The Richest Chocolate in the World

As Camille and I walked through town this afternoon, we came across a French bakery. Fluffy croissants and muffins enlivened the display window and espresso beans filled the air. We heard this place had desserts as well, so we poked around until we found the counter in the back of the store. Elegant macaroons, cakes, and chocolate boxes filled the shelves. The chocolates were calling to us.

We asked the woman behind the counter if she could show us the chocolates closer. She picked a box from the display and opened it, unveiling nine perfectly arranged chocolates of different shapes and flavors. But if we wanted one, we had to buy the entire box.

“How much for the box?” I questioned.

“Twenty six dollars and fifty cents,” she responded promptly.

“Okay, I’ll take one. It must be worth the price.”

There Camille and I sat, eating each decadent chocolate as if it were the first time and last time we would ever try it. Every bite was savored, each flavor experienced. We saved four pieces for a rainy day—a day when we’ll need to be reminded of wha the good life tastes like.

We left the French eatery satisfied at our chocolate excursion, grateful for the opportunity of encountering these special treats.

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You’re postulations are correct. This story is a lie. Camille and I did walk into a French bakery in town today, and we did explore the rich box of chocolates. But we didn’t buy it. How could anybody justify spending $26.50 on chocolate on a regular Sunday afternoon? I love chocolate. I could eat a dark chocolate bar a day and never get sick of it. In fact, last week I bought three chocolate bars on sale for only $2.61 and ate them in three days.

And guess what? Those were my three best days in recent memory. I was in love with myself and the chocolate as I respectfully devoured it. I was filled with joy and peace and a sense of completeness. Nothing mattered in the moments of my chocolate indulgence. The only available emotion was love. And each bar was worth 87 cents.

The richest chocolate in the world is the chocolate you slow down for and make the time to savor. Don’t fall into the expensive trap (that is, if it’s expensive it must taster better and, therefore, should be savored). You make chocolate decadent by experiencing it fully. If you never slow down to taste it, there’s never any difference between quality and experience. You’re just overpaying for a Hershey’s bar.

The richest chocolate in the world is the chocolate you slow down for and make the time to savor. Trust me, that Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cup would have made Jesus cry tears of joy.

Be Aggressive in Pursuit of Greatness

We’re on our way back from the Nittany Lion Challenge at Penn State. I ran the 400 and a 4×400. In both races, I ran well but I wasn’t aggressive enough. My mindset was right, I was prepared for both races, but I just didn’t bring the right amount of do-or-die energy. I was soft in my execution and not strong enough in my race demeanor.

I ran okay, but could have raced better. There needs to be a different approach to my future races, one where I ferociously compete and rule out the possibility of loosing. If I ran harder out of the gate, i would’ve been in the race. I would’ve been pulled through, would have ran a faster time, and might not have lost.

Balancing the triviality of running around an oval with the fierceness that can only come from a passion to destroy others and be victorious is a difficult task that I’ve yet to master. It’s a strange thing: trying to act like running doesn’t matter so that I don’t get anxious while recognizing that I need to make it matter to be any good at it. I don’t know if I ever will. But I can try. And try again. And try until my very last race.

But I’ve made a decision. Next race, I’m going to run as if my life depends on it. Period.

Wisdom Book: January 10, 2020

For those who missed last week’s post: Basically, my Wisdom Book is where I write down a list of things I learned that past week each Friday.  I then flesh out the list to really get to the core of what I learned. This list is what I use to record my weekly podcast episode of It’s All Mahalo with Camille, my girlfriend. Here’s my list for what I learned this week.

January 10, 2020

Light Shines in the Darkness…

And darkness has not overcome it.  Fr. Ruff, whom I work with on campus to produce his podcast, Ruffly Speaking, says that this one verse in the beginning of John all but sums up the entire New Testament.  Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.  At mass this past Sunday, Fr. Francesco said that light isn’t important, but the service the light provides is important: to show us what’s right in front of us.  To show us the truth of who we are.  Aubrey Marcus opened my eyes to see that if God was a color, God would probably be black because black contains all colors.  So if light, which is Jesus, shines in the darkness, we can see God, who is Truth.  I’ve started to appreciate light a little more.

