D is for...?

Until Alphabet Soup, I never realized how many negative words start with the letter D. It has to be the most negative letter in the English Alphabet. Let me tell you though, there are some great negative words. Demise, debauchery, debacle, decimate, debilitate, diabolical, desolate, diatribe, dire, dismal. BOOM, talk about some SAT words right there. These words were running through my brain, so I had to look up positive ones. There are some positive ones floating around or words I could twist to make positive like devout, debunk, defy, etc. Well, I decided I'd change up Alphabet Soup a bit and choose not one but three words and have them be a part of who I am.

D is for Drive, Disc Golf, and Diabetes.

D is for Drive

If you are going on a road trip with me and I am not driving, make sure someone else is in the car or you are caffeinated. A trip to Cincinnati from Carmel, a two-hour drive, is a perfect sleep that I do not remember any of the highways. I can remember one road trip with my momma to St. Louis. The game plan was to switch off at Terre Haute about 2 hours in. We switched about 3 hours into the drive because of my inability to wakeup. A car is my personal lullaby accompanied by a baby's mobile; its ability to make me sleepy is potent.

A car's ability to put me asleep is pretty inconsequential to who I am, at least I hope so. Driving, when I am in control or awake, is a favorite pastime. Some of my favorite memories come from screaming songs and car dancing or being able to move into deep conversations in the car. Cars also seem to be my home for hard conversations. Driving for some reason or another makes me honest with myself. In conversations, I love to fidget. Occupying my hands is something I do to make conversation easier for myself. Driving has that built-in. I don't have to find a straw wrapper to weave between my fingers or a leaf to pick off a tree as I walk. I drive alone and blast music singing right along or sit and silence to pray or reflect. Driving is how I can explore what's around me. Driving makes me feel safe and free. When I need to think, talk, or bop, I drive.

D is for Disc Golf

First of all, if you haven't tried disc golf and your body will allow you to, you are missing out. I watched a Ted Talk from Michael Jr. He said he tried a new sport, ball hunting, or as others call it, golf. His feelings towards golf are a little harsher but similar to mine. I feel like I've explained my love for disc golf in a previous blog and how it is logically superior to golf. I definitely have mentioned my goal to frisbee golf in all 50 states. I wanted to write about disc golf because on the off chance I become a canonized saint when I die, I'd like to put in the request for the patron saint of disc golf. I don't think that's how it works, but I just did that.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, confirmation saint of my best friend Clay, had many charisms and wonderful works that made him an inspiring man. He was a mountain climber, a man of deep dedication to the Eucharist, and a lover of the poor. My favorite glimpse as to who Blessed Pier was is his use of billiards. He bet with people in a game of pool and if he won they would join him in adoration. He made billiards, a traditional bar game, ministry. I've been surrounded by books and people like Wyatt and his 925.co telling me to do what I love now and maybe even make it your work. I love sharing my faith and disc golf. I'm beginning to ponder how I can do the same as Pier did with disc golf, so if you have ideas, throw 'em at me.

D is for Diabetes

I've had a battle with how much I want Diabetes to be apart of my identity. For a while, I was the diabetes kid who turned it into something positive. I loved that glory. Then, I hated it. I felt like that was the main thing people knew about me. I hated that people who barely knew me were making jokes about shooting up or getting high. I hated that I was ever referenced as "the diabetes kid." Now, I feel it is as much of my identity as the situation calls for. When I need to be a guiding hand or speaker for Will's Way, it's a big part of me. When I need to speak on God bringing about a greater good, it's a big part of me. When I am playing sports, hopefully, it is not a part at all. When I go to class, take a test, give a speech, hopefully, it is not a part at all. When I eat, it HAS to be a part of me. It doesn't define me, but it sure does shape me.

I like to think diabetes in my life has been a positive thing. In the basement of my Uncle Bob's, my Godfather, house, there is a pinball machine. If you've ever played pinball, you know to start the game you have to pull back this red plunger to hit the ball forward. The farther back you pull the plunger the farther the ball goes. I began to think about it, and this is how our world is often designed. A ball goes forward by drawing back your arm, wrist, or leg. A guitar string must be drawn back to produce sound. An arrow from an archer, a boat when you row, etc. D isn't for diabetes, or drive or disc golf. D is for drawback. Drawbacks lead us forward. Try kicking a ball without moving your leg back first. I bet it won't go very far. In the midst of drawbacks, it's hard to not look at the current direction, but trust God and trust where it can take you. Drawbacks like diabetes led to DOMINANCE. Not really, I just wanted another D word. Yet, they can lead to purpose, faith, or opportunity if you are looking the right way.

Don't be like the letter D, be mainly positive! Happy Advent!!! Christ is coming :)!

Fun fact: Christ wasn't born on December 25th we celebrate it on that day because a pagan holiday celebrates the winter solstice. Christ is the coming of light and days get lighter starting around Christmas. Thus, the dual purpose of this was to convert pagans to Christians celebrations that were around the same time AND to show Christ as the light of the world.