The importance of making time for yourself

I have learned that from a healing perspective, my body does much better with routine. However from a mental perspective, I have a hard time being creative inside of a fixed paradigm. Obviously, right now, getting my body healthier is the priority and Christmas, as it is every year, is like a bomb blast going off in whatever your normal routine was. This year was no different. Since the 15th of December, the healthy routine that I had going slowly started to fall victim to the events calendar and the shopping that comes with the holidays; granted we also have a 5 week old baby so I am sure that she has thrown a couple of wrenches into “routine life” as well. Don’t get me wrong, because I don’t beg for routine and so I am not being negative, but I seem to need it now more than ever. From a psychological standpoint, I do enjoy less routine to more but I am learning more about that as well. Structure seems to help our bodies and minds run on auto pilot which can be a good thing for doing routine activities, however, the chipset that is our brain can get deep grooves of thought patterns that result from that repetitive life. When we introduce new things regularly or randomly, our brains seem to set aside some “CPU time” for the just in case. Just in case it has to do something new, and as a result, we are better able to adapt and think sideways when we need to. Without the challenges that new situations create, our brains deepen the grooves of patterned thinking and I derive that it must make it harder to get out of those deep grooves when we need to. We all know that our brain is this incredible tool that is capable of far more than any of us request from it, but like a leg that you sit on for too long, it too will go to sleep, and when you want to get up and run with it, you might find yourself flat on your face. That is what happened to me.

The gift of my time in the hospital and at home, has been time – time to spend with my family and time to spend with myself. I’d love to say I’ve been hanging out with my friends a whole lot, but just because your life stops doesn’t mean that everyone else’s schedule opens up. I will say confidently however, that I have not been wasting the time, and although I likely take it for granted on some days, I have been trying my best at doing new things, and challenging myself mentally. This blog is a good example of that. Who would’ve known that I would enjoy writing so much and that it would prove to be such a healthy outlet for me – the professional athlete and perennial jock and salesman? I suppose that I need to be jarred loose from my grooved patterns of thinking to push me to try some new things, and it has been very positive. Getting back to the creative thinking aspect, I have found is that you can make time for creative thinking inside of a routine. Your life doesn’t need to be that of a mad scientist in order to be creative, you can set time aside to do or think about something new each day, and I dare say that you should. I have been doing a lot of meditation and now I can get very deep into thought and separate my mind from the body, and the spirit from the mind even, and I can do it fairly quickly now. Once I get to this place of free thinking and analysis of the present, It is like accessing a deep well of ideas and thoughts that you may have had briefly but never really looked at closely. The trick is to set the time aside to allow that bucket and rope to pull ideas up from your conscious and subconscious so that you can explore them. That requires setting aside some time for you and then to do it. Where does all the time come from? Do you need to be hospitalized to create this time and free yourself from the stresses of life? I don’t think so.

I can honestly say that there has been more stress in life since I became ill. There is more financial worry, and job concerns, etc, but I think my perspective has changed and now I look at things with a newly revived sense of priority. This seems to be the key factor in making time for yourself. You need to make yourself a priority in your life – whether you want to acknowledge it or not is your decision, but you need to be your best to make the people around you their best. You need to keep developing and you owe it to yourself to earn that mental and spiritual and physical health. To do this, you have to set aside time for yourself. When you want to improve your physical health, you get a gym membership and you get on the treadmill or lift weights – not because you have to, but because you make it a priority. When was the last time you put your brain on the treadmill? When was the last time your spirit lifted weights? You might answer that you do it at work, but that doesn’t count. Doing it for someone else’s benefit is not as selfish as it needs to be. You need to take time to identify, and pursue things that stimulate you. Have a hobby, read books on a new subject, take a class, write a list of things and start chipping away at them. Get back to the goals and dreams that you had when you were a kid. Then you need to set time aside for yourself. You’re worth it and it is a priority, and making time for personal health, staying out of ruts and bumping your brain out of its groove.

