It was a Friday, and Groundhog’s day in 2001. I spent most of the day in Chicago for work. There was something special in the air. I now know what it was. Traveling in my cab to airport to catch a 5p Flight to Minneapolis I remember having a fun conversation with my best childhood friend, who was gathering with others at my house to greet me. Since it was my birthday weekend, we were going to go out on the town to celebrate. Most of us were single, so that adds another element of excitement to the mix.

I showed up at my house, 20 minutes North of the airport and to my surprise were 5 of my best buddies, big smiles and all, ready to get the evening started and get downtown. I showered, dressed and we were on our way.

Something was still in the air. A 70’s cover band, “Boogie Wonderland” was playing at one of my favorite music venues, “The FineLine” on 1st Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. I remember going to the 2nd floor balcony with the boyz and meeting a few more friends as well. We had about 10 boyz in our group that evening, having a few cocktails, doing whatever it is that boyz do on a Friday night.

I’ve never been afraid, or had a problem with approaching the ladies. I’m sure I’ve made a fool of myself a time or two. I saw 3 nice looking ladies dancing to beat the band near the railing on the 2nd floor. I decided to walk over. I asked the ladies, “Does anyone dance.” One of the ladies, Michelle, grabs her friend, Jessie, and throws her at me. In slow motion, something special “WAS” happening… Jessie launches forward, and about ready to do a face-plant from Michelle’s force, I lunge forward and save her from hitting the floor, and a lifelong of unpleasant dentist visits. We exchanged small talk, re-taught her how to jitterbug and the rest is history and none of your business.

At the end of the evening, the most beautiful woman in the world in slick red pants was giving me her business card. Talk about the use of technology, I emailed her the next Tuesday and mentioned how much of a pleasure it was to meet her. We went out that Friday night and small boutique restaurant, where I later proposed to her, exactly 1 year from the day I met her – Groundhog Day.

What I didn’t know until years later is that they had seen us group of boyz earlier in the evening. Jessie had also noticed me. We laugh about this story today. Yes, it was the fall that sealed the deal in my mind, but really what sealed the deal was having good friends around us. Had our friends not been able to visit and get along that evening, we would not have sealed any deals, nor exchanges of business cards. We were brought together for a reason – through our friends.

So Kid’s, always surround yourself with good people, good friends and you’ll be just fine. And, if a true friend throws you someday, have faith that he/she may be doing it for a reason, and somebody may catch you.

Congrats to the following runner friends who led TeamEHFAR:

1/2 Marathon:
Male: Christophe Ducuns, 7th Place overall, 1:28:57
Female: Jessie Pickar, 8th Place gender, 1:42:15

10 Mile:
Male: Greg Kaiser, 10th Place overall, 1:14:33
Female: Jessica Robb, 18th Place gender, 1:22:38

5K:
Male: James Kilibarda, 26th Place overall, 24:25
Female: Leah Danz, 8th Place gender, 26:57

(Click on race above to view full race results)

Next TeamEHFAR event: ”MONSTER HALF MARATHON | DASH | 5K-9″ Saturday, October 25th, Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, MN, 9:30a | 10a (Costume and Race Awards)

To register: http://www.zapevent.com/ListActivities.aspx?eventid=114

“Team EHFAR” is up and running.  June 1st is the Downtown Half Marathon, 10 Mile and 5K.  Please join in the festivities and register with Team EHFAR! Use your Team Discount code from below to Register at Zap Event and receive 10% off Monster Marathon Series Races: http://www.zapevent.com/Default.aspx

Discount Code: TeamEHFAR

What are Monster Marathon Series Team Perks?

• With 20 or more Runners registered from your Team, you will have your very own 10 x 10 tent at Monster Marathon Series Events. This can be used for bag check, coffee and refreshments, or any other purpose you designate. The Team Tent can a place to meet before and afterward, and can serve as the home base on event day.
• With 40 or more Runners registered from your Team, you will receive special Event Shirts with the name of your Team. This would be in addition to your personalized 10 x 10 tent. This would be for your Company, Running Group, or Running Team and would be specific.

Hope to see you at the races! 

Justin & Jessie Pickar

In Fall of 2007 my stepfather was injured in a motorcycle accident.  I was one of the first phone calls my mother made.  You could just tell her heart was broken.  For more than a week I drove hundreds of miles round trip to be there with mom.  After a week he finally passed.  Like any person who has gone through a loss, she was scared, confused, and genuinely empty from head to toe.  All my sister and I could think was how unfair it was that the woman who was so deserving of all the love she found was left alone.

