My friend Crystal recently added an interesting post to her blog titled “Questions we should be asking”. It’s a very personal thing to answer questions about yourself and to look internally and be honest with yourself can be difficult. I personally like doing challenging things so I decided to take her advice and repost the questions, with my own answers.

11 questions we should be asking:

1. What is your dream job?

For me I interpret the question as “What do you dream of doing with your time on this earth?” For me that question has always been sports. I didn’t know to what capacity, or in what role that would evolve as but over the past few years it’s become quite clear – as a coach, as a teacher, as a mentor, as a competitor, as a performer and most importantly, as an active participant. The majority of my time I spend thinking about disc sports (ultimate frisbee, disc golf, dog disc, and there are others). I love frisbee. I love throwing. I love watching a frisbee fly through the air. I am always amazed how far a frisbee flies with my hand being its only source of energy. The frisbee is truly unique since it doesn’t follow a predictable flight path like a baseball or football does. The frisbee is not a slave to gravity – rather it flies through the air, and it’s flight can be controlled with the amount of force put on the frisbee and the amount of spin given to the frisbee.

I got off topic but to answer the question – my dream job involves a frisbee – teaching, competing, performing.

2. What fulfills you?

This one is easy. Learning. I learn through reading, through watching (movies, people), through practicing (sports) and through listening. I love knowledge and it drives me to be a better person everyday.

3. What’s your greatest fear?

I don’t have a greatest fear anymore. When I was 18, my mom died. Up to that point, that was my greatest fear. Since then, I live randomly, spontaneously, sometimes recklessly, but above all, passionately.

4. What do you want more of in life?

I want more freedom to do the things I love. Right now that means financial freedom although it frequently means more time as well.

5. What is your greatest accomplishment?

To date, I would consider my greatest accomplishment to be the fact that I DO. There are many people who talk, but I do. From that, I am a World Champion, I hold 2 World Records and I am also a Guinness World Record holder. The difference between me and many others is that I did. I’m not saying that to brag. I just did it. Anyone can.

6. What are you most ashamed of?

I’m not really ashamed of anything. I sometimes wish I had treated some people better in my past but I’ve realized why I treated them the way I did and I know we are both stronger because of it.

7. What makes you sad?

The number one thing that makes me sad is how ignorant and naive so many people are. There are so many things in this world that can be prevented and which shouldn’t happen – obesity, mental illness, poor education, debt. People are so complacent and don’t believe enough in themselves to stand up and be happy. That makes me sad.

8. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever experienced?

The hardest thing I’ve ever experienced was losing my mother. Nothing will ever compare to the pain that I went through. She was an incredible woman and she is a big reason I am who I am today.

9. What is great about you?

I really like how passionate I get for what I’m involved in and I like that I’m constantly looking for ways to improve myself and be better. It’s frustrated many people but that’s a big part of me and those who understand and appreciate that I think, like me for those reasons.

10. Who are you?

I’m a kind soul who cares too much, who over commits constantly and who is looking for real people and real experiences. I’m concerned that technology is taking much of the “realness” out of life and so I try to be aware of life around me to ensure I don’t lose sight of what matters.

11. What inspires you?

My passions. People who have pursued their passions. And the more I learn, the more my friends and family inspire me. How supportive they are. How much they love me. And how they are always there for me even when I think they’re not.

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Some would say there’s a fine line between passion and obsession. First of all, what is the difference?

I found a great explanation that I will use here to frame the rest of this post.

Passion – when people admire you for it

Obsession – when you do it too much and people think you’re weird

However, how does one truly impact an industry, a culture, a generation without people thinking they’re weird? Especially when what you choose to be passionate about/be obsessed with is different from what everyone else is doing.

What happens when you’re literally the only person doing what you’re doing? Do you keep going because you have such a strong belief in what you’re doing? Do you keep going because you know you have the ability and the opportunity to impact a lot of people in a very positive way? Do you keep going because you love what you’re doing and the more you do it, the more you see the potential?

How long do you keep at something before you decide it isn’t worth it? How often and how much do you listen to the opinions of others? Do you reach out for help from your friends and family? Do they believe in your journey?

I truly believe that the difference between passion and obsession is a fine line. I believe that it is defined differently by different people.

Why am I asking this question? I admit that people think I’m weird for what I do. I’ve been made fun of but through it all, I do what I do because I deeply love throwing a frisbee. It’s like meditation for me. I don’t just throw because it’s fun. I throw because I’m good at it, and because I want to be better at it.

Do people think I’m weird because I’m passionate about frisbee and they don’t understand frisbee? Or do they think I’m weird because I am obsessed with frisbee? I would think the first because I don’t consider what I’m doing as an obsession. I think obsession means that it impacts you and those around you in a negative and harmful way.

Sure my involvement in frisbee has cost me thousands of dollars. Sure it’s taken up a lot of my time that I could have spent developing friendships and relationships. I’ve no doubt lost relationships because of the time I spend doing what I love. Ideally I want to involve as many people in my life as possible in disc sports. For me, it’s a lifetime of living an active lifestyle. There’s a reason we joke “when a ball dreams, it dreams it’s a frisbee”. There truly is no other toy than a frisbee.

So I ask you, what do you think the difference between passion and obsession is?