I’ll finish with this one last thing. The wonderful part of children, aside from snuggling and saying hilarious things, is their imagination and their dreams. We all cherish and admire it in them. They wake up in the morning and tell us about their crazy dreams and we pray that at night they lay awake and think about these wonderful places that they will travel to and incredible things that they will do. Don’t you deserve to do the same? At what point are we supposed to forget entirely what it is to dream big outrageous dreams and travel in our mind to wonderful places. The upside to being an adult is that we are better able to make our dreams come true! We can make the money, we can make our own decisions and we don’t have to listen to adults who might tell us we are crazy. Take some time and go somewhere wonderful in your mind, and do it regularly, do something crazy and don’t allow your mental groove to become a rut.

$2.00 down... $199,998.00 to go!!!

$2.00 down... $199,998.00 to go!

My Father Ron was the first to donate $1.00 into the send Jim to space fund and now an old and special friend, who just found me on Facebook after 8 years, donated the 2nd dollar. I wouldn't say we have reached the tipping point, but we have started down what is sure to be an incredible path. I am positive it will prove very interesting the trend of the donations and the hopeful viral spread of my project. It also points out another excellent and organic aspect of this project and that is finding old friends and / or being found by old friends. Hopefully some old pals will get in touch and see that I am still the same old Jim from wherever they new me from.

I also wrangled up the first official "Space Trip Piggy Bank" (see photo). It is a classic, disney collectors item from the 90's featuring Marvin the Martian. This will serve to hold the cash until I get enough going to justify something a little more technologically sound! On that note the plan is to create a formal ESCROW account that will hold the funds for the space flight and a second Escrow obviously for the funds to form the non profit. My 2 year old son Wyatt was quick to donate some of his pennies and quarters to put a little jingle in Marvin the Martian

Thanks for getting me started, I'll be keeping track of who makes the first donations and you will all have front row seats to the Documentary on opening night.

Jim Moss Bio

James Ronald Moss was born in Toronto, Ontario Canada on March 3rd, 1977. Raised in Brampton, Ontario, he spent most of his 32 years in Canada until his move to San Jose, California in 2003.

Jim, a professional lacrosse player with the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) learned to play both box and field lacrosse when he was only four years old. Since that time, his accolades include; winning the National Men's Lacrosse Championship in 2002, being honored with the Gold Medal for winning the World Championship in Field Lacrosse as a member of Team Canada in 2006, and joining other elite lacrosse players such as Paul and Gary Gait in the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Jim not only had a love of lacrosse, but as a true Canadian, had an equally passionate love of ice hockey. Jim played college hockey for the University of Western Ontario where he captured a Bronze Medal with the Canadian National Hockey Program in the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University Games and professionally for the Huntington Blizzard, of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). Through his experiences playing lacrosse and hockey, he had the fortune to visit Australia, Europe and Japan, giving him a thirst for travel and exploration.

Currently employed by STX Lacrosse in sales management, he enjoys working with others who are passionate about lacrosse. His previous experience includes sales management with Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, representing the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. Jim achieved his post secondary education at the University of Western Ontario and at San Jose State University with continuing education at Stanford University. In July, 2007, he welcomed his son Wyatt Douglas Moss into the world and his daughter, Olivia James Moss arrived in November, 2009.

Shortly before the birth of his second child, Olivia, one of Jim's biggest life-changing moments occurred and came in the form of an illness named Guillain Barre Syndrome. Guillain Barre is an auto immune disease that causes the body to attack its own peripheral nervous system. In late 2009, Jim fell ill with the H1N1 virus and as a result, he contracted Guillain Barre and was hospitalized for four weeks. Jim had to re-learn to stand, walk and handle basic daily functions before returning home. Upon returning to his home, Jim continued with ongoing physical and occupational therapy, writing about his experiences along the way. His blog about these experiences:  www.sidewaysisforward.blogspot.com, discusses the ups and downs of dealing with life's everyday challenges, thoughts on how to stay positive through stressful events, and realizing one's dreams and turning them into goals.