The day of the funeral arrived.  Friends and family from the country came together.  Afterwards a small group of family came together at the house on the lake.  It was late fall and the water was icy cold.  I jumped into the lake anyway.  You’d have to know my mom to understand how shocked I was when I heard her running down the dock behind me.  Still dressed in her finest church clothes, she did a cannonball into the lake.  I’ll never forget how she floated on her back in that freezing cold water and screamed, “Lord, I can feel my soul.”

In the months that have passed, mom has slowly healed from losing the love of her life.  She will never forget the happiness he brought into her life; how quickly he came into her life and how quickly he left.  As I pondered on the “everything happens for a reason” topic, I can’t help but imagine that the educational program my mom is now developing on the importance of wearing a motorcycle helmets is encouraged by the love she shared.

I was working in a dead-end job in Fargo-Moorhead, when I first heard about EHFAR. They worked w/ me to find an employer that fit my needs & goals. Since then I have been working for a prominent financial company in the Twin Cities, and have been promoted twice. The most recent promotion is a big one. Placing me in an Executive role w/ the company in California. While working for my current employer I also met a girl. Who, on this past Friday night I proposed to!

 So, not only did EHFAR find the exactly right role for me … they helped me find my future bride!

 What more could you ask for?!

 Thank you EHFAR!

Two years ago, my family experienced a life changing event. After doctoring for digestive problems all of her life, my wife just had surgery on her pancreas. She was told that she would eventually need a pacemaker implanted in her stomach and would also need a pancreatic transplant at some point. This was pretty harsh news for someone in their mid 20’s. Plus, this was coming from a highly acclaimed specialist – an expert! Who were we to question this diagnosis? My wife is an RN by trade, but she wasn’t a digestive tract expert. And me, I was educated in finance. How could we refute this diagnosis? Some of the problems that she had up to that point were: severe gastritis, gastro-esophageal reflux disease, hiatal hernia, stomach ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, dysfunctional gallbladder (which was later removed), paralyzed stomach and chronic pancreatitis. She was also suffering from migraines and chronic fatigue syndrome. Basically, her mid-section was sore/tender all of the time (more so after meals), she experienced migraine headaches weekly and she was tired most of the time. Whew!

Months after the surgery, the symptoms continued to persist. We figured that her specialist must be right and it was only a matter of time before that stomach pacemaker and eventual transplant would be needed. What happened next was nothing less than a miracle and has changed our lives forever. One day, a family member introduced us to a more natural way of eating. It was explained that the foods/liquids that we were consuming were having a negative impact on our lives and were contributing to these digestive problems. How could this be? We ate pretty healthy we thought, but at this point would give anything a try. I remember saying that we would give it a week. What did we do? We ate only meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and drank water. We avoided anything packaged, processed and anything with preservatives. It sounded pretty restrictive, but “it’s only for a week” I remember thinking.

After only a couple days of eating differently, my wife’s stomach was no longer tender. She was migraine free and no longer tired during the day. We were elated! We might not have yet been immediately convinced, but were thrilled. How could something so simple reverse years of ailments? Why didn’t the specialists just tell us to correctly modify our diet? Soon enough we were both convinced. Within a few months, she got off of all prescription medications and hasn’t been on anything since. Now, after over 2 years of following a better way of eating, none of her prior symptoms have returned.

Could it be that the health issues that plague many of us today (cancers, heart disease, obesity etc.) be avoided or reversed? How much of an effect does what you eat really have on your well being? This research has led me to create bewelldiet.com with the objective of explaining what to do and why. Are these simple concepts world-changing? Whatever your health issue may be – give eating better a try. You won’t regret it.

One of the ways was that whenever things were really hard, or felt bad, a cardinal would always appear near me,  often they even would look right at me, or I would hear them (more than normal, I believe). Cardinals were her favorite birds, she always loved them, had things around the house with them, etc. During this time they were showing up often, almost as if she was trying to lead me somewhere… Sounds crazy, I know, but I really believed this.

One day when I was running on the Minnehaha Parkway in South Minneapolis, I went a different direction than I normally do, towards Chicago Avenue. On the way, I saw cardinals EVERYWHERE… Usually you might see one or two, later I would take that as a sign.

