115 Days

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

If you have never had to look your children in the eyes and tell them that you “lost” your job, then you have never truly lived. You search for the right life lesson as you are explaining to them that life sometimes deals you a bad hand and you didn’t do anything wrong to deserve it. It’s hard to explain to kids that you are being punished for doing nothing wrong. For being so good that they paid you the most money and that’s why they eliminated your position. When the company you work for is more than 22 BILLION (Yes, with a “B”) in debt, they have to make difficult decisions. You have to explain that the people that […]

The Never Ending Story

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

Are you living a defining life? If you let it, your life story could be defined simply by the actions you take in certain pivotal moments.  You should not be defined by one moment, but your navigation of a series of opportunities that are strung together over the course of a lifetime.  Then again, your life definition should be greater than just the trajectory created by these moments. Let’s not sell ourselves short, our lives are bigger than a moment. We often talk about a defining moment and some action or reaction, good or bad, which flipped a switch and jetted us in a certain direction.  That direction can be mental and eventually physical. One action can be somewhat defining, […]

The year of the chicken

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

Don’t get me wrong, New Year’s resolutions are fun. They give you something to keep track of or to do with a friend, but most tend to fade out by March (and then you’re stuck making that gym payment for the rest of the year). Like “no shave November” or Lent, it’s always good to challenge yourself to do something new or to try to go without something you think you love. I always give up shaving in November and I try to not eat a food or a food group during lent. It’s healthy and it’s fun. It breaks up the routine of life.   You don’t need the changing of the calendar to make these adjustments or set these […]

SUPERBAD is Life!

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

The hunt in life is better than the kill.   Two things tend to happen when you are chasing your life’s dreams.  1) You are so fixated on the goal that you forget to enjoy or learn from the journey. 2)  You hit the goal and think to yourself “now what”?   I grew up in a rural area of Texas and we always had a farm cat.  A cat that spent most, if not all, of its life outside.  My cat’s name was Poncho and he split his time living both inside and out-mostly because he was huge and did what he wanted. He could also open the door by himself, so there was no stopping this cat. Poncho was glorious! We called him Poncho, […]

A Boy in a Box

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

When I was a kid I would take a cardboard box, decorate it to look like a car, and then have my older brother and sister whip me around a tile or hardwood floor. When you’re 5 or 6 years old, you’re small enough to fit in a box, and once you get moving and your imagination kicks in, 2mph feels like 50mph.   When that box wasn’t a race car, it turned into a fort, a trap for stuffed animals or a table for a lunch of PB&J and chocolate milk or even a place to play Go Fish. The saddest day was at the end of summer break when it was time to retire the torn and banged […]

Falling in love again

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

When I was a kid, you couldn’t pull me off my bike. I would do everything on my bicycle!  I’d even take my PBJ outside with me, just to eat it while sitting on my bike. When I wasn’t riding my bike, I was saving money to keep it going. Buying patches and new tubes, collecting tires and rims that others would throw out and restoring them in case I needed to use them later. I had so many bike parts, I actually built a second bike. It was a little “Frankensteined” together; back tire was higher than the front, it had a banana seat, but it worked and could do pull some sick jumps. Then I learned to drive […]

Do you have a big but?

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

My 9 year old daughter Erin is the best swimmer in the family.   I would know this because I watch her swim every Saturday morning at 8am. I get up, get her ready and take her to swim. Where many parents use Saturday morning as a time to sleep in; I’m up and running before the sun comes up and typing away on my iPhone working on another chapter. Her class is where I do a lot of writing.   For an hour each week she works on her technique, honing her skills one lap at a time.  She’s fast, strong and focused.  Yet, there is one thing she just can’t seem to master…she can’t dive.   Erin is probably […]

Eye of the Tiger

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

I’ve been moving forward my entire life. I’ve kick boxed on and off, for the past 10 years. Nothing gets your heart pumping or relieves stress like beating the hell out of a heavy bag hanging from the ceiling and I try to do this around 3 times a week. Occasionally, depending on the trainer, they will throw pads on their hands and you get to do your best Rocky impression while following the instructions of what types of punches and combinations to throw. Of all the things involved in the workout, this part is probably my favorite. It’s the closest thing I do to actually sparring with someone and nobody hits you back. I have a pretty face and […]

Six Degrees of Life

by chasemradio #Tryharder, Featured Post, What's your story?

So this week I came up with a new mission for myself. Connect with 52 new people in 52 weeks. I’ve never had a problem meeting new people. I’m aware that I am charismatic and, from what I’ve been told, engaging. I have a friendly face and that often results in some sort of connection or magnetism. We all have a “super power” and mine happens to be the ability to connect with people quickly. It’s important to be aware and embrace what you do well. My goal in this year long, and maybe longer, experiment is to connect with people I would traditionally never meet. I want to expand my life Rolodex and branch out to other categories of […]

You know what’s grosser than gross? THIS BLOG!

by chasemradio #Tryharder, What's your story?

  Things have a way of working themselves out.   In 1996, I was sitting in my apartment in San Angelo, TX playing Madden football with my roommate Matthew. I thought of this moment the other day when I was tinkering around with putting this story into a blog. I also realized that the last Madden football game I had played was probably 2004 and, if I were to pick up the latest game, I would be completely and totally lost. Yet, my 6 years old son would pick it up in a matter of minutes without ever playing a football game prior. I played a good bit of video games in college, just like everyone else, but I am […]