Kings of Tomorrow

The night sky

I don’t know why, but when I go out at night, the first thing I do every night is stop and gaze up at the night sky and watch the moon, the stars and always see that bright, unblinking universe, staring down. I’ve had an obsession with the moon since I was a really small kid - my mom said I could barely talk and I was babbling about the moon. As I grew older, my fascination with it grew as well.

Through my travels I have been able to see from many different lands, under different suns. Tropical north, sub-zero south, the scorching outback of Australia, it is always breathtaking. It has been a source of inspiration and amazement throughout Earths life. Some are said to be influenced by the moon and its ability to affect humans, animals as well as the tides. The strange phenomenon of the full moon - emergency rooms fill up, the jails go quiet and there are all sorts of miscellaneous reports of strange goings on in general. And this just one small aspect of the night.

Staring at the night sky my view and interpretation seemed to change, the sky is no longer Messier objects, stars, constellations, or planets; it has become art, feelings, and connection. People that do did not know anything technical about the sky share a definite connection, which is what makes it special. I don’t think I have ever felt such peace. Two evening’s ago, I saw the night sky in a way I will never forget; beauty, wonderment, awe; only you can choose the adjective that fits your feelings, this utter tranquility, I had to ask myself who else  was sharing in this moment.

Whether you are an astronomer, or not, I strongly encourage you to seek out this reconnection to the earth through the night sky. So, the next clear night, step outside with your kids, your spouse, a friend, or just by yourself. Leave the optics, charts and knowledge behind. Bring only child like wonderment. Perhaps the night sky will bring you joy, peace, romance, tranquility or calm. The night sky.

 

You are epic

You are awesome. And amazing, and beautiful. This is your life. Stop being the supporting actor to your own existence; it is your life after all. Too many people live way below what they deserve, including myself. So here is my list that I practice to living in a kickass world.

1. I think everybody should own a ukulele. Or paint. Or write. Or dance like a frigging superstar. People need a way to express themselves, they just do. It’s not like they don’t have time to learn because obviously, they’re watching shit like American Idol. Reality shows offer nothing but hollow versions and the lowest common denominator of worldwide lifestyles. I suggest turning off the TV and pick up the ukulele. Stuff TV. TV sucks your soul.

2. You gotta go deep, and get into some kind of mad-scientist phase at some point in life, to where the good stuff is. Ask big questions, think crazy thoughts. Like when you wake up the next morning and look at it or listen to it, whatever you’ve done and you don’t even really remember. It’s your voice, your handwriting but you don’t remember doing it. You gotta get to an extraordinary circumstance sometimes to get to the good stuff.

3. Broken hearts, people dieing, that’s some heavy shit. But hang in there, I’ve always looked at the hard stuff like skating a ramp or wave — there’s transitions. And you need those transitions to really appreciate it all. To me, the difference between a person and how grounded they are and how amazing their outlook on everything, it’s in the transition, in the hard stuff they experienced. How will you ever appreciate an amazing bf or gf unless you have a complete dud loser, or love your job unless you have been unemployed and had a sucky dead end soul killing fast food position. It’s how you maneuver, I feel that’s where the transition comes in; that’s the moves on the wave that you make and trying to pull that off without wiping out. Transitions are hard, but don’t wipe yourself out.

4. Dream big. Dream huge. Have so many friggin dreams coming out of your pores that you could live a million lifetimes and still not do everything you want to do. And get excited about those dreams, let them fuel you, burning inside, creating a fire that saturates your entire being in passion. I want to be so floored by your ideas, I want to think to myself “wow, shit, this dude has it going on, what a freaken awesome future it’s going to be”.

 5. Don’t think negative thoughts. Ever. Of course you’re going to get depressed and down on yourself if you’re always thinking how bad everything is. You’re amazing, you’re beautiful, you’re going to achieve some cool things. Over think that shit.

6. When you wake up in the morning, don’t let the first thing you do be checking your frigging social media on your phone or laptop. That’s a terrible way to start the day. Throw on some killer tunes and dance around, or peace out and do yoga and mediate, or go for a run, or surf or eat peanut butter toast and think about all the amazing shit you will do that day. It’s going to be a sweet day. And make juice. Nothing bad has ever begun with you making juice, it’s just the truth.

7. Never ever ever ever ever ever, ever, ever ever, ever ever waste your time on someone who doesn’t make you a priority. Ever. Forever. You are amazing, remember. You are beautiful. You are talented and unique. And you are you. If they don’t see that, jokes on them, I feel sorry for them. And like TD says, There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk Away from you: let them walk. I don’t want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone. When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left. You will find a superstar in life, trust me

8. Be the most positive, and inspiring person you know. It’s infectious, and it will change your life. Just try it for a week and see what happens. Treat everybody like a king, listen to them when you talk to them, really listen to them. Remember people’s names. And use them. Remember as much as you can about people. It’s awesome. It’s the road to being a cool dude or chick that people want to share their lives with.