On September 13th, when I realized there would be no option but for us to leave the house because it wasn’t selling and was just too expensive for us to hold onto, I went online to see if any homes not too far away were renting for a reasonable price. Ideally we were looking for a lease that would be at least 2 years if not more. I had looked briefly the previous day, but it was, I remember, on the 13th that we made the final decision to move, to let the house go if we had to, to rent somewhere. As it was, when I was looking online, a house had JUST come on, I think that day, and it was, ironically, what I would have described if asked to describe it, my perfect house. 

The next day, I called the number, we went to look at it and met you and Jessie.

We connected with you right away and kindness radiated from both of you. Of course we didn’t tell anyone our situation at the time, but when you called that night and said you wanted to rent to us we were thrilled. I should note, after mentioning September 13th, that that was my grandmother’s birthday.

The first morning in 4912 Elliot, the boys of course felt a little displaced in a new home, etc. We didn’t have our furniture yet, but walked into the dining room and sat on the rug on the floor. It was a beautiful morning, the sun spilled through the windows in the living room. We looked outside and the trees in the backyard were filled with cardinals!!!

I became very emotional, with all that had happened, the uncertainty, etc. and each day was better, each day in this house a blessing, and the whole family just fell in love with it.

Walking into the kitchen the first morning, I found your business card, on the back “Everything happens for a reason, it’s no accident…”

Strange, funny, true…

Thank you, Justin.

Mary

And what you learn about is life.
That’s what sports is all about. Life.
The whole thing is played out
 in one afternoon.
The happiness of life.
The miseries.
The joys.
The heartbreaks.

There’s no telling what’ll turn up.
There’s no telling whether they’ll toss you
out in the first five minutes or whether
you’ll stay in for the long haul.

There’s no telling how you’ll do.
You might be a hero
or you might be absolutely nothing.
There’s just no telling.
Too much depends on chance.
On how the ball bounces.

I’m not talking about the game.
I’m talking about life.

But, it’s life that the game is all about.

Because every game is life.
And life is every game.
A serious game.
Dead serious.

But, that’s what you do with serious things.
You do your best.
You take what comes.
You take what comes and you run with it.

Winning is fun.
Sure.
But winning is not the point.

Wanting to win is the point.
Not giving up is the point.
Never being satisfied
with what you’ve done is the point.
Never letting up is the point.
Never letting anyone down is the point.

Play to win.
Sure.
But lose like a champion.
Because it’s not winning that counts.
What counts is trying.
Author Unknown

Thanks Teri for sharing…

A moment like this one had struck me in 2001. I was just finishing up my workout at a Health Club in downtown Minneapolis and felt energized with what I had accomplished that day. I was on my way to a better self.

While in the locker room, a man walked up to me and asked, “What does your tattoo mean?”

Having the tattoo for a few years on my shoulder, I was always anxious to tell others my story. The tattoo has a unique “pyramid shaped” symbol with the letters E H F A R underneath. I explained to him that it’s the acronym for EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON, and that it’s a philosophy I live by. I could tell he was pleasantly surprised as he responded with, “Way Cool!”. He went on to tell me that he had never heard of it before and that my explanation had made his day. The man went on his way and I was gleaming with pride. I felt that I may have made a little difference in someone that day.

The very next week at around the same time, I had just finished another workout. While opening up my locker, another man had come over to greet me and extended his hand. This is one of those moments I will never forget.

The soft-spoken man said, “You’re the EHFAR guy. I just want to say thank you.”

After a moment of confusion, I asked, “What do you mean?”

He explained that the week prior, he had overheard my conversation with the man asking me about my tattoo. He went on to share with me how EHFAR had changed him. After the man had overheard my story, he traveled to Rochester, Minnesota to see his son in the hospital. His son was at Mayo Clinic battling cancer and fighting for his life. He said that when he held his son that evening, he told his son that everything happens for a reason, and that there’s a reason for this. He strongly embraced his son and said, “We’re going to get through this.”

After hearing this, I could feel the presence of something amazing and great. After taking a moment to catch my breath, I asked, “How’s your son doing?”

He responded, “He’s still fighting, he’s a strong kid!”

You see, this small moment had actually moved onto another moment, giving a dad and his son a sign of hope. I don’t know where the dad and his son are today, but my sense is that he is where he’s supposed to be, and for a reason.

This was one of the stories that taught me EHFAR is powerful, much more than just an acronym. EHFAR has reach. It reminds us all to take a moment. We can all give people hope by sharing stories just like this one…wouldn’t it be great to hear their story first-hand?