Jim is excited to embark on this journey into outer space and looks forward to writing about this his experience along the way. His wife Jennifer and children Wyatt and Olivia are rooting him on and he can't wait to give them a wave from his spot looking down on earth.

  

Quick Bio for those of you that don't know me

Jim Moss – Bio

Jim was born in Toronto, Ontario Canada on March 3^rd, 1977.

At 32 years old Jim is father to one son and one daughter and is married to Jennifer Moss.

Currently living in San  Jose California, he also calls Port Elgin Ontario Canada home and spent his childhood in Brampton Ontario Canada.

He recently contracted and is now recovering from Guillain Barre Syndrome.

Guillain Barre is an auto immune disease that causes the body to attack its own peripheral nervous system.

As a result Jim was hospitalized for 4 weeks and had to re learn walking and some basic functions

Jim continues to blog about the experience at www.sidewaysisforward.blogspot.com

A member of the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, although not likely to compete this season due to recovery

Is a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, The Brampton Sports Hall of fame for his both Lacrosse and Hockey

Won a World Championship in Field Lacrosse as a member of Team Canada in 2006

Played professional Ice Hockey in the ECHL and collegiate Ice Hockey for the University of Western Ontario

Captured a Bronze medal with Canada National Hockey program in the FISU World University Games

Has always had an interest in helping other people and has received awards and commendation for citizenship even as early as 5^th grade

Currently Jim is employed by STX Lacrosse in Sales and before that for the San Jose Sharks of the NHL and in medical device sales in Ontario Canada

Jim has achieved his post secondary education at the University of Western Ontario and at San Jose State University as well as continuing education at Stanford University

Truly enjoys travelling and has been fortunate through sports to visit Australia, Europe and Japan and looks forward to future travels around the world

Working on website!!!

I am working on the www.iamgoingtospace.com website and i'll be moving the blog to be on the site as well via blog.iamgoingtospace.com but I will still be maintaining this one for a while as well.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year,
Chat soon,
Jim Moss

Admin – for sake of trademark intentions

Let today stand as the first public use of the phrase Panhandling Spaceman, The Panhandling Spaceman as well as the websites www.panhandlingspaceman.com and www.thepanhandlingspaceman.com

This name is also intended to serve as the title of a book.

December 27, 2009

Jim Moss

www.iamgoingtospace.com

 

What I might see while looking down at Earth

This is a similar view to what I will see when looking down at Earth from Outer Space. Have any of you ever traveled to Florida? Well this is what the Pan handle looks like from one of the lowest or closest Earth orbits. The greatest part in my mind is the that you are high enough to actually see where the blue becomes black and the Horizon of the Earth begins and the fact that you can see the curve of the horizon line. I have inserted two features to help you to help me do that. The first is to have you share it on Facebook or Twitter if you use either of those social Networks (see the "share" link on the right). The next is to email this to at least one or two people that you think might find this interesting. You can do this at the bottom of the posts where the little envelope is. 

The only way I am going to raise the 200K is for me to really reach out to a lot of people. If I can get 1/10 people who learn about me to donate a buck, then I need 2,000,000 readers! So for Christmas, do me a favor and help me to promote my blog. I'll have some other tools coming soon to help promote the project, and thank you very much for your help in spreading the word.

Day 14 Fundraising my trip to Outer Space

1 - Raise the cash to send me to space.



Yes, I am asking you to click that little button on the right and make a donation that will help send me to Outer Space. I have a feeling that this is going to be a hot topic for discussion on this project. My hope is that you will take the time to express your thoughts and questions in an open forum so that I can answer them. If you will do that, we can get our opinions out in the open and ensure that everyone understands the motivations behind this project. A good friend, Melina, hit me with a bunch of questions and I greatly appreciate that she took the time because it allowed me to not only answer them for her, but practice defending my ideas as well. I promise that this is a truly altruistic endeavor and those of you who know me well, would only expect that from me. Ideally, the new friends that I'll meet along the way will learn that about me as we go.

