years of experience, I’ll tell him one thing. Yup, it will.  It will be well worth it in the end.

I loved that interaction and that story.  It was a Be The Best moment from out of the blue.

I met another kid once who set goals and then worked hard to achieve them.  You’ve met him too, even though for some of you it may have only been through this blog.

Chris knew that goals in your brain or even written down were useless if they weren’t brought to life with hard work and then more hard work.

Be The Best.

Rock your Saturday.

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Be The Best.

Chris’ stick gets game time in Saskatoon.

Some people who get the Chris Friesen lacrosse stick are going to use it as a display and hang their medals from it.  Cool.

Some people are going to just keep it as a way to remember Chris.  Cool.

Some people are going to actually tape it up and play a little lacrosse. Cool.

Blaine Boomer did just that on the weekend in Saskatoon scoring 2 hat tricks on the way to helping BC compete for the gold against Ontario.

You can see the Be The Best stick complete with Chris’ signature.

Blaine was kind enough to don his game worn jersey and pose with his Chris Friesen stick when the Boomers dropped by on their way home to the Loops yesterday.

Love the stick.  Love the way people are going to use it.  Love the fact that it will help raise so much money for Chris’ fund which exists to help challenge lacrosse playing SFU students to Be The Best and ultimately make the world a better place through their lacrosse experience and their chosen profession.

Jim Boomer with sons Blaine and Colton
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Be The Best.

Go to bed…it’s a school day tomorrow!

Ok, you can stay up to read just ONE blog post.

Well, here we are.  The start of a new school year is just around the corner, or just one sleep away.

This Labour Day weekend was so very different from the last one.

I missed being in Saskatoon for the Field Nationals (lacrosse).  Instead we had an impromptu semi family reunion at my Dad’s hospital bedside as he went in for colon cancer surgery that had not even been on the radar 2 weeks earlier.

He’s doing very well by the way, and hopefully heading home Tues or Wed.  Our family appreciates your continued thoughts and prayers.  I’ll have more on that situation and some things I learned there later in the week, but now back to lacrosse.

Both the BC U16 and U19 teams played for in the gold/silver game against Ontario on Sunday afternoon.

Imagine an Ontario team that has thousands of kids try out and picks one team of the best.  BC does the same with a fraction of the numbers.  It’s hard to measure heart size however.  These young men on Team BC wore the mighty CF on their jerseys and I know Chris was yelling like crazy during both games.

If you can believe it, Ontario won both games, but only by ONE GOAL.

To give some perspective, the U16 BC team lost to Ontario by over 10 goals in the round robin.

This result is nothing less than amazing to me.

Remember the ’94 Canucks and their Stanley Cup run?

Remember Trevor Linden hugging Kirk Mclean in that epic photo after game 6 of the Finals?

Yah, those New York Rangers and their big money (pre-salary cap!) won the cup.  Sure.

But the Canucks won our hearts.

Our BC boys just did the same.  Although for us, our hearts were already printed on each jersey in each CF.

That’s Be The Best and a win in my books anytime.

Thanks for doing us so proud.

Tomorrow:  Chris Friesen’s lacrosse stick scores multiple goals in Saskatoon!

Rhys, Blaine and Mitch with their silver medals and the Chris Friesen lacrosse stick. (the black paint is to help with glare) Photo courtesty of Burnells. Thanks!
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Be The Best.

Those sunsets.

Those sunsets still get me.

I can’t see one without thinking about Chris.

Whether it’s the sun streaming through the clouds or punching out that silver lining or just glowing as it nears the mountains or horizon, I love it.

These pics were taken during an evening of friends and fun (thanks Melody and Drake!).

The sun will set.

The sun will rise.

And more decisions will be made.

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Be The Best.

Chris scores a goal!

During last week’s Midget Lacrosse Nationals it reminded me of Chris at the 2007 Bantam Box Lacrosse Nationals in Ontario.

btw, Team BC lost in their bronze medal bid this past Friday night.  A tough way to end after that epic battle with Ontario to beat them in the tournament round.  From Ontario’s perspective, I’m betting they had a little payback on their minds and with BC having to play an extra game Friday morning, they took advantage.  All that being said, some great lacrosse by all and some great development as players and young men going through all of those emotions and experiences.

Back to 2007.

In order to help with the trip expenses to Ontario, the players were allowed to raise private funds to help make the trip a reality.  I recently uncovered the one-pager that described the program and gave potential donors an idea of who Chris was.

Here is how it opened:

Know many teenagers who write down their goals?

Know many teenagers who then break down their goals into actionable work plans and don’t quit until they’ve made it?

Meet Chris Friesen.

Along with excellent grades, this 14-year-old wrote down a goal of making the top-tier lacrosse team (A1) in Langley.

He served as team captain and the team completed an amazing season in first place heading into the Provincial championships in mid July.

In addition to league play, he was selected to Team Fraser Vally and then to Team BC.   He will be representing our province in Ontario this August.

Chris and buddy Brett celebrate BC’s bronze medal at Nationals in August 2007.
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Specifically, I will always be thankful to my Wardell clients and friends at Mainland Machinery and Sitelines Architecture respectfully, for their major support of Chris during that program.

I’ll never forget Chris writing down that goal (a practice we’ve done as a family at New Years each year).

It was achievable, but a stretch goal for sure.

  1. Goal.
  2. Action plan.
  3. Don’t quit.

I got it son.

I’m listening.

BONUS:

There are over 300 photos on-line of that 2007 trip.  Click here to view.

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Be The Best.

Team BC and Be The Best.

Team BC played Ontario on Thursday evening at the Midget Box Lacrosse Nationals.

Just another lacrosse game? Nope.

Firstly, Ontario is always favoured.  Consider this.  Based on population alone, Ontario (at 13 million+) could have three lacrosse teams for every one from BC (population 4.5 million).

Do I want some cheese with this ‘whine’?

The point is Ontario is always big, strong, tough, confident and ready to win.

The Iroquois had just beaten Alberta in the late afternoon game setting the stage for BC to get into serious medal contention and relegating Ontario to a bronze finish at best.  That alone provided a huge motivation factor for the Ontario team, but it was BC who seemed inspired.

BC hit hard, but weren’t stupid.

BC played strong defence which leads to goals.

BC scored when they had chances to score.

BC played like a team!

In the end, BC won the game 7-4, pulling away in the 3rd period.

FANTASTIC.  That’s Be The Best!

I think of Chris often when I watch.  He LOVED this game.  He loved the passion that it evoked.  He loved playing for his local team and club teams, but there was always something special about representing your Province.

As the boys get ready for a showdown at 11:30 this morning (Aug 20), I will be thinking of them.

Depending on the outcome of the late morning game against Alberta, BC will go for gold or bronze later tonight.

The bronze and gold medal games are at 6pm and 8pm.

Have a great day.

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2pm update! Team BC lost a close one with Alberta so they play Ontario for Bronze at 6pm.

Team BC player (Chris Nasato) in blue BC jersey with gold trim breaks away from the Red and Black Ontario squad.