PeaceWalker Blog

  Iron Mike Tyson still rocking it in his 54! I don't know if you got the chance to see Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.'s exhibition match a couple weeks back? I didn't watch it. Boxing is fine and all and I've seen numerous matches on TV as well as in person, but much like pretty much any other sport, I never really enjoyed watching any of it. A little here and there is alright, but for whatever reason I never got into being a viewer, let alone fan. I'll be honest, I have mixed feelings on the exhibition fight. Part of me wants to give those guys credit for getting 'in there' again at fifty something. That's awesome! Make some money. Relive your youth. Work what you got. Fifty is the new thirty! The 'other' part of me is like... Grow up. Move on.  But, first off. It's a free(ish) country. Do what you want. If you want to challenge yourself in that way for whatever reason, go for it! I get it... I like mixing it up too. Any of us  'old dogs&

  If You Know Me... You know that my favorite holiday is Halloween... Next is Thanksgiving... Then Christmas... Then Independence Day. To me Thanksgiving is punctuated by Christmas of course. They are like fraternal twins. Similar in spirit (speaking in a non-religious way), one of thankfulness, goodwill and love, but also different.  I come from a small, less-drama ridden family, so really both holiday's have been quite warm and cozy for me. They have brought a lifetime of good family memories. Now you might think because of my affinity for Halloween that my favorite movie would be Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissor Hands, or Gremlins this time of year. Well... they are alright, but certainly not my favorite. I do like me a little Holiday Cheer this time of year!  Here are my top 10 favorite Christmas movies: 1) A Charlie Brown Christmas 2) The Grinch Who Stole Christmas 3) A Christmas Story 4) Elf 5) It's a Wonderful Life 6) Star Wars Holiday Special 

My rock'n roll days. Probably taken in 90' or 92' I'm on your left w/the sunglasses. Mike is center stage singing I just got back from a funeral of an old friend of mine Mike. We're pictured above from a gig we were playing at back in 90' or 92'... Yes, yes, I had hair at one point! =)  I've played in bands since before I was even a teenager. Drums first, then guitar.  In 1988 a couple of guys that I trained martial arts with, Jim & Steve Seppela had a band called Borrowed Time. One of their guitarists left and they had an opening.  When Jim found out that I had been playing guitar in a few bands, he asked if I wanted to try out? I agreed to meet him at his house the following week.  I can still remember how nervous I was when I showed up at his house. I knew Steve, Jim's brother, who was on the drums... but I didn't know the other guy. Mike was a few years older than I and looked a lot like Tom Petty.  Boy could he play! AND sing too!   I wa

  The Really Scary Stuff The state of everything right now is one of tension. Covid, the election, the economy and social issues threaten further indecision and fighting amongst our leaders. Our current state of affairs provides a stressful, uneasy environment for all of us.  So yes, there is still plenty of 'scary' stuff out there that folks are concerned about.  HOWEVER... This is also a great time for those of us who are on this path as protectors... As PeaceWalkers to double down on clarifying where WE Stand with things and why.  Now this isn't something that you need to post up on facebook or twitter... You don't need to take a selfie for your instagram account, a bumper sticker or a sign out in your front yard. It's simply something that you live everyday. Something that quiet assurance inside of you that you are clear on who you are and what you believe in.  It's not something you need to try to convince anyone else of, or judge anyone by... It's simp

Well, here we are... Thanksgiving Eve! First, I want to Thank You for sharing some of this journey together. No matter if we just correspond here on-line, we've only first met or we've been walking this path together for some time... Thanks! I hope I've added something to your Life.  The support of you and our entire community both here locally at the Krav academy and you on-line PeaceWalker folks has me grateful beyond words. In times where I feel the darkness of uncertainty creep in; you're support has helped anchor and inspire me to Keep Going. And that's powerful in a time when there is a lot of division rather than solidarity.  Remember, you can be the person who changes this. Being the guy or gal that others look to in the thick of it all can be difficult.  It can be challenging to rally at times. But know that you are held by many hands that can't always be seen.  They cheer you on in good times and holding you up in bad.  Sometimes it's obvious who t

I went for a walk the other day (as I often do) and I have to tell you... The sunset was absolutely amazing!  I took a picture of it and you know what?! It didn't do it any justice what so ever...  As a matter of fact, it paled in comparison so much so, that I won't insult your sense of beauty by even posting it here... The picture you see above, I took from the internet... Yea, big surprise!  Virtual vs. Real As good as our tech is, there's something better... And it's absolutely FREE! What is this amazing, limitless thing? Real Life!  You should try it! You should inspire others to try it too! Evaporating Problems?! The more you begin using your tech as a tool and less like an addiction, the more rich your life will become.  The more leverage you'll have over yourself. And that is really the only leverage that really matters.  Quit allowing others to have so much influence over you.  You'll find when you limit or even eliminate your activity on social media, m

