Thoughts.com Blogs - A Little More About Me...

Okay, here I go... my first blog.

Guess I ought to start off by saying a little bit about myself. Some of this is in my introduction, so forgive me for the redundancy.

My name is Jeff, I'm 51, divorced, with two kids... a 15 year old daughter, and a 10 year old son. Both of them are wonderful kids, enjoy life, play volleyball, keep me on the move, and keep me young. Well, maybe young isn't the right word, because after hours and days of running I feel pretty old! My daughter will start living with me on a permanent basis in a few days, while my son lives with his mother. With the coming of my new living arrangements I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous about what the future holds. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to help to mold my daughter into the person I know that she can be, but I know that before we get there, we'll enter some troubled waters before we find the calm sea ahead.

Along with being a father, I'm also an air traffic controller... hence my user name, ATCBEAZ. It’s a nickname that was given to me when I was a controller onboard the USS Coral Sea in the early 80's. I've been an air traffic controller for nearly 27 years, and I'm hoping to be able to retire from this profession before the end of 2008.

Retirement or I should say, new career field is one of my goals for 2008.

I constantly ask myself, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” I don’t know I just know that I’m ready to move on. So will see where my journey to retirement leads.

Another goal of mine is to run in the Peachtree Road Race, www.atlantatrackclub.org/at02000.htm in Atlanta on July 4, 2008. It’s the largest 10,000 meter race in the world, and one that I’ve said, year after year that I would like to run in, but have never fulfilled that dream. I’m hoping that this will be the year.

In order to do that I’ve started training for a 10K in Forth Worth on February 23, 2008, and hope to run in at least two more 10K’s before the Peachtree. If anyone has any tips, or would like to offer any encouragement please feel free to chime in. I could use all the help I can get!

Before for I wrap this blog up I have one more goal I’d like to mention…

I hope and pray that this will be the year that I learn to Walk on Water. That’s not a joke, I’m truly serious… throughout my life, in good times and bad, my faith in God has seen me through many things. However, there have been times when I have felt that God has abandoned me, when in reality; it was me who has walked out on God. It was me who when I got scared; that went running back to the safety of the boat. Me, who believed that I was more capable of handling my problems than God.

So, in 2008 I’m going to put my complete trust and faith in Him. Through God, my daughter and I will be able to overcome any problems we might have, and build a much stronger bond together. Through God I will be able to discern whether I should stay in my current job, or find an open door to another career. Through God I will learn that I have the strength, determination and perseverance to run the race.

Now that I’ve gotten this blog completed I’m hoping that it will get easier for me to write down other thoughts on a routine basis.