Mizara World Update

Brasilia Brazil - April 16-22, 2009

Liz and I with our SIGG water bottles at the FIVB Beach Volleyball Site in Brasilia, Brazil

After an 11 hour overnight flight one week ago Thursday, Liz and I spent almost a week enjoying the autumn heat in Brasilia, Brazil. Since Brazil is south of the equator, the summer season is just ending - which means it’s much hotter than home! Thank goodness we had the opportunity to prepare for the heat (and to detoxify) by visiting the infrared sauna at Inspired Life three times per week before leaving! Brasilia is an interesting city, built to be the capital in order to entice people to move in from the coast and colonize the interior of Brazil. It has a 1950s futuristic feel that reminds me of Epcot centre in Disney World. The first thing I noticed when we left the airport was the amazing sky in Brasilia. It is the most beautiful blue - like the prairies - only it seems to extend further up, so that it looks like there is actually more sky in Brasilia.

Myself, Liz and Cam at the Technical Meeting before the Qualifier.

Coach Cam also made the long journey down to Brazil’s capital city to help us prepare for our first FIVB tournament of the season. After a couple of great days of training, we unfortunately lost to a Mexican team in the qualification tournament. It would have been outstanding to win (and we look forward to winning this week in Shanghai), however I feel that our loss helped clarify our direction for the season, and to point out the areas in which we need to work. As is often the case, after we got over the initial disappointment of the loss, we learned so much by it that will help keep us on track.

Liz and I getting ready to play Mexico in the Qualifier.

We were so lucky to have Nick and Paola, friend’s of Cam’s who are currently living in Brasilia, as tour guides to our Brasilia adventure. They took us around the town and out to some awesome restaurants for dinner, especially the Charascuteria where the servers come to your table with unlimited cuts of meat - as a carnivore, I was in heaven! We had a dessert called Asai, made from the Asai berry of the Amazon. It was kind of like a sorbet/frozen yogurt with granola and bananas. At first I wasn’t sure of the taste, but ended up really liking it and would recommend it to anyone who visits Brazil.

Nick, Cam & Paola out for lunch. They were awesome tour guides!

As I noted last year, when we visited Sao Paolo, Brasilia is a city of extremes. In the interior, which was built in the shape of an airplane (you can see it if you visit google earth), there is a lot more money and in the outskirts there are slum-like villages called ‘Favels’. You can see the poverty in the city, as people are selling fruit and towels and candy on the side of the road, and others sleeping on the sidewalk. I never felt completely safe walking down the streets, especially after we heard that people had been robbed near the bus station at a Brazilian tournament last year. Again, it just made me fell so grateful to have been born to my parents in Canada where there is much more hope for all people, no matter what family you were born into.

The Crowd at the Tournament

The day of the qualifier was also Brasilia’s 49th birthday which meant that the whole city shut down. It was estimated that there were over 1 million people at the site that day. It was unreal. There were parades of farmers and horses and bulls galloping down the main streets outside the site (please check out our blog here). Horses I have seen before, but not bulls! It was crazy. Apparently they were using this year’s event to prepare for Brasilia’s 50th birthday next year. What a great atmosphere in which to play, especially since Brazil is one of the beach volleyball capitals of the world!

Riding Bulls and Horses down the streets of Brasilia to celebrate it's 49th Birthday.

In the end though, I was very glad to come home where I don’t have to look over my shoulder every couple of feet to make sure I’m not going to be robbed. I love the people, the food is outstanding, but as has always been the case with every place I’ve visited in the World, I’m always happiest to be at home. Nothing punctuates the great fortune we have as Canadians than travelling to other countries. Although the beauty of other locations in the World might be comparable, and at times seem even more beautiful than Canada, there is something about the ‘full package’ that we get as Canadians that I wouldn’t trade in for anything in the World.

Around Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach has wavered back and forth between being beautiful and sunny, to downright cold. Not the sort of cold we were experiencing in Toronto before we left by any means, but cold for being by the beach and training for volleyball. Not that I'm complaining. If I could transport a couple of my most favourite people from home to LA for the winter, I think I'd probably stay here the whole time!
Training, both with Coach Cam and with Sport Psych Mike has been unreal. We're really pushing our comfort zones, but we know that's what it takes to be a champion. The results are already coming, but the process has been even more rewarding to date.
We are staying in the cutest little apartment, albeit a bit cave-like and dark at night. It's about at 2 minute walk from our court, which affords us the extra time to do our journaling and other homework from Mike, our daily exercises as prescribed by our trainer Ken, and working hard to find new partners and to inspire our community to come support us at our Gold Medal Gala. More than ever, I am confident that we are on the right path towards our goals. Call it a hunch.
We're going to try to post some videos in a bit - having some problems figuring that one out. We also want to post a slideshow of photos. For now, here's a few select photos from our trip so far.