It sounds pretty wild that I am planning on fundraising two-hundred thousand dollars so that I can take a trip to Outer Space. I admit that. In fact, that is one of the key concepts because it raises the questions that need to be asked. It sounds even more absurd if you can imagine that there are some people doing some fundraising for me as we speak, to help us out the financial hole that 30 days in hospital can create in your life. So, this begs the question, "How is it, that I can ask for you to donate this amount of money, only to spend it on something as frivolous as a space flight - couldn't you do so much else with that money?" The answer is, "I intend to do so."

First of all, let me reiterate that I am planning on raising the money entirely through this blog, a website, and events connected to them. Small donations from private citizens and revenue from the ads that you see placed on it. Hopefully I get 200 000 one dollar donations so that we have reached out to that many individuals. I am not planning on accepting any corporate donations, and there is no tax receipt that you will get from chipping a couple of bucks into my virtual guitar case. To reassure donors that the money fundraised is going to my goal; I set up a special account that only allows me to purchase the ticket and nothing else. In truth, the point of the fundraising is to demonstrate that my desire, my perseverance towards this goal can act as an inspiration to others to get back on track and work towards their dreams. Additionally, I am hoping that through dedication and devotion towards this project, I can stimulate corporate sponsorships that will be used to create a nonprofit that will assist others on their own journey.

2 - The Non Profit

I've thought a lot about doing personal and life coaching and in those contemplations I started to evaluate who my clients might be. I kept coming back to them having to have the money to afford it as private coaching is valuable and in response, costly. I'd always planned to offer some pro bono cases, but it is often those folks who need it the most, who would be unable to afford it. As I thought further on the concept, I couldn't get past thinking about so many people whose dreams have been pushed aside because of financial hardship and so spending money on chasing their dreams sounded ridiculous. That is where the idea for the nonprofit was born. I could raise money to create a resource for people to do amazing things with their lives. I would even wager that some of those successful people become key contributors as alumni of the program I create. I will create online resources, virtual coaching and advice, case studies and whatever else people need to get back on track towards their dreams. It sounds a little crazy and little lofty to put these two ideas together into one big project, but that's exactly what I plan on doing.

So to be clear, yes I am fundraising to send myself to space, but not just to go and come home and forget about all of the donations. I fully commit to growing those donations into much larger commitments that will help as many people as I can with my trip to space as the inspiration point. Hopefully I can inspire people to return to their childhoods, when their parents would turn out the lights and just before they fell asleep, they dreamed wonderful, childish dreams that should never die.

"The I'm going to space guy"

Jim Moss

Day 10 - Better to have Loved and Lost

Life is full of clichés – simple or common phrases that metaphorically compare universal truths to everyday experiences. Better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all. It is better to have taken risks, understanding the potential of those risks, even if you fall short of reaching your goals as the true honor lays in the effort spent in the pursuit. Is it true that “dreams were never meant to be prudent but instead to have brought joy into our lives?” I sure hope it is.  When I was younger, I remember saying one time, and I wrote it down because it seemed oddly pertinent, “better to shoot for the stars and at least make it to the moon, I’d bet the view is still pretty good”. It seems particularly ironic now, given the dream I am working towards.

