In honour of the holiday season, give your family (and friends) a hug. Enjoy the time you have with them – you never know when you might not have them around again.

Be safe. Be healthy. And be thankful.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and all that

And enjoy one of my favourite Christmas songs – Happy Xmas by John Lennon.

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Last week I flew to Beijing, China to attempt a new Guinness World Record – “most targets hit in one minute with a flying disc (frisbee)“. Guinness set a minimum requirement of 20 targets hit and although I was close on my 2nd attempt with 16 targets, I was not successful in establishing a new Guinness World Record.

That happened on Saturday night and to say I was upset is expressing it lightly. I was crushed. I felt like my friends, my family and my fans were going to disappointed since I hadn’t set the record. I felt that everything I had done up to that point didn’t mean much since I wasn’t able to perform when it counted most.

But, as the seconds turned into minutes turned into hours turned into a few days, I’ve been able to look back and see the good in all of this.

First of all, I got a free trip to China (and was paid for my appearance) and my dad also had his trip paid for. How sweet is that? I also:

Got to spend the most time I’ve had with my dad in years

Got to spend a few hours on the Great Wall of China

Met Anthony Kelly, who holds many Guinness World Records and travels all over the world (such as Most Tennis Balls Caught in 1 Hour, and he has also caught an arrow while blindfolded!)

Met Peter Rosendahl, who also holds many Guinness World Records and has been to more than 55 countries (such as Fastest 100m on a Unicycle – 11 seconds, and Most Skips in 1 minute with a unicycle)

Met 2 guys from Storm Freerun team,  Tim “Livewire” Shieff and Jan ”Jashman” Barcikowski (they freerun with Damien Walters!!)

Met Liz and Rob, the 2 Guinness officials from the UK, who were awesome and super supportive

Met Cathy from CCTV, who set the whole thing up for me and flew my dad and I over

Went to the Hongqiao Pearl Market and bought some “good fakes” (a watch, headphones and a flash drive)

Got to see a new culture and experience history that is many times older than Canada

So, if you look at my trip to Beijing with the sole intention to set a Guinness World Record, then yes, I failed. However, to do so would be shortsighted because the opportunities and knowledge I gained from failing are worth more than had I achieved the record.

The setup of the world record was actually not done properly so I will be filming an attempt in the next few weeks – if successful, I will be submitting to the Guinness officials who will award me a World Record. I also didn’ t know there would be a minimum requirement so that was a surprise. I’m glad Guinness is giving me the opportunity to give it another attempt and I will not disappoint this time!

I am going to be working with Anthony and Peter and hope to do more Guinness shows in countries like Italy, India and possibly China again.

I had a very difficult time Saturday night trying to digest everything that comes with not being successful at achieving something. But I’ve realized that I will have many more attempts at World Records and not every attempt can be successful. All I can do is make sure that I’m as prepared as possible and that everything I can control is done properly (like the setup of the World Record, which I will make sure of next time).

I want to thank all of my friends, family and fans for your support these past few weeks and I look forward to sharing with you my Guinness World Record when I am successful. I will keep you posted on the progress of my attempt and will share videos and pictures with you from that event.

I look forward to going for coffee with my friends and telling you all about my trip. I have many more planned so I know this is just the beginning. It’s opened my eyes to what is truly possible when you do what you are passionate about.

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One of my favourite quotes is from George Bernard Shaw:

“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’”

This is a huge theme of my life – dreaming. My favourite movie is Rudy, a true story about a kid who dreamed about playing football at Notre Dame, and achieved his dream when he got to play 1 play in the final game of his final year.

Now, in life there are people who dream (like Rudy) and there are people who do (like many people who work 8-5, Monday to Friday). Everyone can dream but too many people don’t because they’re too afraid of not being able to reach their dreams. So what do they do? They try to fit their dreams into their current life instead of working to make their current life match their dreams.

Well I like to live with both a dreamer’s and a doer’s mentality. I’ll admit I often look at things that are and ask “Why” but I’m also quick to ask “Why not”. I don’t care if something has been tried before – there’s usually a reason it didn’t work the first time. Once that reason is known, why not try again?

And the nature of my passion (disc sports – ultimate, disc golf, distance, self caught flight, dog disc, etc) allows me to often dream of something and ask “Why not?” And the beauty of it is that I can actually do something that hasn’t been done (or hasn’t been done for more than 25 years).

Sometimes it’s a solitary pursuit and many people don’t get my passion but looking back over the past 11 years, I realize that I am who I am today because of frisbee and I know that when I look back on my life 11 years from now, I’ll be glad I made the decision to make frisbee such a big part of my life. I know that the more I do, the more I will inspire and amaze people and that is what keeps me going. To know that there is a chance others can share in my love for frisbee even a little bit is an incredible feeling.

So I ask you – are you a dreamer, a doer, or both?

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I will be flying back to Canada on Monday after having spent 10 days in Queretaro and truly one of the most incredible experiences of my life. However, there’s been a lot to absorb so I’ve been asking myself what do I do with all of the new knowledge and perspective I’ve gained? I will blog about the other days of my trip – for now the pictures will have to do as I have a lot of reflecting to do before I put some more thoughts down in words.