OUR APARTMENT

THE WALK TO PRACTICE

LOCALS PLAYING - MY IDOL DOUG

Be Inspired - Are you living the life of your dreams?

Certain moments in life put everything into perspective, make you realize how much control you have over yourself and your experience, yet at the same time, how little control you have over life. Liz and I had a few 'aha' moments this week, that both challenged us to look inside for the answers and to put this whole journey in greater perspective. The dad of a good friend of Liz's passed away this week in his sleep at a young age, making the fragility of life, and the necessity to live every moment within it, even more poignant. I found myself thinking of my own parents: do I show them that I love them? Do I spend the time to continue to grow our relationship? What more can I do so that, should I lose one of them tomorrow, I would feel like I gave everything I could to our relationship? Likewise, this event made me question my decision to spend extended periods of time away from my family and friends, in the name of a ‘game’. Is my goal really worth it? Is this truly where I want and need to be? Am I on the path of my dreams? If it were all to end tomorrow, would I be proud of my choices? To all of this I answered yes. Had I answered no to any of the questions, and chosen to reevaluate my goal, that would have been ok too. The fact is that I took a look and made sure that all my challenges and obstacles on this journey were worth it, given the bigger picture of life. Can you say the same?

Help us Win Gold - Join us for our Gold Medal Gala!

On April 1st, 2009, Team Mizara will be hosting the April Fools Day event of a lifetime - the Gold Medal Gala at the Great Hall. From 6:30-10pm that evening, you will have the opportunity to watch some of the top musical, aerial acrobat, magic and comedic acts in the GTA, while you mingle with other Team Mizara supporters, eat outstanding food and bid on exquisite silent auction items (including autographed Chris Bosh sneakers). All for only $55 for 1 ticket and $100 for 2 tickets!
Most importantly though, you will be driving the funding that will help us win Gold! Visit www.goldmedala.com to buy tickets and learn more!

Overwhelmed . . but working on it!

So, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed right now! Just came off a mild flew that threw me off big-time over the last 24hrs, I'm missing my love back home, and there just seems to be more and more work on our quest to get a ton of sponsors and raise money for our team. So, I decided to vent a bit - to let it go - and I figured that this is what our blog is for: to report all aspects of this journey, not only the ups but also the more challenging times as well.

Don't get me wrong, even in my bummed feeling right now, I still feel so lucky to be doing what I am doing. I just feel off and, like I said, overwhelmed with all the 'back-end' things that we have to do to make this team run as it needs to. Couple that with a good dose of home-sickness and I guess there's reason for me to feel a bit down right now.

So now that I've gotten that out, the big question becomes: what am I going to do about it? Well, to start, I'm going to take tonight off - no more work for me. Maybe Liz and I will watch a movie or play a game. Maybe I'll write a love note back home to make me feel closer to MJ since we're apart. And, I will definitely do a meditation before I go to bed tonight to set the tone for my sleep, and for the new day tomorrow.

And, this little vent online has helped as well, just to get things out - I'm not very good at keeping my emotions bottled up inside. In fact, I already feel better! It's amazing how writing things down and making a plan can change things around!

So Grateful to be Training in LA

We've been in California for 3 full days now, and the training has been outstanding.  It is so great to be back with Coach Cam, in our familiar 'hood' of Manhattan Beach, outside in the sun playing the sport we love!  Does it get any better than this??

We're living in the cutest little apartment (albeit, a little dark for our liking, kind of like a cave in the evening) about 3 blocks from the court where we train.  So, we walk about 3 minutes and can see the ocean.  In fact, we can hear the ocean from our windows at night.  Again, does it get any better?