How to Love Myself

Aubrey Marcus Podcast #239 How to Practice Self Love with Kamal Ravikantwas one of the most meaningful and practical podcasts I’ve ever heard.  During the episode, Kamal shared wisdom he gained from embarking on a journey of loving himself after a difficult stretch in his life.  He came up with a formula which he shared during this podcast and in his recent re-released book, Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It. I’ve been listening to this book and am blown away at every chapter.  It’s worth the purchase.  I’m going to begin implementing the following practice into my daily rituals.

Basically, there’s four steps to living yourself:

  1. 10 Breath Mental Loop: Say “I love Myself” on the inhale and exhale whatever comes, be it good or bad.  Do this whenever you remember.  Say “I love Myself” throughout the day as many times as possible.  Soon, you’ll begin to remember it’s actually true.
  2. Meditate: choose a song, preferably a piece of instrumental music.  Sit in a quiet place and do the mental loop while listening to the song.  Do this every day.  You will subconsciously begin identifying loving yourself with that song, and it will become an anchor for your meditation practice.
  3. Mirror: Stand in front of the mirror and stare at yourself while repeating the mental loop. Look into your eyes (it helps to focus on one).  Know what it looks like when you’re loving other people by beginning with loving yourself. Do this for 5 minutes.
  4. One Question: when in a moment of distress or before an important decision, ask yourself the following question: “If I loved myself truly and deeply, would I let myself experience this?”  Another rendition is: “If I loved myself, what would I do?”  The key here is the “if” – it allows for possibilities and opportunities instead of regret and shame.

Buy a Stock Pot

I’ve been making bone broth (chicken stock) for a few years now.  Camille and I eat chicken legs and then freeze the bones.  To make bone broth, you need chicken bones and a while chicken, along with some veggies.  In the past I’ve had to use two separate pots to make all the bone broth. That was tedious and more expensive. So I decided to buy a real stock pot – a 16 quart stock pot.  It wasn’t too expensive ($25) but the purchase was justified because of the use I’ll get out of it in my life.  I’m going to put a lot of miles (or quarts) on that stock pot.  And I can’t wait for it.  I’ll make a purchase if it will bring me joy for a long time.  That’s the commitment I decided to make to myself this year.

Creating a Sacred Space

My room is my sanctuary, but it didn’t start like that. It used to be a garage in a row home built in 1925. I can’t imagine what it was before that. It’s been redone 5 times over, and when I moved in the spiders had more real estate than the carpet. But I made a commitment to make the small carpeted off area my safe haven. Now, it’s my favorite room in the house.

Decorated in tapestries and custom artwork and cozied up with Philadelphia sports memorabilia, my room welcomes me home every day. It has some wood furniture and some plastic, a cheap black rug, and enough books to keep me occupied for a decade. It’s draft but well lit, comfortable but many workouts have happened there. Nothing can be seen out of the small marbled window, and airflow is somewhat of an afterthought.

I’ll never fully understand why, but I love my rough and tough room. It makes me feel safe. Like I’m the king of my own kingdom, like I’ve ruled well and my dominion has afforded me a soft bed and secure walls. I am the king of this kingdom. And I always will be.

Until the lease runs out in May.

Chicken Stock

You are the chicken to my broth

and the bones to my stock.

Today we simmer united—

never to be separate again.

One Calendar

I’ve been listening to Zig Ziglar’s Secrets to Closing the Sale on Audible recently. It’s a classic. I can’t begin to unpack all the timeless wisdom encompassed in the book. But there’s one thing that stuck with me, in my soul. Zig said to keep one calendar for every area of your life. That spoke to me, because with my disorganized planner, 5 Apple calendars, and 3 Google calendars, it’s easy to get things mixed up.

So today I drew a January calendar in my notebook (better late than never). And I’m gonna use it. Every day. To the best of my abilities. One calendar for every area of my life. It’s time to bring order to the chaos of my existence.

Thank you, Zig. I hope you’re proud of who I’m becoming.

TRUST Model

Last semester in my leadership class, my group and I developed the TRUST Model for our Leadership project. The intention was simple: every topic we covered throughout the course dealt with interpersonal relationships, but none of them addressed how to build the most important part of any relationship, that is, trust. So this model helps people to first become a trustworthy individual and then move into trusting relationships with others.