I went searching for a few quotes which would try to put into words how I am feeling and found some great ones:

People who look through keyholes are apt to get the idea that most things are keyhole shaped.

The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.

The mind has exactly the same power as the hands; not merely to grasp the world, but to change it.

There’s an alternative.  There’s always a third way, and it’s not a combination of the other two ways.  It’s a different way.

A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.

I know that this trip has changed my life forever. It’s helped me appreciate a few major things: we work too much in Canada, we don’t spend enough time with our friends + family, we don’t appreciate the history of our country as much as we should and there is so much food that is bad for us.

I know that I can make some changes right away. Others will take a bit of an adjustment. I’m not afraid of change. I’ve had the worst and the best happen to me in my life and I’ve come out stronger for it; however, that doesn’t make it easy to change. It just means I’m willing to.

I appreciate all the energy + support you have all shown me for going on this trip. I truly feel blessed and know that I have made some great friends. As Victor’s mom said, I now have a second house – in Queretaro, Mexico.

I look forward to catching up with you and telling you all about this trip. And I now look forward to hearing more about your trips as well – it’s something I didn’t give much credit to before; but that’s changed.

Thinking of you all,
Rob

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In honour of father’s day, I wanted to say a few things about my Dad. How much I appreciate everything that he is to me. How lucky I am for him to be my Dad. How I wish I lived closer to him. And how so much I want him to be happy.

Any man can be a father.  It takes someone special to be a Dad.

There’s a reason I call him Dad.

My Dad and I have been through a lot together. Losing my mom. Having arguments. My struggles in relationships/university/life. And he’s always been there for me. Even when I didn’t want to ask, I knew he would be there for me. Without him, I don’t know what my life would be like. I know I wouldn’t be as strong today if it wasn’t for the support, the guidance and the belief of him in me.

Sure he can be tough on me. But he wants me to be happy and if he feels that I’m making a mistake, he won’t hesitate to tell me.

We’re very similar people. I remember in high school talking to my guidance counselor about the relationship between my Dad and I. About how we would argue about the dumbest things. And about how stubborn we both are. She said it’s because we are both so similar that sometimes we will have battles. And that I needed to try and be more patient with him. And I think I’ve been really good. I know I’ve been a jerk many times. I know I’ve made decisions he didn’t agree with. I just hope that he is proud of me, that he understands what guides me, why I am the way I am and he knows that I’m working towards creating my own life and doing what will make me happy.

I have many things to thank my Dad for – but the greatest gift he ever gave me was his love of sports, athleticism + the spirit of competition. Ever since I was a kid, I was involved in sports. Growing up, I was in the water + on the ice before I was a year old. I learned to play golf when I was only a few years old. I played baseball all the time in the backyard, I would throw the football with my Dad, I would watch him play touch football, I would watch sports with him and I would go to his softball games (and annoyingly call him Clifford the Big Red Dog). Dad, I’m sorry I called you that…I can only imagine how embarrassing it was for your kid to call you that. Wow.

I am so thankful for him coaching my hockey team, for coaching my baseball team, for driving me to/from practices, going to weekend games/tournaments with me, paying for all of my sports and never stopping me from trying out for the AAA hockey teams. Wanting me to do my best. Spending hours helping me practice in the driveway, shooting off the piece of plexiglass he got from work. Playing basketball. Teaching me how to dive and watching me land flat on my back 15 times in a row trying to do a 1 1/2 off the 1 meter board. Setting up some weights in the basement for me so I could start working out. Giving me advice although at times it seemed that I didn’t listen to him (I did listen to him – sometimes I was stubborn and didn’t want to admit that he knew what he was talking about).

I’m sorry for being difficult. I’m sorry for not caring more about your situations and instead thinking my hockey was the most important thing in the world. I realize now how hard you worked at a job you didn’t like with a boss who was a jerk just so Margo and I could play sports and follow our dreams. And how we’ve turned out, we have you to thank.

For Margo going to university on a full golf scholarship to me competing at Nationals in ultimate. To Margo going to Nationals for golf to me going to World’s for flying disc. It all started with you + mom being there, supporting us, teaching us and coaching us. Being our biggest fans.

I hope you know that what you’ve done for me I cannot adequately express in words. I’ve done my best here but it goes so much deeper. Growing up, I know that Margo and I were the luckiest kids ever. To have two loving, dedicated, athletic and caring parents in our lives. I only hope I can someday provide that to my kids. I would be honoured to have been as good to my kids as you have been to me.

Today, on this Father’s Day on Sunday, June 18, 2011, Dad, I want to say how much I love and appreciate you.

Your son,
Robert J McLeod

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Moving forward is all about getting to know yourself and knowing what you need to make yourself happy.

I’ve met a lot of people who don’t have a passion and don’t have dreams. For whatever reason they let others dictate their lives for them, whether it’s their parents, their friends, or their partner. I’ve been there too and let others influence my direction. Sometimes it’s good for them to have that impact, but it’s much better when their impact affects you in a good way.

