For this blog, I decided to write something daily. With the last posting I put in words all at once, in that we were not traveling. But, I believe, I will develop wording, daily, that will help you to move to a higher level, which is my aim, everyday.

Every day I want to write something toward this blog. I’ve written about this “daily thing” before. When you have a project, everyday do something toward the end result; this will get you there much faster.

You become more comfortable, and, with editing and changing things, you end up with something that is toward the best you can produce. Did you take that in from reading the most recent words sent to you?

· Are you reading my posts? Not hearing from many people.

· Will I hear from you after you read these words?

· Thank you, Larry, for your correspondence; I’m glad you are there.

Hope you enjoyed my last post about death and how you need to accomplish now, while you have the chance.

Tina’s mom is home from the hospital now and needs us around, yet, we can go out for short trips. At the age of 95 she is mainly watching TV most of the day, although she cannot see or hear very well, at all.

You might know, my mom died a couple years ago, which was devastating for me. I did not ever see life without her, so her death hit me hard. Her last years she was watching much TV and playing solitaire with cards, much.

In my last days I hope to keep achieving efforts, but, who can know how it will be in their last days.

I recently posted the following on Facebook:
Staying at Tina’s mom’s house, there were some guys over doing some work. Later, after they left, I discovered a few things missing. One of which was my small file cabinet out of the van which contained important papers. I’m sure they would deny they took the stuff if I were to contact them.

I’m sure that, once whoever took the file box looks through, they will just throw my things away–throwing away my past. Old papers from my childhood and other important papers, along with photos.

I have started my life over again so many times, this does not seem like a big deal to me. Starting again with nothing . . .

Yet, I have anger in me, a terrible thing.

In fact, I forget exactly what I ha d in the file box. Why would someone take it, so many questions, very hard to go through. I hardly got into the small file cabinet, but there were important papers there.

Feeling anger and frustration, but know that life will continue.

When something happens that you cannot control, you just go on with life and try and smile. The important thing is, I still have my mind, which can think well; yes, life will go on.

When you die you have nothing more, things are not important, and experiences are much more significant. You have been learning of my experiences through these blogs, hope you have been enjoying. Make all the experiences you can happen in your life, it will make your life much more grand.

This post holds something I worked on in writing my books. The end of each paragraph leads onto the next section; did you notice? It is a way of using my mind and connecting the two sections; something I enjoy doing, using my mind in a good way.

Until next week, bye for now>>>>>>>>>>Kit
=========================================

BEYOND YOUR POTENTIAL
The Comeback Kit,
From Coma to Comedy

BOOK ONE – ACCIDENT

A Series of Books to Change Your Life
By Kit Summers
Chapter 4 – Loss and Growth .
CHAPTER FOUR
LOSS AND GROWTH
“Adversity is another way to measure
the greatness of individuals. I never had
a crisis that didn’t make me stronger.”
Lou Holtz

Loss of juggling ability, loss of being able to see well, suffering from ringing in the ears, loss of being able to run, I’ve had many losses. Loss is a part of life. We must accept loss and learn to use the experience to grow. As I personally learned, after a loss or change, things will never be the same again.

THE GRIEF YOU EXPERIENCE AFTER A SIGNIFICANT LOSS WILL REQUIRE A TIME OF RECOVERY, AND GRIEF DOESN’T HAVE TO BE BRIEF.

Like a juggler, life is often a balancing act, and each time something causes you to waver, you must regain stability again as soon as possible, or risk an unnecessary drop or tumble through even more hardship—this time, self-inflicted.

When you suffer a major loss, such as a death in the family, a divorce or relocation, it feels as if you have been hit by a truck (I know that feeling well.) It affects you mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

BEFORE YOU CAN GO ON WITH ANY SENSE OF BEING WHOLE, YOU NEED TO PICK UP AND REGAIN A SENSE OF BALANCE AGAIN.

But you must also learn from the change and loss to move past it how you can. Doing so, you will be able to progress through life again, as you were doing before the interruption. We all go through a myriad of loss in our life.

A few losses I have been through:
· The first time I got hit by a truck, I lost my juggling ability and more. Yet, life goes on.
· The loss of my wife through divorce and loss of my daughters was devastating for me. Yet, life goes on.
· The second time I got hit by a truck, I lost my ability to run, which is something I cherish. Yet, life goes on.
· After the first accident, I see double. From a bike accident, I always hear buzzing—no silence. Yet, life goes on.
· I lost my mind, which is a hard thing to think about. Is life still going on?

I’m not asking for sympathy by mentioning some of the challenges I’ve encountered. Of course, there are millions of people who have been through much worse.

We should not compare ourselves to others. Live your own life; focus on yourself and how you can add to the world.

When I focus on the future and the hopes I have, my thoughts change. Clinging onto the past and what “could” have been destroys me. I must keep away from doing that. It will help you, too, if you focus on your future with hope.

THE PAST IS A MEMORY; LEAVE IT THERE.

Remember the joys you have had and the wisdom you acquired, and then leave the past in the past.

In thinking back, while I’m sorry about the negative events, I’m not sorry for the growing and learning that I’ve gained from them.

FACE IT RIGHT AND YOU WILL MISS NOTHING.

You’ve missed chances and opportunities at times in your past, don’t be sad or regretful. You have your future, get excited and enthusiastic about the possibilities your future holds for you.

Although sometimes, as I was recovering and looking at the future, I did wish that I could go back. I’ve learned too much that is too precious to ever want to go back now.

