When was the last time you felt like a champion?

My mother’s funeral was six weeks after my spouse left me. I not only gave the eulogy but arranged the funeral lunch at my house and had people in from out of town. That day, I felt like if I could handle all of that, I could handle anything.

Acura Regional Walkaround Champion. 2003.

RR3 Porsche 50 Years Of 911. Champion (Team Chodes/MKUltra). 2014.

28 years ago when I finished Q school.

Going through an insecure patch here during my first job in my major field. This question is a little hard to answer in the present, but the start of the school year ought to boost my confidence back to where it usually is.

I feel like a champ when I think about what next year holds – my senior year of college, my last chance to do things I’ve been putting off – and especially when I compare it to my freshman year and look at how far I’ve come. When I was a freshman, I needed help from everybody. Next year, I am serving several roles in which I am the one providing the help – I’m in a mentoring program and continuing my job as a calculus tutor, I am going to get certified as a first responder so that I can be useful in dangerous physical situations, and as a member of the student support network for dangerous mental situations.

My programming job makes me feel small, but I feel big when I remember how much more I am besides just a programmer. It’s just a little hard to keep in mind these days.

Way back I was really good at track and qualified nationally for an event once. In High school and a couple of years after I played in local rock bands. We opened for a couple of well known groups at least for that time. It felt pretty awesome then but I grew out of it quickly. I get that feeling again when I get to do big engineering projects at work. What’s strange to me is that as I get older the things I enjoy most are really simple like sitting outside by the lake in the evening or a real good cup of coffee in the morning. I don’t feel the need to be a champion at all.

When I drew up plans for a patio and barn I had built in 2006. I was so pleased with my designs and the way they were executed by my contractor. One of the most amazing things was purchasing an antique, solid wrought iron graveyard fence with gates for the patio design. There were 9 panels and the graveyard gates and my design, matched up perfectly with the panels, all going off sight alone and no measuring.

Damn I was good! lol

Through everything bad that has ever happened in my life, I survived. I’m still here, despite the days that I didn’t want to be. I was 11 years old the first time I wrote my suicide note, and I’m still fighting.
I am a champion.

The other day my brother and brother in law couldn’t figure out why the toilet would not stop running. I took one look and told them the problem. You should hear my new nicknames.