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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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Monday was already sort of pre planned based on the soccer game being suspended from the night before but I also had a few things to do so it was more laid back than some of the other days.

The soccer game started at 10am and it begin at 0-0 with no time played; based on what we were told the night before, the game was going to restart with Denmark leading 1-0 and 25 minutes having been played. However, this was not the case and so I digress. Around the 35th minute, Denmark scored to again take a 1-0 lead. This game mattered because if Denmark won, they would advance. A draw or an Australian win meant Australia would advance. The game was pretty good – lots of chances from both sides but I felt that Denmark held the edge in chances (and obviously in score). However, there were some dirty plays which affected the moods of both teams but I felt that Denmark got more frustrated and inevitably, Australia finally scored – with 1 minute left to play. It was a great goal and followed some drama from a Danish player going down in front of the Australia net – he stayed on the ground although he wasn’t hurt, the ball moved to the opposite side of the field, and Australia scored to have the game end in a 1-1 draw and so they advanced. Compared to Sunday, the crowd was just a fraction – maybe 1,000 compared to 25,000 the night before so it was definitely much more quiet than it could have been. All in all, a good game.

After that, I got some work done and then Victor and I went and threw for an hour up by where Jose bought his house. Nice spot with a good view of the city – the grass space we threw on was a bit weird – it felt like they have just thrown some sod on top of a parking lot but there was a good crosswind so we got to work on our wind throws quite a bit.

After that, we headed for a Malaki UFC practice which lasted around 3 hours. Before the practice, there was some excitement as Victor’s car got stuck in some mud. Just after we pushed him out, Alejandro pulled up and proceeded to get stuck as well. Needless to say, both of their cars were covered in mud so after practice, we headed out to a car wash to get Victor’s car cleaned up. Well, that was quite the experience. Not only are the car washes in Queretaro much cheaper than Canada ($4 compared to $10) but they also wash your car for you while you wait. I thought that was neat as it created jobs for people where there normally wouldn’t be one (at least not that I’ve seen in Canada really).

After the car wash, we headed out for some food and I got my first taste of Pozole, which is a traditional soup passed on from the Aztecs. The pozole was delicious (and not as spicy as I was expecting – or maybe I was just better handling the spice than I expected) and I also had some enchiladas which were also delicious.

The third day was busy but a nice break compared to some of the other days of my trip. It’s always nice when you can do such a variety of activities and end the day with some delicious food!

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When I woke up Saturday, I had no idea what an amazing day I would have.

I’m staying with Victor and his family – so his parents, him and his 2 brothers and their bird who sings a lot. I love their house – it’s wide open, gets lots of sunlight and is in a great neighbourhood which is close to everything. They differentiate between a grocery store and a supermarket – grocery store is more where fresh fruit is sold and is for the neighbourhood and the supermarket is much bigger and serves the city. I like the grocery store idea – very welcoming, open concept and the food is fresh.

Anyway, for breakfast, I had Guava and Papaya for the first time – a taste I’m not used to but I like it – and they were so fresh. Yummm!

One thing that’s totally surprised me is the culture here – I didn’t realize how important friends + family is compared to Canada. Victor and his 2 brothers live at home and they are very close. I feel that is a big thing we’re missing in Canada. I feel like it had it’s place sometimes but in Canada we seem much more focused on our careers and entertainment than something real like our friends + family. I’m very lucky to be staying with Victor and getting to see this side of Mexican culture.

We went for a little tour of downtown and it was amazing how many people have fruit stands along the street, and also how many people try to sell something when the car is stopped at a light. We stopped and I got to see the Mausoleum of the Corregidora which holds the remains of Josefa Ortiz Dominguez, a heroine of the Mexican war of independence, and has many statues representing and honouring important people from the history of Queretaro. It’s amazing how much history there is in Queretaro. It’s easy to be proud of your heritage when you’re able to see it and read about it so easily.

Later on, we bought some Tuna fruit (also called Nopales) from a street vendor and it was delicious. I wish we had it in Canada but cactuses are pretty rare!

After we played ultimate and ate some food, we went downtown and watched the Mexico vs USA Golf Cup final at Wicklow’s Irish pub. Their pubs + bars are tucked away so when you walk down the street you really don’t know what’s inside until you get to the door. It’s quite neat as it makes the downtown seem a lot less commercial.

After the game, we went to meet up with some of the players from Malaki and I got to drink some delicious Mexican Tequila. I was feeling mucho bueno and got to eat some real tacos from a street vendor which were also quite delicious. I’m getting used to the spice in their food slowly.

I hope all my friends and family are doing amazing. I didn’t realize how much traveling would open my eyes to so much – but I guess when I see the culture the way I am, I can’t help but be influenced and inspired.

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Wapooti 2006 is less than a week away in Canmore, Alberta. We are returning as Sorrow, and as defending tournament champions. As you can see, we looked sweet last year – what will we look like this year? Well, this year we can plan ahead; we know what looks good and what doesn’t. But when you really think about it, does it really matter? I mean, all we do is wake up, eat a bit, do a bit, then sleep again. It’s not worth it really. I’m so sad all the time lately. I feel so empty inside, and sometimes I just wonder what is the point of life? *Sigh*

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