Discover for yourself as you look back at difficult times in your life and the losses you have had. See how these changes have added to your life as you live. Doing so will help you get through future changes and loss in a better state of mind.

LOSS IS A PART OF LIFE.

As we go through life, we are all involved in losses of some kind. So much can be learned about ourselves from an experience of loss, even in going through a very painful grieving process.

Looking forward from where you are now, live your life with the highest degree of the best expectations.

You have to look for what can be gained from even the most painful of events.

I HAVE FOUND THAT MANY HORRIBLE LOSSES CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO LEARNING AND GROWING EXPERIENCES.

Sometimes you need a drastic change in your life to advance, a kick to get you moving again. And yet, there are losses that a kick will do nothing for, such as the death of someone close.

We have all had the loss of someone close to us. When you experience the loss of a loved one, it can really help if you take time to write a letter to this person describing how you feel about them and that you are sad they died. Describe your feelings in detail.

Read this letter to yourself every day out loud with a smile on your face and it can really comfort you as you go through the stages of grief.

The six stages of grief we have to go through after a change or loss—denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. Getting through each stage can be difficult.

Take the time you need, work on getting through each stage and back to life as soon as you can. In each of my life changes, I remember taking the time to go through each of these stages as I was recovering.

Each stage takes its own time to go through. Tears may flow, yelling can occur, sadness will be there. Always keep in mind that the grief will not be forever. As you are getting through your grief, help others through theirs.

The more you can help others through their difficulties and change, the sooner you will find your way back to happiness. Understand, though, that you will never be the same after change.

WE MUST SURRENDER TO THE CHANGE, AND THEN LEARN TO USE IT FOR OUR FUTURE.

Surrendering allows us to move through the change and learn from it. It does not mean giving up; it simply means accepting the change as is.

Yes, this acceptance of change can be a terribly hard thing to do, but it must be done in order to move forward.

You must look toward the future and think of what has to change to make your life even better than it currently is. Find the power in yourself and don’t give it away by holding onto negative factors from any change.

As we go through changes, we have to focus on them at the time, but don’t hold on too long—move your focus to your positive future as soon as you can.

START TO HANDLE YOUR FUTURE, AWAY FROM YOUR LOSS.

The better you can handle your losses in life, the happier and healthier you will be. Do this with change in your life and also with people who move through your life.

People will move into and out of your life quite often. I’ve had people who I thought were lifelong friends break things off, and we did not communicate again. I miss friends I’ve lost: Budfriend, Anna, and Joe, my best man. It hurt so much, but there was nothing I could do.

Remember, new people are always coming into your life. The old contacts are not replaced. They will always remain and live on in memory, but the new will continue and increase.

Having many friends and growing up in San Diego was wonderful; I loved Southern California and was comfortable there. Mary Ellen and I were married in San Diego and lived there for about five years.

She asked many times to move to the Philadelphia area, where her family was. I finally broke down and we made the move. I felt tremendous loss moving from where I grew up, but new and different people and things entered my life. After a time I understood a bright future is where we need to focus.

SEE THE POSITIVE.

How we see these changes will help to get us through them. You can take any experience and make it an opportunity for learning and for growth. Or you can make it a time for sadness, crying and negative feelings. These twisted thoughts can be straightened.

I find that people can train themselves to straighten twisted feelings and thought patterns. You can teach yourself not to let negative thought patterns overcome you as you move forward. This has been a big factor as I moved forward through my life.

In 1979-1980, I performed a juggling and comedy act with Randy Foster. What a brilliant time we had. I played the nice, friendly character while Randy took the role of the snide and mean character.

We complimented each other quite well, and the show was fabulous.

After doing many street shows in San Diego, we decided to try our act out at Mardi Gras, so off to New Orleans we went.

There is one section of New Orleans that draws people who are attracted to the same sex. Randy had never shown interest in the female gender, and I think he began to express his true desires in New Orleans.

We hardly talked about it, and he never came on to me. I did go with him a couple times to flamboyant gay bars—quite interesting.

On the first anniversary of my first accident, Randy performed a street show with me where we used to do shows in the old days—my monumental comeback performance.

In the mid-eighties, Randy came down with Aids and died in 1991.

I had never experienced the death of someone so close to me before.

IT WAS A TERRIBLE LOSS, AND I STILL MISS RANDY GREATLY.

I’m sure you have been through tremendous losses. How we face and deal with this loss will provide a new direction and better future.

I found new directions to point my passions after each of my losses.

And, it provided more material for this book designed to help you.

I GOT TO THE POINT WHERE I ALMOST WELCOMED BAD THINGS HAPPENING—I DID NOT MIND ANYMORE!

As long as I did not die, it would be more material for this book. Out of every loss there is growth, if we look for the advancement.

Every problem can be an opportunity for progress and moving ahead. Grief follows a consistent pattern that eventually must come to a resolution. You will get through your loss and change; accept the loss first.

Acknowledging and accepting any loss is the most important first step in your recovery through the loss. A discernible sense of balance will come back into your life when you can accept that your loss is real and will not ever go away.

SEE THINGS HOW THEY TRULY ARE.

Seeing the loss for what it is represents a giant step toward full recovery. If you are aware, the grieving process can be a time of growth and learning, as you are working your way back.

You can get back on top of life again, no matter what happens. If you continue to face your loss and work through it, it will make you a stronger person.

YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR GRIEF, MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION.

You can decide to grow through the most devastating loss you ever had and turn it into the most meaningful and productive experience you ever experienced. Choosing to go on with life means taking charge of your own thoughts and emotions, to keep moving ahead toward your successes.