Since deciding to begin this project, I have had a few interesting conversations since I decided to begin my project of going to outer space. One of my good friends has just completed a lifelong dream of making a movie.  Just this weekend he celebrated at the wrap party to his first script that will see the big screen. I was speaking with him about his accomplishment and you could hear the euphoria in his voice. I found it so inspiring. These are the kind of people to keep around, people who are actively pursuing their goals. When you talk to your friends or family or co-workers, are you the person that beams with joy because you are on the right path, or are you the person who can’t seem to say anything positive because your life has been so unfulfilling lately?  I have a few examples of each in my life and I am finally learning the impact that those people have on how I feel. What I find the most frustrating is that you could want, with all of your heart, to help some people, but the likelihood is that they are not easily helped, that their language makes them always the victim and they are not quick to take responsibility for why they are failing. I am trying hard to be more like the first example, to take responsibility for my own happiness and health and to support anyone that is interested in the same. It’s not that I don’t want to hear about your problems, it’s that I really want to hear what the solution is, or the question that asks to help find the solution? Those are the people that want to make changes for the better, that really desire to find happiness. My new boss always says “bring me solutions, I can get behind solutions”. I guess I have been listening after all.

One of my fundamental premises in this project is that the pursuit of your goals is the pursuit of happiness. If your dreams are truly your dreams and they are well thought out and right-minded, they must represent a happy place. Therefore, the pursuit of those things must be the pursuit of happiness? I am sure that not every day will be filled with bliss, but even on the worst days, at least when you close your eyes before bed, you can find peace in still being on the path to your happy place.

To give you a quick idea of what my happy place looks like: “it looks down at the earth, all of the colors in pure sunlight, raw and vibrant. For the only time ever in my life, I can actually visually see all of the people that I love in my life at one time. It is deadly silent. I don’t want to blink because the time spent here will be so finite. It is nature. It is our place in the Universe. It is alive in every way and it is so much bigger than any one of us. I don’t want any pictures or movies.  I want to burn this image into my mind and the feeling into my heart. From this point forward, when I close my eyes, I want this image to drive me forward in helping others to live out their dreams. This is my motivation.

The “I’m going to space guy”

Jim Moss

Day 9 – Please put your own oxygen mask on first

You know when you are on the airplane and the flight attendants are doing their spiel before takeoff and they mention that "in the case that the cabin loses pressure, oxygen masks will come down from overhead, please place your own mask on first and then proceed to assist children and other passengers". That is what I am attempting to do with this project. If I am going to provide advice to others on how to accomplish things in their lives, I am going to start something big, from scratch and take my own medicine in the process. Then I can proceed to assist others who might be interested.

Lead and motivate by example – that was always where I excelled in my sports career and now it is time to take that skill and translate it into real life. In recent years, playing professional lacrosse, I felt myself losing some ground and I stopped to analyze where I was going wrong. What I came up with was that I was leading but not always in the right direction. And, when I was allowing others to lead instead of me, which is fine, I was sometimes allowing myself to be misled. That was my responsibility, no one else's. So, I will take from that lesson that a requirement of leading is to make a positive example of yourself and to speak your mind when things get off track. It is your responsibility. Please let me know if I start to get off track. I openly invite all opinions for discussion through this process. Safe, open communication is going to be key in making this project successful and so that must be a cornerstone for this project as well. That makes three solid cornerstones so far 1) altruistic right minded intention 2) open honest communication 3) Be a leader.

The "I'm going to space guy"

Jim Moss

Day 7 – Bullies are Roadblocks

Do you remember when you were little and you encountered bullies at school? They would pop out of the bushes or jump out from behind a corner and they took great pleasure in keeping you from school or taking your lunch money. Those people taught us some excellent lessons because we almost always found our way to school still and we very rarely went without any lunch all. The world is full of bullies, people or forces that are trying to keep us from what we want to accomplish. I will encounter some of these on my way to this accomplishment. There will be people that say I am stupid, or that this idea of mine is ridiculous, people who have failed at something in life and are determined to justify that failure by compounding it into the failure of others. I am committed to not letting any of these bullies keep me from my goal and I hope that my not being discouraged can motivate others to stand up to the bullies in their lives and to not allow them to be kept from their goals. The ultimate payback is when you accomplish your goal, and prove them wrong, and then go back to them and offer to help them out and forgive them. Maybe they will want to be more like you instead of emulating whatever it was that kept them from what they wanted. Breaking the cycle of bullying can create a new cycle of positivity and support.

