Elysium

January 26, 2012 in Poetry with 1 Comment

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Searching
for a land far and distant.
I’ve glimpsed it in lucid detail
before my eyes met the morning.

I’ve felt it in every chamber
of my restless heart that’s searching
for meaning,
for dreaming,
for respite from this bated breathing.
For dancing,
for singing,
for nothing short of life fulfilling.

This vision left burning bright
keeps me searching every night.
Until I wake from this place keeping
Me trapped in this state of being.

Copyright © 2012 Cole Bradburn

Why We Chose a Midwife & Birthing Center

January 23, 2012 in Health, Life with 2 Comments

Being a healthcare practitioner, I often have people asking for my opinion or advice on a wide variety of topics ranging from “what should I eat” to “what do you think of vaccination.”  It comes with the territory, and I truly enjoy sharing my knowledge with people.

Then we decided to go through our pregnancy with a midwife and use a birthing center for delivery.

Open the floodgates.  I was now treading water in a sea of questions.

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…Going to be a Dad

January 18, 2012 in Life with 7 Comments

Nothing prepares you to hear those words, much less utter them yourself.  You know those moments that you’ve seen in the movies about time standing still?  It happens.  S**t gets real.  Real good, but real in a way you have never experienced in life before.

Baby burn is on it's way

OK Cole, pick your jaw up off the floor

Such was my 6:30 am wake up call on October 29th, 2011.  My wife was anxiously trying to get me out of bed to come see something, and like a bear coming out of hibernation I was resisting the waking world.  As I stumbled out of bed, protesting the whole way, she presented me with the above picture – in full stereoscopic 3D of the real world.

BAM!  Ton of bricks, meet Cole.

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The Three White Devils of Nutrition

January 11, 2012 in Health, Intentional Living with 4 Comments

Nutrition can be confusing.  There are countless plans and endless research at your fingertips.  If you are wanting to make a change, where do you start?  It’s overwhelming!  Follow this one simple rule to begin eating better and feeling great this year: Avoid the Three White Devils – Sugar, White Flour, Milk (well, four if you are counting Ace Ventura)

white devils of eating

Avoid Equinsu Ocha at all costs!

Nutritional White Devil #1 – Sugar

I’ve written in depth about the consequences of sugar before (see Sugar, Cholesterol, and Plaque Explained).  Sugar can be harmful to your organs, lowers your energy, rots your teeth, and makes you gain weight when it is present in your food on a regular basis.

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The Paleo Diet Flowchart

January 9, 2012 in Health, Intentional Living with 9 Comments

Have questions about the Paleo diet?  Follow this chart to see if you are eating the right foods!  I made a chart off a picture my friend sent me of a whiteboard drawing that went viral (I later found out it was done by Nicole Voelzke).  Since posting here, Nicole has contacted me  and  shared her work in it’s entirety.  Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

paleoflowchart_NicoleVoelzke

 

Nicole works at Crossfit South Hills in Pennsylvania.  You can follow them on facebook here

Why Infants Need Chiropractic Care

January 4, 2012 in Health with 9 Comments

It is common to get strange looks from people I talk to about taking infants to the chiropractor.  I know what is going through their heads: is it safe…babies don’t have back pain…do babies get adjusted the same way I do?  These are legitimate concerns for any parent, but to answer them I will begin with the most important question: WHY?

Let’s start with the obvious.  When was the last time you tried to squeeze through a 10cm hole?

"It's kind of hot in these rhinos"

Being born is tough work, there are a lot of pressures and forces being exerted onto your baby during their journey into the world.  A current study demonstrated that 90% of newborns suffered birth trauma and associated strain through the neck and cranial areas following birth:

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The Lessons of Zelda

December 19, 2011 in Creative, Life with 0 Comments

This year marked the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, my absolute favorite game series as a child.  It feels weird to me that Zelda is now a veteran in the relatively young medium of video games, and children are still discovering it for the first time 25 years later.  Here is my story of my time with Zelda, and what it taught me.

The Lessons of Legend of Zelda

It was 1988 in a Wal-Mart in the middle of midwestern nowhere that I first saw it, and was hooked at the title screen (in my defense, it had a sword on it and I was six years old).  Standing at the demo kiosk, I heard to the now classic theme music (click here to listen while you read) and could only wonder what adventure awaited when I pushed start.  Little did I know how the series and I would grow together and the many lessons it would teach me along the way.  I know we all remember this one, as it was in the first cave on the first screen.

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What I Learned On My Last Trip Home

December 13, 2011 in Growth, Intentional Living with 1 Comment

It’s December, though you wouldn’t know it here in North Carolina until you see all the Christmas decorations.  The snow-blanketed Christmases of my youth have been replaced by sunny and 50ºF.  I’m not complaining.   For my family (wife, dog, me) December means travel time — preparation, planning, packing, and I’m sure a whole host of other things beginning with a “p.”

This year I found myself reflecting on my trip home last December.  It wasn’t monumental or life-changing, but a few days after I returned to Carolina I felt compelled to write a list of things I learned during the trip home.  Some of them were real-world reinforcements of the blatantly obvious, some were things I knew but didn’t know, some hit me like a ton of bricks.  All were poignant.   Today I share that list with you.

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A Night for Miracles

December 11, 2011 in Poetry with 6 Comments

Something wants to leap out of my heart,
yet I am not knowing what it is.
It is pure, powerful, and has always been present
especially on this night
at this time
staring up at this sky.

I am left feeling small, feeling overwhelmed
feeling moved, feeling significantly insignificant
in this great world that is longing for what is in my heart.
For it’s purity
for it’s power
for it’s omnipresence, it’s connectedness.

Maybe it is this night, and this night only
that I seek it
that I glimpse it
that I realize it is a vision inside me.
I have been searching in the wrong places with the wrong eyes
afraid to open my heart, that it may leap out and be gone,
leaving this shell without feeling, without purpose however unknown.
powerless.

Kansas City Christmas Tree

Oh if that were true, yet I know it cannot be.
I cannot wait another year, far too many are now passed
and with each it takes longer to find.

Oh, that it may live in my heart forever
radiating purely,
powerfully,
purposefully.
Christmas, the miracle of birth
of Hope
of Love
of Salvation.
Open my heart, my eyes
Unlock my passion, my purpose
That I may share it with the world all year long.

 

Copyright © 2011 Cole Bradburn

 

Learn about the World Vision Twelve Blogs of Christmas here

Are You in the Arena?

December 7, 2011 in Inspiration, Life with 1 Comment

Near the end of the year when I’m taking stock of how I spent my life over the past 12 months, it helps to have inspiration to see the big picture.  It is easy for me to get lost in the details and goals (especially ones not met), but remembering my mission and the why behind what I’m doing brings it back into perspective.

This excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt’s Citizenship in a Republic speech has always been both uplifting and motivating to me, I hope it will be to you as well.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.  [buy this as a poster]

The Future Belongs to Us

truth

What does this mean to me?  

Devote yourself to something great, shed the cynicism of the world, don’t be afraid to begin, fail a time or two, learn from it, and build character.  Do these things next year and I promise your life will be different, mine has been.

What are you striving for?  Share in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.

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