On your way toward success, expect more change and loss. When you suffer a loss, instead of asking, “Why did this happen to me?” the better question would be, “How can I learn and grow through this awful event to become a better person?” Learn, learn, learn.

We learn from all of life’s experiences, good or bad. When you do start asking “How” rather than “Why?” you are on your way to recovery in all areas. Losses will be constant your entire life. The bigger your loss is, the greater your sadness and grief can be. Go through the loss as you can.

Eventually, you will get over the grief, but you do have to work through it. You cannot get around it or jump over it. Sooner or later, you will have to deal with what has happened, again and again, with each new change and loss.

Through your entire life, your changes and losses add up—loss of your childhood, loss of innocence, loss through accidents, loss of health, loss of your goldfish, loss of money, loss of a job, dropped that ball again, loss of a family member or friend, loss through death, loss through divorce—the list never ends.

As we go through each loss we deal with denial, with anger, with depression, with acceptance, and we may even try to strike a deal with the genie so many perceive God to be.

You will go through these various stages as they come and go. You may think that you are over the loss, and then it will return to haunt you again.

Once you do find acceptance, you will always have the memories and grief to deal with, but you do not have to stay there. Looking forward, I had to get myself back from these devastating accidents that totally changed my life.

I KNEW THE PATH BACK WAS GOING TO BE A DIFFICULT ONE, YET, FORWARD I WENT . . .

November 8 —Arrival back in the Allentown, Pennsylvania area. Awakening to frost on the front windshield, boy it’s cold. Plenty of blankets to keep us warm while sleeping in the van, but, as you know, we had wanted to travel with the warm weather and stay to the south at this time of year.

With no current photos, I am included some from the past. Here is a photo from 1979 when I was juggling instructor at RBBB clown college–at the young age of 19.

Tina’s mom needs our help, so here we are. As I wrote in the last blog, she is 95 years old and in the hospital right now. In a week she gets out and we will need to be with her to help take care of her.
​
It’s all like a dream that we were in San Diego go recently.

So, after more than a year traveling and living in a van, we have settled near Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Back to the city with many people.
Back to the cold.
Schedules, appointments, yikes!
Eating at restaurants and in the kitchen.

Already missing:

Wilderness.
Wild animals.
Rivers and lakes.
The freedom.

So, as I wrote before, Tin Tina’s mom is just getting out of the hospital and, at age 95, has no one to take care of her, so here we are. I almost feel like we are waiting around until Marion Miller’s death?, a strange feeling. But, we will be getting back to the wilderness now-and-then, allowing someone else to be with her.

Death is a strange thing. No one can decide “not” to die, we will all get there. Yet, although inevitable, few people talk about what is on the way. Before I go, there are things I want to accomplish, people I want to meet, and places I want to go to. Yet, with this limited time, will I get there? How about you, are there things you want to get done before your demise?

What gets me is the people who live like there is no end and just glide through life doing as little as they can until the end. Remember you only die once, you must live every day.

I did not work hard on this blog this week for you, next week I will have more for your eyes to peruse.

From my book series, Beyond Your Potential.
==============================================
BEYOND YOUR POTENTIAL
The Comeback Kit,
From Coma to Comedy
BOOK ONE – ACCIDENT
A Series of Books to Change Your Life
By Kit Summers

CHAPTER TWO
RECOVERY OR DEATH

“See your upcoming death
as a way to push yourself to
aim beyond your potential”
Kit Summers

As I was recovering from my 37 day coma , my mind was not thinking right for a time, but I had had a good life so far and had a strong will to live. Death had knocked on my door; I refused to open the gate.

In a way, we are the ones who sometimes choose when we want to leave this life we live. Of course, recovery and moving ahead were much better, or I couldn’t have written this book to help you in your life.

My life didn’t end in either accident, but the experiences made me think a great deal about life, and, of course, death. I must say, I have no fear of death, but I have things I need to accomplish before that time, such as making Beyond Your Potential a best seller (with your help, of course.)

During some operations in the past, I was comfortably asleep under anesthesia and knew nothing, which is how I believe death will be; the long sleep and knowing nothing.

Human life is a finite condition; death is imminent, which is a subject seldom discussed.

PREPARE YOUR MIND.

Have you thought about your own death? Or what you want to accomplish before that end result? Time to get to what you want to realize in the time you have left—NOW—while you are still alive?

When recovering from injuries and serious setbacks in my life, at times I have been quite upset about my losses. I did think about suicide at times—how easy it would be to just let go and “pass away.”

I would no longer have to work or worry or suffer, and no more great tragedies would befall me.

SUICIDE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE EASY WAY OUT.

After thinking more about it, I saw that suicide was the most selfish and lazy thing one could ever do. You get relief, but all those who know you will suffer your demise.

Over the years, the idea of writing this book helped to keep me on track, and even kept me alive.

Helping you through my thoughts became a new passion, and I had to make the time to
finish this collection of words.

Because of my major accidents, I lost some of my time and saw that we do have a limited time here on Earth. With the time remaining to me, I wanted to accomplish something that could help the human race, which is part of the reason I wrote this book.

I HOPE THESE WORDS ARE ADDING TO YOUR LIFE.

With advancement in medical technologies, which ultimately saved my life, humankind is able to live longer than we ever have. I was on the threshold of death a few times, but was kept alive; I had to keep going.

If the doctors had “pulled the plug,” I may not be here today. I was told that if my first accident had happened five years prior to when it did, I would not have made it.

