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Giant Steps

In 1960 jazz artist John Coltrane decided to take three giant steps. He quit drinking, he quit drugs namely heroine and became religious. He locked himself in a room for several weeks and quit everything cold turkey.

After that he focused on his family, his music, and his daughter. We all take steps in our lives at some point. Taking a chance at a job that brings us across the country, choosing the person to hopefully try to spend the rest of our life with. Bringing a new life into this world. Many of these are giant steps.

That is how we define our lives. These steps for Coltrane inspired the rest of his music, one of the greatest jazz albums ever produced was recorded after those steps named aptly enough "Giant Steps.'  This was my first introduction to Coltrane from a friend who sadly passed away this year. A friend who was not even 40.

So this summer I took some giant steps of my own. While my wife and daughter were visiting family in California I changed my diet, changed my workout routine and decided to become as healthy as I could be. I know that being healthy did not have much to do with my friends death, he had brain cancer, but I thought if I wanted to be around as long as possible to watch my daughter get old then I should take care of myself.

I changed my attitude completely my wife thought I was going through a mid-life crisis and maybe I am, but one thing is for sure. At least it is a healthy crisis and not one that I am worried about.

So I leave you today with the title track to John Coltrane's Giant Steps. Whether you are a jazz fan or not, this music is incredible and I hope that you like it. It has changed my life on many different occasions. I could only find this video of the song, so don't worry too much about the content of the video, just listen to the music...



Comments

  1. WEll put, I think the first step is recongizing that there needed/needs to be a change and then putting it into action.

    Thanks for these inspiring words today.

    Have a good weekend.

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  2. Well said... it's true. Sometimes we have to take those extra steps and do what we need to do. Great post :)

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  3. Good for you for cleaning up your health habits. I did the same thing over the summer (though I do attribute mine to a sort of mid-life crisis!) and it is amazing how just making simple changes can you make you feel so much better.

    As for Coltrane, hubby has his degree in jazz appreciation, so I hear quite a bit of it around here. Nice song selection...

    Have a great weekend!

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  4. Personal trainer who is all of 5ft nothing is kicking my ass twice a week now. I'm paying for the abuse! Your doing it au natural. Very nice hun. You're looking awesome, but I understand the desire to look perfect in "our own" eyes.

    muahs!
    xoxo

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  5. Keep taking those steps, even if people closest to you object or think you're nuts. Staying the same is soul sucking. Changing, evoloving is exciting, challenging and keeps you vital. You're also improving your mind, body and spirit! Can't beat that!

    ReplyDelete

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