I say all of this not to rub it in (as I know most of you are as sick of snow as we were when we left last week), but to point out my gratitude for the life that I lead, my gratitude for all of you who are sharing this journey along with me.  Somewhere along the way I learned the importance of expressing my gratitude, mostly to stay positive and present.  If I'm having a bad day, listing all the things I'm grateful for, helps turn my day around.  Even if I'm having a bad game, if I can start small and find gratitude for where I'm playing or a part of the game I'm doing well, I find that the rest of my game soon starts to follow suit.  

So I guess this blog entry is one of gratitude for where I am, what I'm doing, and for all those important people who make up my life.  Thank you!

Raptors Fundraising Raffle!

Win 2 Gold Tickets to the Raptors while helping to support our team!
Want to watch Bosh, Bargnani and Calderon hoop it up against former teammate, T.J. Ford and the Indiana Pacers IN GOLD SEATING?! Now is your chance! We are holding a raffle for the Toronto vs. Indiana game to be played on Sunday, March 15th at 12:30. Fundraising Raffle Ticket pricing is as follows: 1 ticket for $20 or 5 tickets for $50! Hurry and buy your tickets because the draw will take place on Friday, February 27th. Specs: Section 116A row 14 seats 1&2 - ticket value $330.

All proceeds will go towards the 2009 Travel and Competition fund of Team Mizara, so please pass this info on to any Raptors fan you know. To purchase raffle tickets simply email Team Mizara at info@teammizara.com.

A Dose of Inspiration

2009, A New Year full of New Possibilities! For those of you who are saying “Wow, how did January pass me by so quickly?”, and wondering when exactly your New Year’s resolutions flew out the window of time, I am here to tell you that it’s not too late. It has been my experience that goals remain unachieved mostly because a clear outline of their attainment was never created. That's where the Goal Setting Staircase TM model that I created is useful.

As I tell the kids in my Esteem Team Speaking Engagements: you have to picture your goal as being at the top of the staircase with you looking up from the bottom (so the bottom of your staircase is today). The trick is to write a small goal on each step of the staircase, breaking down these steps as much as possible into tasks you can do today, tomorrow and the next day, each with their own ‘due date’. With each step, you will be one little bit closer to achieving your goal.

Now, the neat thing is that if you plan this out with the greatest attention to detail, your staircase starts feeling like an escalator; as one step moves effortlessly to the next without any extra energy expenditure. That’s when you know your pathway is the right one - when things seem to flow together. This is what I call the Goal Setting Escalator TM, and it is essentially what Liz and I have used to plan out every step on our journey to 2012.

Now, I’m not meaning to imply that there won’t be any speed bumps along the way - of course perseverance is essential. But if you set out a good plan, and focus on your goals, the whole journey is made a lot easier. Your steps might change along the way, but at least you have a path to follow and, most importantly, a goal you can achieve today! Are you ready to take the first step? We are . . .

Team Mizara in the Community

Team Mizara with the Burlington Blaze U15 Team

Liz and I have been very fortunate to meet many of the top Youth volleyball all-stars in the province over the last few months while touring to OVA volleyball tournaments in the region to promote our camps and sell our fundraising calendars. It always remains one of our top priorities to continue to interact with our community so as to inspire our future leaders to go after their dreams.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wow, I can't believe it's 2009 already!!! This year has truly flown by, but the memories I've collected will stay with me for sure!

With a New Year comes New Years resolutions, and I have 2 of them I would like to mention: one that pertains to me in general, and the other a team resolution (that I already alluded to in our last newsletter).

Let's start with my team resolution, which I'm starting here today: to keep this blog up-to-date. In the next week or so I will be adding the last group of photos and videos from our tour in Asia, and will also keep you abreast of our upcoming exciting season as it unfolds.

As for my personal resolution, I resolve to focus on 'being present' and 'in the moment'. It's a lifelong journey I'm told, but I want to make a conscious effort to be present both on and off the court in order to truly live my life to the fullest and to minimize worry about the past or future. And, like every goal I set for myself, I have also created mini-goals to help me move closer to the realization of my goal - like daily meditation, personal affirmations and by writing my 'quote of the year' in my journal and placing it by on my desk and bedside table.

"The secret to health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future or anticipate troubles, but to LIVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT wisely and earnestly." ~ Buddah.

So, on that note I will take this moment to wish you an outstanding New Year and the best of luck with whatever resolutions you set for yourself.

Do you make a New Year's resolution - take our poll to find out how many friends of Team Mizara make yearly resolutions or goals for themselves. And, if you like, feel free to record your resolutions on the commentary for this blog.