When someone is in an irreversible coma, should the plug be pulled?

DEATH IS THE ONE THING THAT REALLY SCARES MOST PEOPLE ON EARTH.

In Western society, which is materialistic and progress oriented, death is often ignored, not talked about, evaded, and denied.

WE CAN’T COUNT ON ANYTHING IN LIFE—EXCEPT DEATH.

Yet, wouldn’t it be a hard life if you went on living forever? It would also get quite boring, too, don’t you think?

During my recoveries, I decided I wanted to do something to help people on this earth we live on.

I read a fabulous quote by Horace Mann: “Until you have done something to advance human life, you should be ashamed to die.”

I AM HOPEFUL THIS SERIES OF BOOKS WILL FULFILL MY OBLIGATION.

I knew that the more I helped others, the more I was motivated to live because of my efforts. The results I saw kept me on track. As I helped others, I kept working toward advancement and didn’t settle for death.

Yet, I knew living with the knowledge that eventually every one of us is going to die is much harder than dying. While in the hospital, I tried to motivate and encourage other patients. Doing so helped to stabilize my mind and preserved my will to live on, on my way to an old age?

Some people who have died at the age of eighteen have lived fuller lives than others who loitered about to the age of ninety-three. It’s not that we have to accomplish a great deal in life. It’s about living fully each and every day.

Take time out to enjoy the sunshine, to watch clouds and sunsets, to work on your book, to juggle, to enjoy a flower opening, to see, experience and appreciate all the wonderful little things that life has to offer.

Take a moment to examine your own life, and, ultimately, your death.
· Have you ever thought about the time when you will not b e here?
· Are there things left you want to accomplish before that time?
· Is there someone whose life you can start helping?

It is never too late to start living and growing—to change your life and go in a different direction.

It is inevitable that you are going to die, and because this is the only life we truly know we have, enjoy this day to the fullest, and live for an even better tomorrow.
DO THIS DAILY.

In this highly advanced world, perhaps we do not talk about death very much because it reminds us of our vulnerability: that we are all on the way out, death will come, whatever age you are now.

The worst of all deaths to think about is that of an innocent child—a life cut short without even having a chance to experience anything. You are not that child. You are alive, keep pressing forward as your life grows.

In a way, death is the final growth that life has to offer. Whether you are rich or poor, successful or struggling, death strikes at random. Death is an integral part of human existence, but for so many this thought does not even come to mind.

Some people live life as if they were going to live forever, as if an hour does not matter, or a day, or a year, or a decade. They let the time drain away like so many grains of sand in an hourglass, and when their time is up; they look back and wonder where their life went.

Only then do they begin to think of all the wonderful things that could have been and what they could have become. Often they think of what they missed at a point when it could be too late, and now they are scared of their death.

YOU MUST NOT WAIT FOR THIS POINT, START NOW ON YOUR FUTURE (WITH YOUR DEATH IN MIND)

By facing the finite nature of our own existence, we can learn not to be bothered by small matters or succumb to depression.

WE ALL HAVE THINGS TO DO, WE MUST GET TO THEM.

We see that it is up to each one of us to design and build our own future, knowing that death will eventually come.

Speaking of death, what truly scares me is that Earth may die because of humans. We need to start taking better care of this planet we live on and which affects all our lives.

YOU CAN DO YOUR PART TO HELP THIS PLANET WE LIVE ON. START TODAY!

It is time to face your own death and push yourself now, while you still have the opportunity to make your dreams a reality.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016
In California now near San Francisco, it was south we went. We could have gone to coast route, which has more views, but that will have to wait until next trip (will you join us?)

From Barry to the other Barry
So–from Barry and Sue Bakalor to Barry and Annie Friedman—here we go—still in California. What great hosts these Barry’s and family were, a memory at each home that will last a lifetime.

Millionaires?
Boy, I recently visited some very successful friends who lead a wonderful life that they each created. Barry and Annie Friedman, through performing, writing and doing seminars, while living in a $1 million home; Barry and Sue Bakalor, our next stop, through their computer company and is at this time selling their house for $5.5 million; and, currently visiting Daniel Powell, who has a real estate company and lives the life that “He” wants, while living in a $3 million mansion.

(And, you have to remember, I live with Tina in a van.)

Here we go . . .
Driving down route 99 through central California, we saw more and more growth of edibles along each side of the road. This state grows much of what is eaten in the country, as well as shipping much produce to the rest of the world.

Lately I have been studying vertical farming, which, I think, will get bigger and bigger in the world. When you grow on a farm you have limited earth space, when you grow in a multi level building where you control the lighting, watering, temperature and the growing soil, you can grow much more.

A big asset
You may wonder how we arrive where we do, I must say, having GPS to guide us on this ride is truly remarkable. I’ve driven, round trip, across the US twenty times, most times alone in the vehicle, going by maps and personal direction. I remember the days of stopping off the road to find a pay phone to call and get better directions to my destination. The GPS system is such advancement in human life, what might be coming next?

Back home
Finally arriving in the San Diego area, I’ve seen much change in my home city. I have been here off and on over the years, I can’t believe how much change and growth there has been; hard to recognize these days.

A job?
The reason we came to San Diego at this time is because Tina had an interview for a temporary job. We were planning on spending the winter down in warm, nice San Diego.

Yes, I have friends
Also, I had wanted to come to see my good friend, Daniel Powell. I wrote before about how well he has done with his life and career. Also, this amazing person developed cancer, fought it, and won!–Makes me so happy.