  A Native American folktale from the Anishnabe people tells of a great river that was filled with many fish and such sweet water that all the animals came to its banks to drink from it.  When a giant moose heard about the river, he went there to drink from it. But the moose was so big and he drank so much of the river, that the water began to dry up.  The beavers were the first to worry.  "If the river disappeared, what would become of our lodges?" They exclaimed! The muskrats were worried about how they would live without the river too; as were the fish. They couldn't survive on land like other creatures. The water was their home. All of the animals gathered together to think of a way to drive the moose off. But he was so big that even the mighty bear was afraid to approach him. Would no one stand up to moose, all of the animals wondered! Then the tiny fly said: "I'll do it. I'll make the leave." The animals began to laugh.  "How could one little

Both the hummingbird and vulture fly over this land of ours.  All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for to eat. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly rotting flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of beautiful flowers. All alive and thriving.  The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. The fill themselves with what is dead and gone. Hummingbirds live on the vibrance of what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves up with freshness and beauty. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do! What are YOU looking to feast on? ~Author Unknown In Life as In Conflict... This approach of getting what you are looking for is a discipline, a practice.  Do you look for the solution within the conflict, or do you constantly get distracted by the problem? Do you focus on what you can do in a situation, or are you paralyzed by what you can't do? Do you take responsibility, or place blame? Are you ex

  Well, today's the BIG day for us in the U.S.! We get to vote!  A right that many fought and died for...  I sincerely hope that you exercise that right today! === Have you ever wonder what the word Poll meant? You know as in VOTING POLL.  Well, if so, here you go: The word "poll" means "scalp" or "head". When votes were taken by gathering people together and counting heads, the place where this was done (sometimes an open field) was called the "polls". All of this focus on voting and the Presidency, had me thinking about the mindset a president has to have to lead a country... Especially in challenging times like today.  A Courageous... some might even say Fearless Mindset! And If you think times are tough now, you really need to study up on history! Think about the challenges that some of our past presidents faced?! Washington   lead us from a colony to a country.  Lincoln  had to  deal with civil war and slavery... and lost his life due to

  The World Doesn't Owe You... One of the things that really has me thinking right now is this idea of thankfulness, change and leaving the world better than you found it, even in a small way... In the U.S. we have abundance. We are one of the most fortunate countries in the world. Arguably, our population lives better than over 95% of the rest of the world. Now, I know some of you are out there thinking, WTF Craig, there are homeless people, there are people who don't have healthcare, there are people who are abused, discriminated against, there are people who are illiterate, jobless and poor, here in the States! You are absolutely correct... Although we live in one of the richest countries in the world, we still have our problems. Our dirty laundry. Our dark secrets. Things we are ashamed of or should be... Yes, we are far from perfect. We are human. We have room to grow. Room to improve. Room to learn. But, Don't Forget... Some of us forget and begin to feel a sense of e

I 'm going to take you back to1981. My brother (3 years older than me) turned me on to numerous bands: Kiss, ac/dc. Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant, Van Halen, Black Sabbath and... RUSH!  We lived on the WestSide of Grand Rapids, near Richmond Park. Back in those days I would still often go to the store with my Mom. We'd go to 'Little Meijers.' It was the last of the smaller grocery stores of the Meijer chain at the time. It closed down only a few short years after the time of this story. Little Meijer was only a few blocks away from our house, may three quarters of a mile or so. It had a tiny... and I mean teeny tiny little 'music section', made up of a handful of albums (you know, vinyl records), a few cassettes and some simple electronic stuff. If you looked up on the top shelf shoved in the corner, you could still find an 8 track cassette on clearance! Anyway, I saw this album, new and shiny...  RUSH Moving Pictures My little tween brain said... I NEEDED it! I

  Funny how sometimes it takes getting 'off the grid' to connect... Well... I reconnected with an old friend of mine. He's been wanting to go out camping for a while now, so...  Off the grid we went for a few days.  We went up in the Manistee National Forest near Bitley, Michigan.  It was really good to reconnect and spend some time together. We bonded with some shared adversity in the woods... It was cold and rainy pretty much everyday... However, we had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again!    Do any of you have a friend who you haven't connected with in a long time? Sure you do! Give one of them a call and reconnect with them. Go out for coffee, lunch, dinner, or drinks. Time moves so quickly! Days turn to weeks, months, years and decades! Before you know it there is a lot of time in between... The second thing is that you may have noticed that my last email had a number of links. Problem is (if you tried them) most of them were disconnected! (oh, s