Misunderstanding

I have included a series of emails between a good friend of mine and I. It demonstrates one of the VERY often judgements or misunderstandings of endurance athletes. An interesting read. But as you read this please keep in mind that normal training in our freezing cold winters gets old very quickly for me. I am clear on what a pain in the rump it would be to train at below zero temperture year round. That does not excite me at all.

Rob,

I am so glad that you took no offense with my email. I am in awe of your personal determination to have come such a long way over the years.
Thanks for your personal reply. It really helps me to understand you better.

thanks,
John

-----Original Message-----
From: Rob [mailto:Rob@Schopke.Com]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 10:18 AM
To: Johnson, John H.
Cc: Kandi
Subject: RE: Check this out!

John,

Searching for something? No not me, personally and inter-personally I have everything I need at home and with God.

It seems like when you have reached the bottom like I have, and then painstakingly climbed your way back out you look at life differently.
Life
to me now is about LIFE? Life for me is really about being alive every moment. My personal trial brought the end of my old life and rebirth of my new life. When you spend two and half years praying to God to end your life; when you have a plan to end your life and are ready to execute - then you look at your four year old daughter and realize she will miss you, when you lived life DEAD, then you might be able to understand where I was. Then you might be able to understand where I am today.

I will never go back! Life to be is no longer about searching for happiness.
Now I LIVE happiness. Even on my bad days I know this truth 100%:

TODAY IS MY BEST DAY AND TOMORROW WILL BE EVEN BETTER!

I wear a set of dog tags around my neck, perhaps you have seen them.
Inscribed on them is my personal constitution. I want to share it with you.
It reads:

Temper Your Mettle
Breathe Faith-Hope-Love-Prayer
Recommit To Never Quit
Be Strong and Resolute
Fear Nothing
Anything is Possible

Let me briefly explain my personal constitution to you.

Temper Your Mettle.
Temper is a verb meaning both to humble and make strong. Mettle is a personality characteristic of strength, fortitude, and immovable steadfastness.

Breathe Faith-Hope-Love-Prayer
Live these principles in the same way you breathe. You breathe and take in life, assimilate the air into you blood which feed every part of your body.
Each breath is the breath of life. Live these principles as they are your breath of life.

Recommit to NEVER Quit
Whether it is recommitting to the Gospel, God, exercise, work, recreation, repentance, family or even more mundane things of life never quit. Never quit on your life, never quit on your aspirations, never quit on your responsibilities, even if you have to continually recommit - never quit.

Be Strong and Resolute
God demands saints to be strong and resolute. Christ was strong and resolute as he bore the sins of the world, died, and resurrected himself. God expects resolution from us, to stand up for what is right, for what is righteous, for what it good. God demands this of his saints.

Fear Nothing
I live my life in fear. I shrank from adversity and ran. My illness created the fear and I could not bear it. This was an awful gulf of misery and torment, and I lived it! Never again! Today I choose to live everyday FEARING NOTHING! The scriptures teach us to fear nothing. Fear of God is often misunderstood, it really means to Love God. If we stand with God we have nothing to fear.

Anything is Possible
Never set limits on yourself or others. I get this principle from Ironman itself. Ironman's motto reads simply "Anything Is Possible". Remember my testimony a few weeks ago, it was simply that God makes the impossible possible. He does.

I shared this with you because it is personal and a life conviction. It is how I live my life. Am I searching? No! I have found it. My suffering, it has given me a glorious vision of life. Today I am more alive than ever.
Now
I seek to do things because "I CAN". Limitations or excuses of a lack of time, money, or obligations; why would I want to limit my life.

Life for me is about my family, my God, and LIVING. Think about it, God demands us to push ourselves, try ourselves, challenge ourselves. Just think about the parable of the talents. The parable is about developing ourselves, about personal and interpersonal growth.

This is a sensitive topic, I know. I want you to know I took no offense to your email. I know you care about me and my family. I understand where you were coming from. But I wanted you to know where I was coming from also.
Take care buddy.


Sincerely,
Rob Schopke
Sr. Loan Officer
American Lending Network
Cell 801.818.1800
Cell Toll Free 866.859.5900


-----Original Message-----
From: jhjohnson@ensign-bickfordcompany.com
[mailto:jhjohnson@ensign-bickfordcompany.com]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 8:55 AM
To: Rob@Schopke.Com
Subject: RE: Check this out!

Rob,

You seem to be searching for something to fulfill a need in your life.
Are you sure that all these atheletic events are the answer? This "Icemarathon" would be tough, exciting and spectatular, but is it the "answer"?

John

P.S. We are having an Aerobic's Christmas party tonight at our house.
Lara has invited all the women (and their husbands) who come to aerobics to a potluck Christmas party tonight. You and Laura are invited to come too. I think the Martins are coming.

P.S.S. I have always had an deep down desire to climb Mt. Everest. But I think this goal is for another life.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rob [mailto:Rob@Schopke.Com]
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 12:33 PM
To: rchatwin; ryanr; jerry; Jared; jerrymartin; heath.nthurston;
htrujillo; rockcreek; lora; trocha; blanchard
Cc: jhjohnson
Subject: Check this out!

Hey,

Check this out. I would love to try this in a few years. Just for the
accolade and bragging rights. Plus I think the challenge of making my
body do something it was not made to do, in a place it was not meant
to be is awesome. I have been mulling this over for a month or so.
It’s one of those things that won’t go away. Kind of like the allure
of Ironman.

http://www.icemarathon.com/

Sincerely,
Rob Schopke
Sr. Loan Officer
American Lending Network
Cell 801.818.1800
Cell Toll Free 866.859.5900

© Copyright Ryan Robert Schopke, December 1, 2005