My mom
San Diego is where I grew up. My mom has lived here since about 1967, so, of course I always visit her when I’m in the area (when I wasn’t living at her home.) A couple years ago mom died, so it is very strange and difficult to visit this city with no mom here.

Here is the change
After only two days in warm sunny San Diego, which was going to be our final destination for the winter, Tina found out her mother will be let out of the hospital in about one week and we need to go back to take care of her. So, here we go, from East Coast to West Coast and back again.

Seeing the wilderness once again
Back on the road, I-8 heading east; nice to see the desert I remember so well. As we are driving through these stunning places we love seeing the area. We took some pictures, you will see. And, in some places, we are seeing piles of volcanic rock on the sides of the road, which we have seen other places. We just think it is so neat.

November 3—I saw we were passing somewhat close to Santa Fe, NM, so I had to go see my sister. She has been successful in her life, a proud brother I am. Here she is >> wireweaver.com. We had not seen each other or talked much since my mom died. So, I went up to the door, knocked, and after she answered we just stared at each other through the screen door for a time—it was strange–Great to see you, Kath.

Across the top of Texas
And, the next day we put in many miles on our way back to the east coast. Driving through the north of Texas on I-40 we saw many cows in stockyards. What a terrible life they lead, just standing around all day in the same place and getting a bite to eat now and then, but not fresh green grass. Later down the road we saw herds of cows in fields of grass, a much better life for them. These cows in the stockyards are basically being fattened up to feed humans, a sad thing.

Staying south
We are passing through Amarillo, Texas. Once again, the same businesses, the same traffic, the same look—every city is the same.
Oklahoma >> moving into Oklahoma we are seeing cotton fields in many areas, nice. This area is very flat; we are used to the mountains and forests, which I like much better.

November 5-6, 2016
On our way from California I saw that Branson, Missouri was on the way, so, of course I had to take us to see my friends, Albert Lucas and his wife Ruth. Albert is a superb juggler who I have known since 1976. At that time he juggled with The Ice Capades, yes, juggling while skating. In Branson he is performing in the show, “Dixie Stampede“, and is one of the stars of the show.

There is a certain juggling trick that is performed with clubs that Albert is very good at. Many years ago I started calling this trick, “Albert throws”, the name caught on and now the trick is called this around the world.

What’s upcoming>>>
Tina and I will be staying at her mom’s home so Tina can take care of her. Funny how that can happen, your parents raise you and you go back later to take care of them.

But, we will be taking short outings to the wilderness and I will continue my weekly postings. Included in each post will be more inspirational segments from my books. And, I hope my writings have been improving, I am trying to be a better writer for you. Let me know . . .

How do you like it?
When I wrote some of my books I used this style of writing, to have an opening line before most paragraphs. I feel it gets the readers interest up to move on down the pa. You are the reader, what do you think?

As usual, if you would like any of my books, let me know. I will send the book attached to an email.

Next Sunday I will be writing to you from our new home base in cold Pennsylvania. Get ready to read a fun post.

Beyond Your Potential

The Comeback Kit, From Coma to Comedy

BOOK THREE—FINDING SUCCESS!

A Series of Books to Change Your Life

By Kit Summers

Chapter 21 – Goal Setting Toward Success

“Without setting goals you
have no direction at which to
aim toward your potential.”
Kit Summers

Oh—The Plans I Have For Me . . .
Goal setting has been defined in various ways over time. To me, goal setting is making a plan for the future to advance yourself and your life. People who don’t make plans for their future and who don’t have or set goals for themselves tend to wander through life, not knowing where they are going, so in the end, they get nowhere. Obviously, the process of setting and achieving goals is relevant to all occupations, studies, and professions. All human activity begins with an intention that is directed toward a goal.

Make Your Plans
I’m sure you’ve set goals before, even if you didn’t call them goals. Perhaps you made plans to do something simple, like getting your grocery shopping done. Or maybe you had a long term goal like retiring by age fifty-five. Whether short or long term, most people know how good it feels to finally achieve a goal that they set out to do. But, there are just as many people who tend to stop two feet short of their goals, either because the path gets difficult or maybe they get bored. I encourage you to keep driving toward the outcome that you want.

How to get there
The way to reach your goals is first to have a clear vision of the outcome that you desire. In other words, define exactly what it is that you want. Next, you have to take action. So many people never take action after they set their goals. If you don’t, your goals and desires will always be dreams. Your future will give you what you ask of it. Ask for a banana, and that is what you will get. Ask for great success and/or a wonderful relationship and you will get that, too. Goals give you the power to achieve your desires.

Make Your List
Fewer than four percent of people actually write down a list of goals for themselves. This is a shame because actually writing out your goals and thinking about them will you help you to achieve them much more quickly. Have fun while writing your goals and know that what you write can be any goal that you may dream of – anything – be it living in a mansion, eating a cookie, juggling five balls at one time, driving a Rolls Royce, or writing a book.

Making Progress
We need goals and strategies that allow us to see our progress. Making a list of goals I wanted to accomplish helped me to get through my recovery. When I reached the different goals that I had set for myself, I would cross them off of the list. I remember how good it would feel to see my list get smaller and smaller. Once I finished a list, I would build a new list with new goals and the process would start all over. If you don’t already have a list of goals, start one now. Set goals for yourself and make plans for all areas of your life. After listing your goals, write steps that you can use to reach your goals. These smaller steps are your map towards reaching your larger goals.

