Motivational Talks for Me and the Students

One of my favourite things about coming home - besides a comfortable bed, my friends and family, and any food I want - is having the opportunity to present my journey and lessons on success to Toronto-area schools. I am sent out to the schools by the Esteem Team - a National Not-for-profit organization who's mandate is to inspire youth. They select various world-class athletes to be part of their program. I have been fortunate to be with them since I first played on the indoor national team in 2001.

This week I was in 3 Toronto schools talking about the power of a positive attitude, goal setting and perseverance. I incorporate many of my sport and life stories, and some fun exercises as well, into the 45min-1hr talk with the goal of teaching these students thru real-life experiences how they too can find success in their life. However, at the end I often myself to be more inspired by the genuine questions, stories and enthusiasm from the kids.

Now, I let the schools know this week that I would announce the 'Best Listening Schools' of the week (based on keeping quiet when other people are talking and quieting down the fastest when I raised my hand for silence). The top schools can be found in the right sidebar. Congrats to all schools who were very courtious and outstanding listeners.

The Positve Arm Test (powered by SIGG)

SMART Goal = Hold the volleyball ready position for 30s. SUCCESS!

Positve Thinking Makes you Stronger!

Learning to Set

SMART Goal = Volley the ball to me

Kara Sharing her message of Success with the grade 4-6 Students

Keen Listners at the Niagara School (the #1 Listening School of the Week)

Autograph session after the talk. I felt like Miley Cyrus!

SOOOO Close!

VIDEO - BEST PLAYS IN CHINA!!

Wow! What a great tournament we had here in Shanghai! I said last week that when you lose, don't lose the lesson - well it's obvious that we didn't, since we improved on everything that held us back last week.

Our first game matched us up against the top 10 ranked Astrian team of Schwaiger-Schwaiger. We had played them one time before in Thailand last year, and felt confident about the re-match. We started off strong, and then faltered in the first set. However, our second set was unreal. We played like a vetran team, going point for point with the Austrian Olympic team, pushing the game to extra points - 25-23! We were so close to taking a set off this top team. With more experience in these matches, we are certain that the close matches will side in our favour.

In our second game we played against Great Britain, and again we enetered the match with a cool confidence. Despite incredibly windy conditions, we were poised throughout the first set, and won quite easily. The next set saw the tables turn, as Great Britain turned up the fire to take the set. In the third and deciding set, we rallied back and forth, each team holding the lead a different point in the match. The wind played a big factor, as the far side of the court was definitely more difficult to play in since the wind was blowing hard at our backs. We were up 13-12 at the final side-switch, which placed us back on the difficult wind side. We rallied back and forth, and in the end Great Britain won 16-14 in our best match of our career.

In China, we stepped up our game to a new level, and I really feel that we showed our competitors a glimpse of what's to come over the next 4 years. I am more certain than ever before that we are exactly on the right path towards our Olympic path, as we keep on growing, developing and challenging ourselves and our competitors. I am very proud of Team Mizara - still not satisfied ;), but extremely proud.

Check out some of our best plays in China above! Thanks so much for following our progress. xoxox

Team Mizara FOR SALE!

If you look down at our Video Bar in the right margin, you will see a new video we have added to our YouTube Series. Team Mizara is for sale - check it out and pass the link on to anyone you know who might be interested!!!

Be Inspired!

Express your Gratitude, & See How You Feel
It feels like a year has passed since our last monthly newsletter, but it has only been a month. At this rate, I’m pretty sure that if I blink it might be 2012 already. Not that I am wishing away the time, on the contrary I am enjoying and giving thanks for every minute. That’s one of the biggest lessons this journey has taught me so far - to give thanks for anything and everything.
It helps keep me in a positive mindset and to keep things in perspective: that I am so fortunate to be living my dream and sharing this experience with you. Even our loss in Brazil on Tuesday, as disappointing as it was at the time, makes this experience even more real and helps to point out what we need to improve on to become a top team in the world. I remind myself of my gratitude every evening, as I record in my journal all that I am grateful for. Try it out if you want. You’ll be amazed at how it makes you feel.

Mizara World Update

Shanghai, China - April 26-May 3, 2009
We have since flown up and across the world to Shanghai, China. Liz and I have only been here for about 24 hours, and already we’ve had a chance to check out Jinshan City. From our beautiful hotel room at the Seagull Hotel, we can see the water and the site, which is about a 10 min taxi drive away from us. I’m not quite sure who named the Hotel, but to me it’s not the most elegant name, as for us in Canada it’s like calling the hotel ‘The Flying Rodent’!!!
Nonetheless, it is an awesome hotel, with a Western-ish restaurant, which is always nice.

The food in the Wester-ish Restaurant: "Vegetable Bum". Haahaa!

Liz and I have already made it to the TASCO grocery/electronics/clothing store. To experience what we did, minus the funky smells, check out the video on our blog. There were swimming eels, live frogs, and all sorts of fish on ice!! The most priceless part is Liz’s face as she tries not to loose her breakfast.

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!