I want to be like Bruce........

I know it started out as a joke, but how appropriate to name our contest "Be like Bruce"... because I want to be like him, let me tell you why.....

I really enjoyed the family time that we all shared this past trip to California. Spending rare, quality family time together was a great way to say goodbye to Grandpa and to honor him. I got to spend a bit of time with Bruce and enjoyed his talk at the funeral almost as much as the one-on-one talk that we shared later that afternoon. His talk at the church was very good, but one line specifically stood out to me as I juggled kids and tried to pay attention. He said... "If you are constantly miserable, you must be doing something wrong." What a true statement. I am not constantly miserable by any means, but I feel like I know people who are, or seem to be. Over the past year I have changed every single thing in my life in order to pursue a more positive future, lifestyle and overall mood. In order to go forward, sometimes you have to step back first. Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. That has been the story of my life over the past year. I have faced more challenges than I ever have and have grown with each one. Next week will be exactly one year since I left Disney and started a new life... I can't believe how much I have accomplished and how much I have grown..... ( I'm not rambling... I promise this relates....) besides changing my career, my home, my financial situation and furthering my education, I have also changed the personalities that I keep in my life... I do not allow negative personalities in my life, and have cut ties with negative personalities that have drained me for so long. I feel happier... I have set goals and have worked very hard to live up to them... we can't help the judgemental thoughts that naturally pop into our heads from years and years of expereince, but we can make a concious effort to not act on them and try to recongnize when they happen and work to change those judgements, rethink them.... This is what Bruce and I talked about...

He told me a story of a "crazy" guy on a bus who said all of his thoughts out loud... he was offending people and shocking the travelers with his rude comments..... one said.. 'the only difference between him and us is that he is saying it out loud'... After this story Bruce said someting that has been ringing in my head ever since.... and I have shared it with many people... "What if you had to go one entire day saying everything that you thought out loud? How would you feel?"... I know that I would feel horrible... and I consider myself to be very very nonjudgemental and accepting.... but we have these thoughts and judgements that have been worked into our subconcious over the course of our livetime. In order to change them we have to recognize it and then work to change it.

Bruce inspires me because he gets up every morning and runs because he hates running. He hates to do it, but he loves how he feels afterward and it is important to his health. He has a calm and caring nature because he works at it. So yeah... I want to be like Bruce. Don't you?

I am well on my way to reaching my professional goals and many personal ones.... now I need to get on my way to reaching my physical goals, with the support from all of you, I know I can do it. So, I'm going to run because I hate it. I'm going to get up earlier because I don't want to and I'm going to stop eating bad food because I love it. Because when it all comes down to it, I will love how it makes me feel and I know it is important.

So thank you Bruce for being you and for letting me take these funny pics of you...

Desiree