Remember Remember the 11th of September

i woke up today and was getting ready for my tennis class. the suns rays beaming down on me from afar....not a cloud in the sky. there was a gentle breeze waving through the air. you couldn't help but just be outside and smile. my thoughts were just about tennis...about how to control my forehand up the line, and hit winners. just a typical day. nothing out of the ordinary. going back into the house to gather some last minute things before i went out...took a glance at my watch, and saw the date. september 11th.

i then called my sister to wish her a happy birthday. we chatted for a few, and i wished her all the best today. and the date came back in my mind. september 11th. seven years ago to the day, the most deadly act of terrorism in the history of this country took place. 3,000 lives lost. and when you stop and really think about what that day meant, t really puts things in perspective for you.

this day wasn't going to be about complaining how my aq lost to a10 all in pre. i mean come on. who really cares. this is just one day....one reminder....of how lucky we all are. these words are thrown around very often, but do you really stop yourself in the middle of the day, and look around you...think of where you are in your life....and just be thankful to where you are in that moment? to be appreciate of all the liberties and rights you have? think about the troops in iraq, afghanistan, and all the other parts of the world. think about the belief system on how this country was founded. think about the revolutionary war, and the meaning behind it. the fight against tyranny and the continuous strive for freedom.

freedom...no one described the true meaning of it better than martin luther king. i am not african-american, but i have always been drawn to him. as i drove to my class i pulled up his "i have a dream" speech on you tube from my iphone. chills go through my body every time i listen to it...and i've probably listened to the full speech 100 times. his words resonate through my head to this minute. think about what it was like for minorities just 45 years ago. the police brutality, the segregation, being robbed of their dignity, and their dreams....one great line from his speech says..."the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity." i look around my house now, thinking of those words...then thinking about the success i have had in poker, and in life in general. i can't complain....about anything.

i have had my rough patches the last few months. things haven't been easy on me. but its about whats ahead. there are only certain things i can control. i can only focus on getting myself better as a person and move forward with my life. there will be decisions that come up, and as difficult as they will be...it will not be that bad. it can't be.

the images from 9/11 are still with me to this day. seeing people 11oo feet up deciding to jump to their death. think about that for a minute. they are 100+ stories up on one of the worlds largest buildings. a commercial airliner hits the building and panic ensues. flames engulf your office and temperatures quickly rise. your friends and coworkers are gone. you dont have much time and you have a decision to make. quickly you grab your phone, and head to the window. making one last phone call to tell your wife that you love her, and the kids. and you make a decision that it would be better to jump 1100 feet than stay in that office. wow.

how does that wife deal with that stress today? how does she cope with 2 young kids to take care of by herself? how does she deal with knowing her husband leaped from a burning building, and his last words were "i love you." imagine the image that haunts her of her husbands last minutes. its too difficult to even grasp.

i know this isn't subject matter people want to hear, or want to think about. point of this whole thing was to appreciate the things around you. appreciate the people you have around you. life is about moments that will always stay with you. question is...how will you spend yours?

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there are many times in my life that i just want to give up. im tired of fighting this internal struggle. i look to a few quotes that help me get through some difficult times, and ill leave a few of them here.

"i asked god....why must i go through so many peaks and valleys? why must i go through so much? then i heard a voice that said, 'look up...get up...and dont ever give up."
- michael irvin

"you have to keep breathing...because tomorrow the sun will rise, and who know knows what the tide will bring in."
- tom hanks (castaway)

"Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead, or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, work for it, and fight for it."
- barack obama