Week 4 - Hobbies & Motivation
- Sal Randazzo
- Jan 28, 2018
- 6 min read
Week 4! This week I posted a voting option to write about my hobbies or what gets me up in the morning. The votes were 50-50 so I decided to write a little about both. I hope this article gives you some insight into my life and provides some motivation for you to succeed with your goals!
Hobbies:
Shy of what I’ve written about so far; drone imagery, healthy eating, and working out, I do have a few passions that have stayed with me throughout my life.
When I was young, my parents were gracious-enough to get me into music. They were able to find the best classical teacher in my region and I was fortunate to learn how to play piano classically for nearly 12 years. As I was getting older, I remember wanting to play the Beatles, Elton John, and Billy Joel and I remember my Dad vividly telling me, “If you learn how to play classical music, you’ll be able to learn any music you want.” Boy was he right, after I stopped playing classical music competitively, modern-day piano was a breeze! Because I was a visual learner, piano taught me how to visualize the keys with pitch and tone, which helped me pick up the guitar when I was in college. Throughout college, I had two roommates that played guitar while they were growing up, so I was fortunate enough to learn how to play guitar from them and continue my music passion throughout life. Every place I was stationed with the military, my piano and guitar came with me (sorry PCS-movers!). I don’t play every day or every week, but I get to dabble when I choose which is always enjoyable!
Among all of my hobbies, the one that sticks out the most is surfing. Growing up near the Atlantic Ocean, good surf doesn’t come around often, but when it does boy does it go off! When I was a kid, my parents would take me to the beach and my Dad taught me how to catch a wave with my boogie-board (feel the rip under your feet and jump into the wave). That’s how I learned the physics of catching a wave! Boogie boarding turned into kneeling boogie boarding and eventually turned into full up standing on this foam, 3-ft board. One day, on a family trip to Long Beach Island, we stopped at Ron Jon Surf Shop and my Mom and Dad bought me my first surfboard, a 6’-8”, fish-tail board - the best board to learn on. It was thick, buoyant, and the fish tail cut through the Atlantic Ocean chop for a smooth ride. Once I picked up surfing on this board, I wanted to go faster and do tricks on the wave. That’s when my parents were able to introduce me to the 6’-0”, Matt Kechele, squish-tail board - I was able to take off later (steeper), and get a much faster ride to attempt aerial tricks and cut-backs. Again, every place I was stationed with in the military, my surfboards went with me. I think I was the only person in the whole state of New Mexico that had two surfboards. When we had 4-day weekends, I would make the 12-hr drive to San Diego so I could surf!
Another themed-passion that has stayed with me throughout my life is sports. I was introduced to soccer, baseball, tennis, karate, basketball, volleyball, bowling, and golf at different stages of my life. Most of these have stuck with me during my military career - I’d play on every intramural sports team that my unit was involved in. Now I get to play in the Charleston Men’s Adult Baseball League, pick-up soccer leagues, and any chance I’m invited to a golf outing I get to dust-off my clubs and go play. I remember growing-up playing baseball and after every game I’d ask my Dad “how’d I do?” - this is where I learned the concept of the good-bad-good sandwich. He’d usually start off saying, “you did great!” followed by something that I could improve on for the next game and end it with a specific example of a play I did well on or strike I threw. Except this one time… I remember explicitly the first day I threw a curveball - I must have been 9 or 10. My Dad was livid, you know that feeling you get when you know your parents are pissed, but they don’t say anything to you for a while? - I had that feeling on the pitcher’s mound for about 6 innings. After the game, my Dad said if I ever threw a curveball again, that would be the last pitch I ever threw. No feedback on the rest of the game, no good play highlights, etc. As I got older, I understood why kids shouldn’t be throwing curveballs until their arms are fully developed - here’s a pretty good article on curveball/fastball development.
Hobbies are great - they change your state-of-mind away from the “daily grind.” They give us a dose of humanity in our lives and keep us moving during our down time. I’m a firm believer that they utilize a different part of our brain and allows us to look at problems a little differently than before. Maybe when you go back to work after doing what you love on the weekends, you’ll look at something you were struggling with on Friday differently and be able to solve your problems.
End of Month Motivation
The next time I post, it will already be February! I’ll leave January with a short post of what motivates me daily. I’m not going to lie, when I was growing up I was not very motivated. In fact, I was more motivated about going to surf after school and on the weekends than getting my homework done and getting good grades - you can ask my parents. I didn’t really care about my future or have any specific dreams in mind. When 9/11 happened, I was in 8th-grade (que the youngin’ jokes). At that age, you’re very vulnerable and open to be molded. That day lit a fire inside of me that will never be extinguished - this is our land, or way of life and nobody will ever take that away. I remember vividly some words that I shared with my mom that I wanted to go fight right then and there. If you ask anyone in my generation why they served, I’m willing to say a majority of people will have 9/11 in some part of their story. Men and Women my age WANTED to go to war - you go through years of training and get to your first duty station - I remember itching to deploy. I wanted to be in the fight, next to my team that also wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves. What motivates me is this: What are the odds that I was born into this country, this way of life? I have met people across the world that do not have the freedoms that we are given just because of the country they were born into. Don’t get me wrong, the “freest country in the world” title comes with a lot of baggage, but the opportunities that lay before us are endless because of the men and women that fought for those freedoms - this is motivation that stays inside of me every single day.
When I was deep into my losing weight phase, I would watch Ellen DeGeneres - Que the jokes - It sounds funny, but because her show was on at 4:00 p.m., it forced me to get in the gym immediately after work and it’s a very engaging talk show which kept my mind busy while I was running. Anyway, one day in the last year I was running, sucking wind and almost ready to quit for the day because I was too tired - then she introduced a soldier who was a paraplegic. He was blown up in Afghanistan by an IED and lost both of his legs. Here I am, survived Afghanistan, running on a treadmill and ready to quit while watching a guy who will never stand on his own two feet ever again. These stories ebb & flow in the media, but they’re a constant reminder of someone who would love to be in your position today. Those stories keep me humble and keep me running. How could I quit? This guy would kill to be able to run on a treadmill and I’m complaining because of a few cramps? Drive on. For anyone who has volunteered at the hospital on Bagram, AB, Afghanistan - you know this feeling. If you guys want to hear about it, maybe I’ll write a post about my deployment experience.
I hope you enjoyed this topic/post and it helps you with your personal goals. I'm constantly seeking feedback - leave a comment below or send me a message letting me know what you think, how I can make this better, or if there's a topic you want me to cover!
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(RPIC: Sal Randazzo, 250 AGL, Reg #: FA3AARWW43)
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About Sal Randazzo:
Sal is a defense contractor, entrepreneur, and fitness enthusiast. His Blog is designed to share his life with his followers. His YouTube channel & Blog is a gallery of his work and personal life.
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