Day 6 – My going to Space will Help Shape Happier and Healthier People

That statement is as clear as I can say what I am committing to accomplish. It isn't fancy. It might beg some other questions, and I hope it does, but it says exactly what I feel and what I am going to do. What it doesn't say is how those two things are connected and how I intend to use accomplishing one, as a means to accomplishing the other.

I put some teaser questions on Facebook and it was interesting what the response was. I started by saying that I was looking to do something big, a project, and people started to guess what it was. There were some great responses and apparently a number of people think that one distinct possibility is my getting a sex change? Ha, nope, but I guess they figure I have a good sense of humor though! There was; write a book, climb any number of mountains, swim the English Channel, start a non-profit, do a play girl shoot. All of them were entertaining and I loved reading them.

Technically three of them were correct, and there was a couple of details that need to be cleared up so hear is the plan as it stands right now: The three correct answers were, go to outer space, write a book, and start a non-profit. Here is a look at the plan as it stands now:

Ultimate Goal: Help others to be healthier and happier by helping them to realize that their dreams can be their reality.

Primary Premise: By accomplishing a monstrous goal I hope to demonstrate to others that humans can accomplish anything. My plan to is to use my actions to convince people to revisit their dreams and start working towards them as the pursuit of one's dreams will inevitably bring a net increase in happiness and healthiness.

Day 5 – It’s a go and I’m letting the cat out of the bag

I am going to space.

Now that I have firmly decided to do this project, it is time to build a plan. Given my current illness and the fact that I am still unable to work full-time, I have to do this in the most responsible manner. It requires being cognizant of my health, my family and their health, my friends and my employer and to all of the people who will support me along the way. So, I figure that this will need to be a hobby at first since improving my wellbeing is priority number one for right now. With that in mind, I have to ask the question, "What is the best way to get started?" The answer is planning and research. First step is to take my goal statement and define it, rework it and ensure that it clearly states exactly what I am trying to do. This way, anyone can read it and get a clear picture of what we are trying to accomplish. I have taken some books out of the library on goal setting and accomplishing your dreams. From those examples, I am developing my mission statement to make it as clear as possible. My second goal is to spend 30-45 days in the planning phase. This will require a significant amount of brainstorming. I plan to analyze all that will need to be accomplished and in order to see this mapped out on a broader scale – create a living document that may change through the process, but will eventually help me reach my ultimate goal.

Here is an excerpt from a worksheet I am developing to do this – so far it looks like this:

Goal: will include a few clear sentences that directly expresses my goals

Timeline: aiming to have it ready to publish by December 18^th, 2009

Goal setting for living a life of helping others to find the happiness that they deserve

Mission Statement – I desire to demonstrate that we can achieve even the loftiest goals – our dreams. Though the use of good planning, dedication to working the plan, openness to learning and showing adaptability, anyone can achieve their dreams by turning them into goals.

I plan to explore and prove that we can achieve our goals, even those others may deem as "crazy". When we approach those naysayers with a clear head, a plan, determination, the openness to learning and ability to adapt, mixed with the right attitude, we will be able to demonstrate to others that they can do the same. Dreams are important and they can be achieved.    

By tackling a rather extravagant and seemingly impossible challenge, I hope to demonstrate to others that many of our dreams and goals are far more attainable than we might think. Through my personal accomplishments I plan to help others identify and attain their dreams.

I will surround myself with people that have had success and failure in life and have taken the lessons of those experiences and learned how to find success with more frequency.

Through my actions and efforts towards achieving my greatest goal, I want to demonstrate to others of all ages, through open and honest communication, that realizing one's dreams are a necessity to living a happy and fulfilled life. I want to empower others to feel that it isn't too late to accomplish even the most incredible feats, and that the resources are available to us, we just need to look for them.

