My Name Is Jasper

This is now

Another memory and I'm asking myself:

Why can't I let the past be the past?

Once and for all take a hold of the future,

And not let it control what I aspire to have.

This Is Now Lyrics – Jamey Jasta (265)

I'm standing in front of my mirror. It's snowing outside. Two Mirror Rules left to go, but right now I'm not really looking. Today I'll be in a full day High Performance Culture training. My mind is more occupied with news coverage of the one remaining fugitive terrorist from the Paris attacks. A Belgian citizen. International news networks have painted certain Brussels' neighborhoods as Jihadist ghettos. People keep asking me what the hell is going on in Belgium. I try to tell them it is not as bad as the news networks make it sound. A weird feeling.

...

Our instructor today is Dr. Michael Gervais. The Californian psychologist was worked with many top athletes and business people to "fully [engage] both their mind and brain toward that personal best." The Seattle Seahawks' mental coach narrows that vision down to 'helping people be their best', or what he likes to call the truest definition of love.

An essential part of today's training will be an exercise to discover and define your personal philosophy. Everyone has one, even if you don't know yours quite yet. My personal philosophy is not the list of your Mirror Rules. It goes deeper than that. Mirror Rules are built on it, built on the foundation of who you are. Your philosophy is a set of your most basic convictions and beliefs. The values you hold highest. The way you make decisions. It is tricky however to really nail it down.

"Today you are going to write down your philosophy in 25 words or less," Dr. Gervais tells us in his opening, "and then you are going to share with the people around you." A quick glance through the room already reveals some of my colleagues are not very at ease. Sure we all know each other in one way or another, but the thought of opening up like this clearly scares more than a few people.

We are given a questionnaire that should help us in finding the key themes. "You have 15 minutes for this task." What? Sure, let me find the essence of myself in a matter of minutes. No biggie...

The questions basically ask me to list people I respect – or better: respect what they stand for – in a certain category. Family & friends. Musicians. Teachers. Spiritual leaders (oh boy...), people in history, Athletes or performers.

The first part is easy. My parents, who want nothing but the best for their kids. Julie, for making me feel like home, no matter where we are. And there is my friends Alex. I feel lucky that there are a number of people (most of which I don't get too see often living in Canada) I consider friends. Needless to say, they all have traits that make me respect them. Most of these people I have known for a longer time, and I do consider some of them to be a closer friend than Alex. But what makes Alex come to mind straight away in this exercise is his humble, open minded, and respectful character. And knowing that I could count on him at any given time when I need hand.

Alex is also that guy that knows where da party at. Did I just seriously write that? Sorry about that. Anyways, he is the living proof age is just a state of mind. We celebrated his 50th birthday a few years ago already.

I got to know this gentle maniac through one of my closest Junior High friends Dax. When we were 12-year-old kids, Dax proved to be a very talented skier, with dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Which is not easy living in a country that lacks any mountains. Tallest hill in Belgium (the Botrange) stands at a mere 694 meters (266).