For example, say you’re really passionate about sports. And your friends like to drink a lot. What will benefit you in a positive way and help you move forward?

Or, you’re really passionate about going to live theatre but your friends love going to the movie theatre. Again, what will benefit you in a positive way and help you move forward?

We all choose to have people in our lives for a certain reason. Early in our lives, we’re friends with people from junior/senior high school because we live in the same town/community as them and it’s easy since we can’t drive.

Later on, when we go to university/college, we become friends with a group who are in the same program as us or who participate in the same activities as us.

After school, we’re friends with people from work because we spend so much time with them. They don’t necessarily share the same interests as us but they’re like family since we’re around them so much.

So in theory, we can have 3 types of friends – friends who are convenient to be friends with, friends who become close since they spend so much time around us and friends who share the same passions + interests as us. Which one will help us move forward? Well, the latter. The first two could also fall in the last category but not necessarily.

You see, when we let others dictate our lives and distract us from our path and our goals, then our dreams will suffer and will take longer for us to reach.

If your friends don’t understand when you choose to follow your passion rather than theirs, if they’re a true friend, they’ll understand. If they don’t, then they’re not are they?

Just something to think about. Happy Sunday and cheers to my 100th post!

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My grandma is awesome. And she’s a great cook. Her dressing has made it into Canadian Living magazine and I’ve been lucky enough to have it at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for most of my life. I guess technically it’s my grandmother’s grandmother’s dressing.

Now, I share it with you:

6 medium potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp vinegar
2 slices bread
1 tbsp summer savory
1 tsp sage
1 onion chopped

Method: Peel and cook the potatoes. Drain, mash and add the butter. Mix well. Add the 2 slices of bread torn in small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

This dressing is good to use in stuffing your turkey or chicken (I do not put it in my turkey – instead I stuff the turkey with a couple of onions).

This dressing is not baked in the oven. It can be warmed up and served wit your vegetables. Also good cold.

My grandmother did – she put it in a small loaf pan – put it in the fridge. She used to slice it and lightly brown the slices in a buttered pan and served it warm.

Let me know what you think! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I have!

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I’ve always been told I was positive and optimistic.

I believe that people are inherently good.

There was some doubts in myself based on some past experiences. Doubts about love. Doubts about my future.

But there was a moment a few weeks ago when that changed.

When I felt more optimistic than ever.

When I felt more positive than ever.

When I had so much excitement + passion for living and the future.

I met someone.

And I feel like I have a whole new perspective.

Sometimes the timing is just right.

And you can 100% be yourself.

I feel that time is now.

This trip, this journey that we’re on. Life. It’s simply amazing.

And I’m loving every second.

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Something that is tough living so far away from home (roughly 4,500 km actually) is that I don’t really get home much and usually have to make a decision between going home in the summer (better weather and cheaper flights) vs over Christmas (lots of snow, delayed flights and more expensive flights).

For the past 2 years I’ve decided to go home in the summer – which was convenient because my vacation coincided with the Parlee Beach ultimate frisbee tournament in July. It’s such a great time and it’s an easy way to see most of my friends all at once.

However, because of how I was raised and how much Christmas means to me, it is tough being away from them during the holidays. I have so many fond memories of being a kid and waking up on Christmas day, opening presents and playing games with my family.

I try to do as much of that as possible whenever I’m not able to make it home for Christmas but something I’ve realized over the past few years is that family will always be family but close friends and really nice people can be close like family too.

That’s why this year I’m giving a huge shout out to my friends who are going to make this a great Christmas even though I’m not able to spend it with my family in NB. I will still try to call them all on Christmas morning though. And open my gifts from them.

Dang I wish I had a Christmas tree though. Hmmmm. There are a bunch of trees just up the street….

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To be or not to be…that is the question.

When it comes to volunteering and helping others, it most certainly is.

I strongly believe that there are 2 types of people who volunteer – those who truly want to give their time freely and those who simply put in their time because they think it’ll look good to their peers.

Well that’s fair. I can definitely understand doing something because it enhances your resume or because it gains respect amongst your friends/co-workers.

But what happened to doing something because it was the right thing to do?

I’ve been volunteering because I have the ability to help others. Mostly my volunteer hours have been spent teaching sports to kids. I think that’s due in large part to being involved in sports my whole life and seeing the positive impact they had on my childhood. Having the ability to give back, to me, is the greatest gift of all. And the best thing about giving your time freely to kids is that they appreciate you for doing that. When you show up and give your best to them, you’ll get their best back. It’s an incredible thing.

I also owe a lot of my volunteer spirit to my parents, both of whom I was very lucky to have had growing up. Whenever Mother’s Day is near, I reflect back on my time spent with my mom and I realize just how lucky I was to have had a mother who gave so much of herself to make sure I had the opportunities that I had – it was truly incredible.

I ask you to think about why you do/don’t volunteer. I’d love to hear your inspirations/stories!

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