Break Them Down
Whether you’re a student studying for a test, a corporate president planning a yearly budget, or a father planning a vacation, this system can work for you – if you put it into action! Many people I talk with tell me that of course they have goals in their lives. Then I ask how they are working toward their goals and they say they haven’t gotten around to meeting their goals, indicating that they haven’t broken their goal into smaller goals. Without breaking your goals into smaller steps, they will remain too large and it is hard to work toward them. How do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time. Ask yourself what you would do if you knew you couldn’t fail, and then move toward your goals at full speed.

The Map
When you set goals for yourself, map out a way that will help you to reach your goals. In my seminars, I use a goal of juggling as an example. The first step is to start with one juggling ball. Keep working on juggling the ball in various ways until you get the feel of it. When that is comfortable, take the next step which is juggling two balls. You don’t have to master each step before moving on, just get the feel for the step, get comfortable with it, and then move on. Finally, take the last step and pick up the third juggling ball. By drawing a map towards juggling and following the steps towards the final goal of juggling three balls, the goal of juggling is much more manageable. This same process can be used toward any goal or plan.

Moving Ahead
Goal setting is basically making plans to advance your life. Life is constantly changing though and things don’t always go as we foresee. Get comfortable with planning alternative courses of action. If you can’t continue with a goal as you had originally planned, set an appropriate alternative and develop a path to direct you to the goal by another route. Your goals will constantly be changing and growing – learn to change with them and to direct them toward success. You have to know somewhere you want to go, then you can start mapping out a route to get there. When you are setting goals and working towards them, enjoy the steps toward the goal as much as the finish line once you get to it.

Why have goals?
Goals are good for us because they help us to focus our attention and energy, and we can then act passionately and effectively toward our desired outcome. You don’t want to aim at reaching your goals though. Instead, aim your energy to the path leading to the goal. This is true for career goals, juggling goals, fitness goals, relationship goals, and all other goals you have.

Stay on Course
As long as it is within your control, stay on the path you’ve set for yourself and enjoy your time there. If you were to disregard the path, your entire effort may be weakened. If you don’t in fact enjoy the process of doing what you do, you risk not giving it your all and giving up on the goal. A short range goal would be one that you want to accomplish in a day or even a week. A long range goal might take a year, five years, or even a lifetime. We can’t put our goals out in the future and hope to one day work toward them. What we have to do is pull the future to us. Set your goals now and start driving toward them.

Direction
Without a clear goal in mind, you can find it difficult to decide what to do next. Goals should be set for many areas of your life – physical, family, economic, social, spiritual, mental, career and juggling. Without being clear about your goals, you will go only as far in life as what you need to get by. You must go beyond the potential you think you have. Everyone has different dreams and goals. Figure out exactly what yours are, then start mapping out a course to reach them.

People are Here to Help
Remember, people are here to help you. Maintain relationships with positive people who have goals similar to yours. This will help you to reach your goals much sooner. Remember though to judge yourself by your goals and your abilities, not by comparing yourself to other people’s progress or results.

Makes Life Better
Goal setting and self-improvement does not mean that you are dissatisfied with the way you are now. Goal setting is a way of looking to the future and seeing new paths toward success so that you can add to what you currently have. Goal setting is an aggressive way to break out of the ruts and plateaus of life to advance you. It is a plan, a desire, a passion, a mission. Planning like this is a way of getting to know yourself, what you can achieve, and what you really want out of life.

Model Excellence
As I was recovering, I found and modeled other people who had suffered head injuries and later found ways to do well for them self. By modeling, I mean I would do as they would do, act as they do, be on the same track of success. After my recovery, I would still use this technique and would find people whom I respected and admired and I would model them. You see, excellence can be duplicated. Think of people who have already reached the goal that you have in mind and answer the following questions.
1. What did they have to do to reach their goal?
2. What steps did they take?
3. What do you think their frame of mind was?
Get Help Toward Your Goals
If at all possible, talk with people who have achieved the goal that you have in mind. Don’t be afraid to talk other people – we are here to help each other! I have found that every person that I wanted to talk to about how they met their goals were happy to talk to me about their success. Rightfully so, they were proud of what they had accomplished. When you talk to other people about their successes in life, ask precisely and intelligently how they reached their goals. Ask them what ideas they might have to help you avoid the roadblocks or obstacles they encountered on the way to reaching their goal. This will save you energy and time on your path to reaching the same goal.

Writing with Finesse
One of my most ambitious goals after the accident was to write a book about juggling. I didn’t want to write just any old book on juggling though; I wanted to write the best book ever written on the subject. I started working on my juggling book in 1985 and finally published Juggling with Finesse in the summer of 1987. Much more than just a how-to book, I included many motivational and inspirational ideas within the text. In a large way, the writing and publishing of this book was a self-prescribed therapy as I was getting back to life again. It helped to organize my mind and get my thoughts in order. By writing this book, I learned that communication is essential for everyone in life. Learning to properly use language and developing your communication skills will take you miles in life.

Your Book
Everyone is the author of their own lives. Think of your life as a book. As you live your life, you are always adding to the book. We are all special and unique. We all have special skills that are ours alone and no one else may know of them except you. When something happens, good or bad, that affects your life, say to yourself, “The story continues.” This helped me quite a bit as I was recovering, and I still say this to myself today. As I am working toward my goals and continuing to write the story that is my life, I find that the path towards the end result is what brings me the most pleasure, especially when I can see myself being stretched beyond what I would think is my full potential.

Challenge Yourself
When I am setting goals for myself, I always try to make sure that I go slightly above and beyond what I think my maximum potential is. That is, I constantly challenge myself to do more, yet am satisfied with a series of small victories. Your goals are always changing and growing, use small goals and steps towards your greater goal should be just beyond your reach.