Here’s how the TRUST acronym works:

  • Talented
  • Reliable
  • Unifying Mission
  • Supportive
  • Transparent

Imagine there are two magnifying glasses hovering over the word TRUST. The first magnifying glass includes the first 3 letters which stand for Talented, Reliable, and Unifying Mission. This is the Personal Lens. The second magnifying glass includes the last 3 letters which stand for Unifying Mission, Supportive, and Transparent. This is the Interpersonal Lens.

So to become a trustworthy person, it would help to become talented at the specific task you’re focusing on and reliable showing up each day with the same vigor and effectiveness. Next, it’s time to move into relationships with others. To get other people to place their trust in you, being supportive of them and honest are musts. To tie everything altogether, it’s important to always consider the Mission, the cause greater than yourself, that unites you and your teammate together.

This is how to become a Trustworthy person that can enter into trusting relationships with others.

What’s a Light?

What makes a light more meaningful: that it produces light, or that it shows us what’s right in front of us?

Wisdom Book: January 4, 2019

My girlfriend and I have a podcast called It’s All Mahalo. The premise is fairly simple: each Friday, Camille and I write a list of the things we learned that week. We write these lists in our “Wisdom Books” (thanks for the inspiration, Chip Conely). Then, we share these lists with each other in a conversation that we record. In one way or another, we tie what we learned back to Mahalo, or Gratitude. We remember that there is always something to be grateful for, each week of our lives.

I’ve decided that each Saturday I’ll share my Wisdom Book for the week with you all. To hear Camille’s list and how our learning unites, you’ll have to stay tuned & listen to our podcast when it’s released. Until then, enjoy my Wisdom Book from this past week (the first week of the year).

January 4, 2019

Small Steps to Get Back on Track

The holidays are filled with a lot of family time and a lot of rich foods, meals, and desserts. This year was no different. I found myself feeling uncomfortable with my body and wanting to lost about 8 pounds before competition season in track. That seems like an insurmountable number to be lost within the next couple of weeks, but it’s not about losing it all at once. It’s about the small steps and decisions that move me towards that goal. It’s the reality that I can actually achieve any goal with patience and persistence, but I have to remember that I can’t solve the whole problem all at once

The Body Knows Best

If I eat something I shouldn’t eat, my body will tell me. If I am tired a lot and am unsure why, my body will make sure I feel it so I can find out why. If I am really sore and didn’t recover well from a workout, my bod will let me feel it. If I don’t feel good but still run a solid workout, my body will prove to me that it can do more than my mind thinks it can. In all, my body will know the truth far before my mind knows it. Being in touch with my body is a direction I have to move into this year.

Failure to Plan is Planning to Fail

These past few weeks, I’ve been pretty lackluster with my daily scheduling and planning. I’ll have an idea of what to accomplish but won’t put it on the schedule. This means it never gets done. In this new year, I want to be more organized and committed to my daily planning without feeling like I’m a slave to my schedule. Zig Ziglar said that you should have one calendar for your entire life. I’m going to adopt this principle to get a better handle on my daily planning.

This World is Magical

I’ve been watching a lot of nature documentaries this week. This was spurred by an interview I saw with 93 year old David Attenborough (the legend) and 16 year old Greta Thunberg. Anyways, I’ve been fascinated by the complexity and beauty of our natural world, as well as the majesty at which these documentary crews film the world. This world is magical, and we ought to remember that whenever we get bogged down by our daily troubles.

What Makes a Gift

I once herd it said that, “A gift is only a gift when it’s given a second time.” The man I heard this from said it was a Native American tradition, one that involved a selfless sharing. In the age of personalized packages sent across the world at the click of a button, this tradition has lost traction.

What would it mean to give the gifts you receive a second time? It would be case specific, but there also are probably some similar principles evident throughout. Perhaps, that if something is given to you, it isn’t really yours but is now under your jurisdiction. Maybe this is a reminder that nothing is really ours, that everything is merely borrowed from Mother Earth.

If that’s the case, then maybe giving a gift a second time entails honoring the gift by using it for a life-affirmative purpose, one that returns life back to the earth we take from. Maybe. Or maybe, more simply, it’s about using gifts for a purpose greater than yourself. This broader vision would surely culminate in giving back to source.

As the days of gift giving come to an end, think about the gifts you’ve received throughout your life, both the tangibles and the intangibles. Respond to them with gratitude. Then, and only then, should you share our gift with the rest of creation, affirming it in its holy wholeness.