Dear Colleagues, Clients, Friends, Family, Media and all others
This week (April 15) marks one year since the rampage in Boston.
This Monday April 21st I am running my 3rd Boston Marathon with 38,000 other people and I’m doing it in the spirit of Gratitude and Grace for Boston Childrens Hospital charity.
Shortly after the bombings, evacuating the city, carrying my 40lb child after running 26 miles. Hurt, angered, saddened and grateful to get to my family.
Many of you have already very generously donated which makes you fabulous!! Last year we raised almost 9k for sick kids. In 3 years we have raised over 20k and I’m hoping with this post we can get to 25K, so please…donate!
DONATE HERE http://ow.ly/rCSvD
FOLLOW THE RACE:
For those interested in following my race progress you can get text/email messages sent automatically regarding my progress. Go tohttp://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/att-athlete-alert.aspx and learn how to sign up for alerts. You will need to enter my Bib# below.
My Bib# 32732
Be forewarned, I’ve had a tough training season with multiple painful physical therapy appointments and many cortisone shots. This will be a slow run/walk race to get to the finish line safely. Expect a 5.5 hr journey.
LAST YEAR:
Last year I got stopped at the 26 mile mark within yards of the bombings. My wife and kids were at the finish line, saw more than they should, while waiting for me. My experience wasn’t as harrowing as others, but it wasn’t a good one either. I spent that evening and the next 3 weeks doing media, communicating my perspective of the event. Click or copy/paste my account here: http://robertsiciliano.com/blog/2013/04/19/2013-boston-marathon-my-best-worst-day-ever/
GRATITUDE AND GRACE:
Gratitude and Grace: “The greatest gifts are those that can never be reciprocated, like the gift of health that the doctor makes to a poor patient, demanding nothing in return, or like the gift of life and nurture that a mother makes to her child, or like the gift of his own life that a soldier makes when he dies in battle for his country.
Philosopher Roger Scruton in The American Spectator defined Gratitude and Grace. One sentence in particular “Everyone who has suffered some major calamity, be it illness, loss, or some sudden reversal of fortune, feels, on pulling through, a great surge of gratitude.” means a lot this year.
When I give something I am present in the gift: it comes from me and is a symbol and an out-growth of the free self that is the moral heart of me. The gift comes wrapped in affection, an out-going of me to you that is created by the very act of giving. Even if the gift belongs to a context of ritual and reciprocity, it is something more than a bargain or a contractual exchange. It is I, going out to you.
The proper response to a gift, even a gift of charity, is gratitude. People who feel gratitude also wish to express it. The easiest way is to give in one’s turn. By giving you pass on and amplify the goodwill that you received.”
American Spectator. Read more here: http://spectator.org/articles/39831/gratitude-and-grace
PERSONAL NOTE:
“Life is not without struggle. It is in that struggle that we see the truth in life. For me, through struggle and truth, I learned gratitude. It is with that, I give back. Today my life is an exercise of gratitude and grace and my life’s efforts are my gift to our world.” Robert Siciliano
Donate to Boston Childrens Hospital here: http://ow.ly/rCSvD
Robert Siciliano
http://RobertSiciliano.com
Demo Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ikx0_erfU