Do the Work
Without having a clear goal in your mind, you can find it difficult to decide what to do next. It takes much work to figure out your goals and desires in life. Many people don’t take the time or effort to figure out what it is they really want in life. If you want success, you must work. Setting goals and planning your path might very well be the most rewarding work that you will do in your life. Remember, a goal is something we truly want to do, something very important to us. Goals are essentially making plans that allow progress. I hope you would agree with me that we all should continue to advance ourselves and make progress in our lives.

Congratulate Yourself
Remember to applaud yourself for every effort you make, regardless of the outcome. When you praise yourself, you are putting positive thoughts into your mind which will undoubtedly boost your self-esteem and help you to continue making progress on your goals. Each goal that you achieve should help to bolster your self-confidence and confirm the belief you the abilities to continue making progress in your life.

How to Set Your Goals
The following is an outline I created that has helped me to set goals and to plan for them. You may want to make copies of this for all your goals.

A) Set realistic goals that are just beyond your reach and define EXACTLY what it is that you want to accomplish.

B) Gather as much information as you can that will be helpful to you in reaching the goal you have set.

C) Break your goal down into 9 subgoals or smaller steps.
1___________________2_________________3______________________

4___________________5__________________6_____________________

7___________________8__________________9_____________________

D) Think about any obstacles that might get in your way and list them.

E) For the obstacles listed in D), list at least three alternative steps that you could take in order to still achieve the goal you’ve set.

1__________________2___________________3__________________

F) Visualize your goal as if you have already achieved it.

G) Stay flexible and be willing and able to change your strategies toward your goal.

H) Make a timeline toward your goal and your smaller steps, and then be persistent towards meeting these deadlines.

________________________1 month_________________________6 months

________________________1 year__________________________2 years

Long Term Goals
While short term goals are essential, it is also necessary to have long term goals projected ten, twenty, or even thirty years into the future. The idea of a thirty-year goal might sound silly, but if you want to be somewhere specific thirty years from now, you can make it happen. Just think about living as being retired in Hawaii on the beach with sand between your toes, or off the grid living as a nomad in Mongolia. You won’t get to either place unless you plan for it now and begin taking those smaller steps today.

Tie Your Goals Together
Keep setting goals and strive toward reaching them. Remember that the size of the goal doesn’t matter, you have to work toward it no matter what and you can break it down into as many small steps as you want to or need to. Remember, failure is a step toward success. When something doesn’t work for you one way, learn from your failure and take a different approach toward your goal. Goals are achieved little by little, step by step. Because learning goes slowly, and progress requires time, know that change sometimes takes years. It can also be helpful to see how your different goals are actually similar or how the smaller steps for one goal might help you to get closer to another goal, too.

Read
Read through your goal list every day, but don’t just read the words. Mix your emotions and feelings with your words in a positive frame of mind. Use your mind to THINK! Unless you mix your emotions with your thoughts, you will get nowhere. Remember that it’s hard to do this right away, it takes practice. Your desire must become a burning obsession. You alone must decide whether the reward is worth the price you must pay and the effort you must make. Remember that everything that you do starts with an idea.

Start Now
Take charge of what you want in life. If you demand to be rich, determine how rich, and how this will satisfy you. You have been given a roadmap in this book that can help to take you anywhere that you want to go. You have to remember that ultimately you always have total responsibility for yourself and what you do with your life. So, set goals for your life and build the life that you want – STARTING RIGHT NOW!

November 8 —Arrival back in the Allentown, Pennsylvania area. Awakening to frost on the front windshield, boy it’s cold. Plenty of blankets to keep us warm while sleeping in the van, but, as you know, we had wanted to travel with the warm weather and stay to the south at this time of year.

With no current photos I am included some from the past. Here is a photo from 1979 when I was juggling instructor at RBBB clown college–at the young age of 19.

Tina’s mom needs our help, so here we are. As I wrote in the last blog, she is 95 years old and in the hospital right now. In a week she gets out and we will need to be with her to help take care of her.
​
It’s all like a dream that we were in San Diego go recently.

So, after more than a year traveling and living in a van, we have settled near Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Back to the city with many people.
Back to the cold.
Schedules, appointments, yikes!
Eating at restaurants and in the kitchen.

Already missing:

Wilderness.
Wild animals.
Rivers and lakes.
The freedom.

So, as I wrote before, Tin Tina’s mom is just getting out of the hospital and, at age 95, has no one to take care of her, so here we are. I almost feel like we are waiting around until Marion Miller’s death?, a strange feeling. But, we will be getting back to the wilderness now-and-then, allowing someone else to be with her.

Death is a strange thing. No one can decide “not” to die, we will all get there. Yet, although inevitable, few people talk about what is on the way. Before I go, there are things I want to accomplish, people I want to meet, and places I want to go to. Yet, with this limited time, will I get there? How about you, are there things you want to get done before your demise?

What gets me is the people who live like there is no end and just glide through life doing as little as they can until the end. Remember you only die once, you must live every day.

I did not work hard on this blog this week for you, next week I will have more for your eyes to peruse.

From my book series, Beyond Your Potential.
==============================================
BEYOND YOUR POTENTIAL
The Comeback Kit,
From Coma to Comedy
BOOK ONE – ACCIDENT
A Series of Books to Change Your Life
By Kit Summers

CHAPTER TWO
RECOVERY OR DEATH

“See your upcoming death
as a way to push yourself to
aim beyond your potential”
Kit Summers

As I was recovering from my 37 day coma , my mind was not thinking right for a time, but I had had a good life so far and had a strong will to live. Death had knocked on my door; I refused to open the gate.