This is an example of the worksheet that I am creating and the approach that I am adopting to take on this project. I will share all the tips and tricks I learn along the way in addition to my feelings and experiences.

That's all for now,

The "I'm going to space guy"

Jim Moss

Day 3 – Rethinking you dreams as goals and knowing with certainty that you can accomplish them

My Dream is to spend my life helping others to be happier and healthier human beings. Something about the word dream, infers that it might not be attainable, that you could spend your whole life chasing it. Over the past few days, I have been spending some time analyzing the language that we / I use. I figured that at this important juncture on my new path, so freshly moving down a new fork in my road, I would look closely at the words that I use as I work towards defining more clearly, my renewed life plan.

Aspirations, Goals, Dreams, Aims, why do we accomplish some and not others. Asides from the obvious reasons, not working hard enough not committing to them etc, I am learning that a lot has to do with the way that we actually phrased it to ourselves in the first place. For instance, I have been tying in the word "crazy" in my description of this project, and I am realizing that is a genuine emotion I feel about it, only in a very small way, but I need to get to the point where it doesn't feel crazy at all, a point where it feels absolute. I promised that I would be totally honest along the journey. Right now, I want to be absolute, but part of me still feels like it is a little crazy, a little too lofty. I am working to eradicate that feeling and replace it with certainty. It seems like language might be the key to that. The more that I say " I am certain that I can accomplish my goal of raising 200K and go to space, so that I can use my experience to help others accomplish their goals and live happier and healthier lives" the more concrete that will become in my mind and then take roots in my life.

By allowing it to have less than certainty, it seems to be floating a little, taking shape, defining itself further, but floating a little still, not yet grounded and therefore unable to take root. I apologize for all of the metaphors but they are so appropriate right now and representative of how I am feeling. If this idea of mine were a tree, it is in the pot still, on the way home from the tree store and it needs to find a permanent spot in my mind where it can grow roots, become permanent and then I can make it grow. As long as it is in the pot, I can still return it, once I plant it, it will be there for a long time. Seems like some visualization might be in order.

Today's project, plant my tree. Eliminate the word crazy and communicate with certainty each time I discuss this topic. Say it outloud, write it down, type it, think it, see it happening in my future, not in my imagination but in my future.

Today I am firmly making my Dreams into my Goals.

GOAL –noun

1.	the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

Day 2 – Call me crazy but I’m even more on board with this today than yesterday

I spent almost all of yesterday thinking about my plans to go into space, and the more I thought about it, the more that I knew I could do it. And of course, the more I pondered the concept of taking off into space, the more I found that I had questions or reasons not to do it. I knew I had to evaluate all the angles and measure the pros and cons. It wouldn't be responsible for me to not think about those people in my life who would also be affected by this decision. In the end, it all kept coming back to my desire to make this thing happen and that I needed to make a choice to not let anything stand in my way. I had to trust that people would support me and I couldn't use my fears as roadblocks, holding me back from my goals. Recently, I started to work hard at adopting some new thought patterns. One of those newly adopted thought processes is my ability to analyze a situation and to gauge it's impact on my closest family. As I mentioned, I knew I had to analyze how my inner circle would be most affected by my actions, so I spent some time thinking and writing about how this would impact my wife and kids.

I decided to speak to my wife about it, and God love her, she was actually strangely excited about it. My recent illness has not only changed my life, it really seems to be changing hers as well. We both have a renewed and healthier outlook on life. She encouraged me to do it and provided for me, reasons to support my journey rather than offer reasons not to move forward with it. This is the kind of partner you need in your life if you are going to be successful. We will discuss the challenges as they arise, but they don't need to be absolute, they will simply need to be seen as potential problems, but solvable ones. Next in line after Jennifer is my 28 month old son and my new 14 day old daughter – how would this impact them? The more time I spent on this issue, the more I came to the conclusion that If I really want to help people to be happy and fulfilled, I need to show that I start with the people closest to me. What better example can I set for my children then to teach them that they can accomplish anything they set their minds too. I will do it in the most responsible manner, considering their health safety and welfare at every turn, but I will show them that their parents are a team that support each other and not only have dreams but actively pursue those dreams.