9. Never be afraid to talk about the cool shit you have done. There is nothing wrong with that, it is possible to separate yourself from your ego and still tell amazing stories. If someone asks you about your weekend, let them know you went surfing on the most beautiful waves you will ever see, tell them about the cool health organic lunch you made with your sister and how it was the best damn salad you have ever compiled, and how you went busking with people you have never met and ended up at some cool party with the dude that played Legolas in lord of the rings movies, and then watched the stars with him while asking deep questions about the universe. How cool is the universe? When they just say they watched TV all weekend, well bummer. Tell them to turn off the TV and do some amazing things themselves. We are all amazing. People are amazing.

10. And the last one. Love change. Live for change. Make change burgers for lunch everyday. Walk to work a different way everyday. It keeps everything interesting, which is essential to loving life.

 You’re amazing and beautiful and your life is yours and it’s so short. Don’t settle, live the life you want. Don’t worry about being single, I can promise you if you begin to realise a millionth of your potential people are going to want to be in your life, or your lover. And just don’t live in delusion; be real and honest about where you are in your journey. You need that honesty to self-assess. .It’s like if you’re not here, where the hell are you? Living in the future with some fantasy of how it’s going to be or how it’s been in the past? I wrote it to remind me to be right here in the moment because the mind’s always trying to take you somewhere else.

Forrest Gump

:

                             Where do i start? I just ran the Australia Running Festival Marathon and Half Marathon race as Forrest Gump. It was an amazing day and moment that i will never forget. I was able to raise a large amount of money for a great charity as well. At the start of the year i was wondering if i could really do this, there were things going on in my life, and to find that peace and insight, i did what Forrest did, i started running.

Forrest Gump is a beautiful and brilliant movie, one of the best of all time. The reason for this, is because the character resonates so deep within us all. He is an ordinary man, in fact, he is less then ordinary, he would be classified as below an average human. But what Forrest does, is he lives a life that screams passion, and humility, and all things that make human nature wonderful. He achieves great acts of spirit, from saving fellow marines in the Vietnam war, to starting a Shrimp business and becoming a gazillionare, owning at Ping Pong, and being a star College Football player. These are all great things. There is something that sets him apart though, he does it all with a firm morale standing, humility, an adventurous spirit, a love of life, a love of his family and friends, and puts everyone else in front of his own soul. He treasures true love, opening his heart to only one his entire life, Jenny. This resonates deeply with all of us, and has certainly inspired myself.

Four years ago, I was not the Joshua i am today. I liked to party a lot, and everything that goes with that. Even though i had many ‘friends’ and knew the cool kids, i was far from happy. Something needed to change. Standing around in a darkened room, drinking overpriced drinks, with strangers, and a social setting where people are treated as pieces of meat where pure physical beauty determines the worth of a person, how can that be an environment of value. I am not against going out and having some drinks, but its about balance. And so i begun to change my life. Slowly, but surely.

I wanted to see mountain tops as the sun disappears into the night, and the stars stretched across the infinite universe. I wanted to feel at peace in every moment of my life, knowing true beauty in all the aspects of our daily existence. I wanted to create art with a sense of joy and hope. I wanted to know people, and really take the time to discover who they are. I wanted to laugh late into the night, not at random clubs and pubs, but with family, sharing in their memories and stories of the week. I wanted to seek an adventurous spirit, and i wanted to do all of this with the upmost high morale standing, seeking release from the ego, and finding a level of equality among us all. What a journey it has been thus far. I still have much to learn, the learning never ends, but i am glad i am working towards it. And you know, i do experience everything like we all do, i have tough days. Being single, sometimes i feel incredibly lonely, but thats okay, i remind myself of all that i have, remember that i am living the life that is good, and know the right girl will one day enter my life, to join our crazy journeys together.

So the race. It was great. Sitting in the car before i got out at the start around 6am, i felt so nervous, but i am glad i did not pull out. The entire day was spent chatting. People chatted to me as i warmed up. People chatted to me at the starting line. People chatted to me as i ran. People chatted to me when i went to the bathroom. People, strangers, of all creeds just talked. If you have ever run a marathon before, you would know that it is generally pretty quiet, so this was a massive exception. It brought people together. And i was only more than happy to chat back, take photos, give hi’5s galore, and raise my hands every time someone yelled Run Forrest, Run! (At least 100 times).

Live the life that you want, and deserve. I really mean that. Not in a cliché quote way, but start doing things that feel real, and authentic to yourself. We never know when our time here on this Earth is over, but make it a song that that you wanted to sing. Be an awesome human being, and treasure the world around us. Cause how rad is that.

There are only four days until the Canberra Marathon, and I just ran my last training session around Lake Burleigh where I had the most awesome and amazing running moment in my life. Everybody knows that famous scene where Rocky finishes his training session before the big fight by running up the stairs, chased by hundreds of kids? Yeah, I completely got that. I was running around the side of the lake near Commonwealth Bridge, and could see primary school children sitting alongside the grass. As I got closer, I am not sure if one of the teachers encouraged them or if it was a student’s idea, but they all started to stand up and jog around. Then just as I reached them, they all started yelling and shouting and laughing, and mobbed me. Here I was running with fifty kids all around me, giving me hi fives, trying to jump on my back, going wild. It was awesome, such a cool moment. They all stopped after about 100 metres, but then one kid kept running with me and yelled out “all the best my new friend” as I left him behind. Cool huh?