In a way, we are the ones who sometimes choose when we want to leave this life we live. Of course, recovery and moving ahead were much better, or I couldn’t have written this book to help you in your life.

My life didn’t end in either accident, but the experiences made me think a great deal about life, and, of course, death. I must say, I have no fear of death, but I have things I need to accomplish before that time, such as making Beyond Your Potential a best seller (with your help, of course.)

During some operations in the past, I was comfortably asleep under anesthesia and knew nothing, which is how I believe death will be; the long sleep and knowing nothing.

Human life is a finite condition; death is imminent, which is a subject seldom discussed.

PREPARE YOUR MIND.

Have you thought about your own death? Or what you want to accomplish before that end result? Time to get to what you want to realize in the time you have left—NOW—while you are still alive?

When recovering from injuries and serious setbacks in my life, at times I have been quite upset about my losses. I did think about suicide at times—how easy it would be to just let go and “pass away.”

I would no longer have to work or worry or suffer, and no more great tragedies would befall me.

SUICIDE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE EASY WAY OUT.

After thinking more about it, I saw that suicide was the most selfish and lazy thing one could ever do. You get relief, but all those who know you will suffer your demise.

Over the years, the idea of writing this book helped to keep me on track, and even kept me alive.

Helping you through my thoughts became a new passion, and I had to make the time to
finish this collection of words.

Because of my major accidents, I lost some of my time and saw that we do have a limited time here on Earth. With the time remaining to me, I wanted to accomplish something that could help the human race, which is part of the reason I wrote this book.

I HOPE THESE WORDS ARE ADDING TO YOUR LIFE.

With advancement in medical technologies, which ultimately saved my life, humankind is able to live longer than we ever have. I was on the threshold of death a few times, but was kept alive; I had to keep going.

If the doctors had “pulled the plug,” I may not be here today. I was told that if my first accident had happened five years prior to when it did, I would not have made it.

When someone is in an irreversible coma, should the plug be pulled?

DEATH IS THE ONE THING THAT REALLY SCARES MOST PEOPLE ON EARTH.

In Western society, which is materialistic and progress oriented, death is often ignored, not talked about, evaded, and denied.

WE CAN’T COUNT ON ANYTHING IN LIFE—EXCEPT DEATH.

Yet, wouldn’t it be a hard life if you went on living forever? It would also get quite boring, too, don’t you think?

During my recoveries, I decided I wanted to do something to help people on this earth we live on.

I read a fabulous quote by Horace Mann: “Until you have done something to advance human life, you should be ashamed to die.”

I AM HOPEFUL THIS SERIES OF BOOKS WILL FULFILL MY OBLIGATION.

I knew that the more I helped others, the more I was motivated to live because of my efforts. The results I saw kept me on track. As I helped others, I kept working toward advancement and didn’t settle for death.

Yet, I knew living with the knowledge that eventually every one of us is going to die is much harder than dying. While in the hospital, I tried to motivate and encourage other patients. Doing so helped to stabilize my mind and preserved my will to live on, on my way to an old age?

Some people who have died at the age of eighteen have lived fuller lives than others who loitered about to the age of ninety-three. It’s not that we have to accomplish a great deal in life. It’s about living fully each and every day.

Take time out to enjoy the sunshine, to watch clouds and sunsets, to work on your book, to juggle, to enjoy a flower opening, to see, experience and appreciate all the wonderful little things that life has to offer.

Take a moment to examine your own life, and, ultimately, your death.
· Have you ever thought about the time when you will not b e here?
· Are there things left you want to accomplish before that time?
· Is there someone whose life you can start helping?

It is never too late to start living and growing—to change your life and go in a different direction.

It is inevitable that you are going to die, and because this is the only life we truly know we have, enjoy this day to the fullest, and live for an even better tomorrow.
DO THIS DAILY.

In this highly advanced world, perhaps we do not talk about death very much because it reminds us of our vulnerability: that we are all on the way out, death will come, whatever age you are now.

The worst of all deaths to think about is that of an innocent child—a life cut short without even having a chance to experience anything. You are not that child. You are alive, keep pressing forward as your life grows.

In a way, death is the final growth that life has to offer. Whether you are rich or poor, successful or struggling, death strikes at random. Death is an integral part of human existence, but for so many this thought does not even come to mind.

Some people live life as if they were going to live forever, as if an hour does not matter, or a day, or a year, or a decade. They let the time drain away like so many grains of sand in an hourglass, and when their time is up; they look back and wonder where their life went.

Only then do they begin to think of all the wonderful things that could have been and what they could have become. Often they think of what they missed at a point when it could be too late, and now they are scared of their death.

YOU MUST NOT WAIT FOR THIS POINT, START NOW ON YOUR FUTURE (WITH YOUR DEATH IN MIND)

By facing the finite nature of our own existence, we can learn not to be bothered by small matters or succumb to depression.

WE ALL HAVE THINGS TO DO, WE MUST GET TO THEM.

We see that it is up to each one of us to design and build our own future, knowing that death will eventually come.

Speaking of death, what truly scares me is that Earth may die because of humans. We need to start taking better care of this planet we live on and which affects all our lives.

YOU CAN DO YOUR PART TO HELP THIS PLANET WE LIVE ON. START TODAY!

It is time to face your own death and push yourself now, while you still have the opportunity to make your dreams a reality.