Coming soon…

Website: www.imgoingtospace.com
www.iamgoingtospace.com

I plan to create a working list of commitments to my project, keeping the goal in mind that this list will help to make it more tangible and in turn, keep me inspired to make it happen. I plan to create a list of commitments not only to myself but to those people that we love. I hope this will help to drive and motivate us as a team, especially on days when we might waiver in our convictions.

Then, here begins the planning process. We will vocalize as many ideas, pros and cons and potential push-backs and questions as possible and then sort them out – organizing and addressing them one by one.

The main point of this blog is to explore this idea in the most open and honest way. This is why I want to welcome all your thoughts on this project – good and bad. I'm ready to hear how we can make this happen, or how you think I'm the craziest guy currently not
in space!

The "I'm going to space guy"

Jim Moss

Day 1 - I have decided I am going to space

I am going to space – yes, you heard me – I am going to space.

I decided that we can accomplish anything we set our mind to and with that realization, I decided a trip to outer space wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. Since coming down with Guillain Barre Syndrome, I have been blessed with a new view of my life. For whatever reason, throughout my hospital stay I was able to maintain a positive attitude. Even after a couple of minor setbacks, I stayed focused on my happiness and remained upbeat – finding the positives in most situations.  During this time of reflection, I reevaluated my life and identified what I do and don’t want to be doing with it. One of things that I’ve always been certain of is that I want to spend my life helping others to be as happy and fulfilled as they deserve to be. Ultimately, I want to help motivate others to pursue the happiness that they deserve.  What better way to accomplish that goal than to lead by example? With that in mind I have decided to change my life course and commit to becoming a life coach and a personal motivator.  I firmly believe that we as human beings can overcome any adversity and that we can achieve anything that we commit ourselves to. I am committing to a pretty lofty goal and I will utilize the experience to learn and prove that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. At 11:23 on December the 7^th, 2009 I made the decision that I am going to space.

In less than five years, I plan to go from a view from my hospital bed to a view from the shuttle, orbiting earth. How am I going to accomplish this you ask? Here goes: For the first time in the history of the United States, Virgin Galactic, a spin-off of Virgin Airlines, will be offering commercial trips to outer space. The cost is $200,000 and you need to put $20,000 down as a deposit. I am going to raise the money, blog about it, document the experience on video, learn as much as I can about how to set goals and achieve them, write a book and aim to teach others as much as I can about this experience along the way. I plan to speak at schools and teach children about setting their sights high to achieve anything they hope for in life. I will speak with adults to prove to them that it is never too late to change your direction and accomplish your dreams. These thoughts I am certain of and so I will set out to prove them. After being affected with Guillain Barre Syndrome and fearing the worse – that I may not see the day where I could hold my newborn baby in my arms. Then relearning to stand, then walk, then run, and finally, being present at my daughter’s birth, I can say with all certainty, that I will raise $200,000 to take that journey into outer space. Most importantly, and the bigger reason for this trip, I will be able to show others that that they can achieve anything that they set their minds to.

To set this in stone – I pledge to:

Commit to do everything I can to accomplish this goal.

Commit to sharing my experience as openly and honestly as I can from this day forward.

Commit to having openness to learning and to finding new ways to define and accomplish goals.

Commit to document all of my experiences in a book and or documentary and to direct all of the proceeds to teaching humans how to live happier and more fulfilled lives and to accomplishing their goals.

To follow my adventure, I initiated a new blog – imgoingtospace.blogspot.com

It may sound crazy to some of you at first, but I challenge the non-believers to at least stop and check in on my progress and watch me make it happen.

The “I’m going to space guy”

Jim Moss