From great reading, comes great inspiration

Don't you think that is an accurate statement?

Me, personally, I think it is absolutely perfect. A good book should inspire you to want to learn more, to read more, maybe even do more. It doesn't even have to be a book, it could be a well-written article in a newspaper, in a magazine, or online maybe in a blog.

I once read an article on diamond computer chips. Yeah, okay, I'm a geek by day and this was fascinating. Beyond the use of diamonds to make computer chips it inspired me to go out and learn more about nanotechnology. I even invested in a nanotechnology fund. Hey! I know a good thing when I see it.

I read a fiction book where the heroine was a glass artist. The details and descriptions were so wonderful I had to go look into what exactly glass-blowing was. It intrigued me so much that I signed up to take a class. I have since taken three classes. Gotta love art!

Right now I am reading the book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. I'm only halfway through the book and just getting to what I know will be the worst and best part of the story, but this book is inspirational.

Navy SEALS are amazing human beings who put their lives on the line for us, for our country. It's what they do. Not only do they do it, but they want to do it. You see, these guys literally go through hell to become a SEAL. Not that every military person doesn't, but these guys go through something beyond your wildest dreams. At least beyond my dreams.

Some of the strongest men entertain the idea of being a Navy SEAL and they may even get a shot at it, but it's not strength that makes a man a SEAL, it's determination and endurance. Determination to succeeed and achieve something not everyone can, and endurance to get through hell just so you can go through it all over again in the real world when they are fighting to save our freedoms. They have to want this beyond anything they have ever wanted in their entire lives.

What Marcus Luttrell describes in his book is only bits and pieces of the real deal, of that I am sure. But what he does describe is enlightening and inspiring. Just to get indoctrined into the SEAL training program these guys have to achieve the following:

1. Run 1.5 miles (while wearing boots and long pants) in 11 minutes, 30 seconds
2. Swim 500 yards (breast stroke or side stroke) in 12 minutes, 30 seconds
3. Minimum of 42 push-ups in 2 minutes
4. Minimum of 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes
5. Minimum of 6 dead-hang pull-ups

This is just the beginning. It gets a heck of a lot worse from there. And that only gives you a taste of the physical stamina required. It doesn't even touch on the strategic and tactical skills that have to be learned, retained, and tested. Without those skills you can't be a SEAL.

I'm not suggesting that I'm inspired to go out and be a Navy SEAL, because let's face it, I don't have the right equipment. I do, however, have the personality to set myself some goals and achieve them.

Since I've already achieved my goal of running 3 road races this year before I messed up my knee, I'm thinking I might set new goals for myself. Yeah, no, I cannot do all of those 5 points a potential SEAL has to complete, but I can shoot for some of them. After my knee heals.

What are you reading?

It's been a while since we talked about what we're reading so I thought I would toss the subject out there and take a poll.

What are you reading?

Me, I'm reading two books right now. Actually, I'm reading one and listening to the other. Thank goodness for audiobooks because they make the work commute so much more bearable.


I am reading Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson.

A friend of mine recommended this book and it sounded good, plus the setting of the story is Afghanistan-Pakistan, which is very much a today topic and where a friend of mine is stationed today. I had to run right out and get this book.

I picked it up yesterday and I can say that I started crying at page 7 and that’s just from some of the back story. I read to about page 30 yesterday and I have to say that I did not want to put it down. So far I highly recommend this book.

Here’s what the story is about:

Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to have a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive.

This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His teammates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.


On my commute to work, I am listening to David Baldacci’s book, The Sixth Man. This story revolves around two of my favorite characters, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell who are both ex Secret Service now turned private investigators.

Here’s what the story is about:

Edgar Roy-an alleged serial killer held in a secure, fortress-like Federal Supermax facility-is awaiting trial. He faces almost certain conviction. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in by Roy's attorney, Sean's old friend and mentor Ted Bergin, to help work the case. But their investigation is derailed before it begins-en route to their first meeting with Bergin, Sean and Michelle find him murdered.

It is now up to them to ask the questions no one seems to want answered: Is Roy a killer? Who murdered Bergin? With help from some surprising allies, they continue to pursue the case. But the more they dig into Roy's past, the more they encounter obstacles, half-truths, dead-ends, false friends, and escalating threats from every direction. Their persistence puts them on a collision course with the highest levels of the government and the darkest corners of power. In a terrifying confrontation that will push Sean and Michelle to their limits, the duo may be permanently parted.

This morning I just hit the point in the story Sean and Michelle find attorney Bergin dead, murdered. So far, so good!

What are you reading?