JohnA Passaro's Blog, page 33
September 14, 2018
Break a Vase
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Break a vase,
And the love that reassembles the fragments
Is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted
When it was whole.
Derek Walcott
July 24, 2018
Baseball Mystery
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On May 9th of last year, St. Louis Cardinals minor league pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon was hit on the right temple by a line drive fracturing his skull and causing bleeding in the brain.
He had emergency surgery followed by months of slow recovery.
Yesterday, after many months of recovery
Daniel Poncedeleon made his Major league debut.
He threw 7 innings of no-hit ball.
Only 4 other pitchers in the history of baseball ever accomplished that in their debut.
The next day he was optioned to the minors.
July 18, 2018
Audible
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Make a difference today for someone who is fighting for their tomorrow.
Jim Kelly
2018 ESPY’s
July 13, 2018
Read All 7 of JohnA Passaro’s Books Online for FREE
This site is designed to be able to read all of JohnA Passaro’s books for free.
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6 MINUTES WRESTLING WITH LIFE
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Book 1 in the ‘Every Breath Is Gold” Memoir Series
Get ready to laugh, cry, smile and think…
Twenty-six years ago, my mission in life was to win a New York State Wrestling Championship.
I committed myself to a lifestyle, I made the sacrifices, I put in the time, I starved myself, I even shaved my head.
I had the hunger, the desire, and the determination, but I came up short.
For many years, after I graduated it seemed like I got nothing out of my six years of total dedication to the sport. That the trade-off of what I gave and what I got in return to this sport was way out of whack.
I hated wrestling for it.
To put every ounce of your soul into achieving something and to get nothing out of it in return was beyond my comprehension and I just could not justify it in my head.
Until I had adversity in my life.
And slowly but surely, I started realizing how much the sport of wrestling actually has given back to me.
Much more than I ever knew.
6 Minutes Wrestling with Life is much more than a wrestling book.
It is a book on life, love, loss, and belief.
Read “6 Minutes Wrestling with Life” Online
Chapter:
9. BE THE GUY WHO SETS THE BAR
14. ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK
16. FISH HOOKED – DON’T TAKE THE BAIT
18. DAY 28 EERILY PARALLEL LIVES
22. TOURETTE’S WITHOUT TALKING
23. 6 BEDS – 7 PATIENTS – 0 PATIENCE
28. AN AWAITING RESERVOIR OF “CAN DO”
33. SLEEPING WITH MY SNEAKERS ON
37. ONLY LIGHT DRIVES OUT DARKNESS
38. FROM MELROSE PLACE TO ER OVERNIGHT
43. ADULT LARGE – TAKE THE HIT
52. EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON
55. TODAY IS A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE
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AGAIN
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Book 2 in the ‘Every Breath Is Gold’ Memoir Series
There are going to be many occasions where you are faced with giving up, where the normal person would not hold it against you for stopping, where almost everyone would give you a pat on the back for a valiant effort.
It is at that time that you have a choice to make, you could accept the alibi that is being thrown to you, or you can try “Again.”
The ability to keep going on when you think that you can’t go on anymore.
When you have given everything to achieve a goal and you come up short.
Your fight inside of you cannot be dictated by the amount of time left on the clock, or by the score, or by relying on getting good breaks over bad ones.
Your fight inside of you must be dictated by the outcome that you want to achieve.
Read “AGAIN” Online
Chapter:
4 – RED LIGHTS AND YELLOW LINES
5 – THE MOST DANGEROUS DAY OF YOUR LIFE
9 – ROOFTOP ON A HOSPITAL PARKING LOT
10 – YOU CAN GET THE LAST TAKEDOWN, FOR YOUR TEAM
16 – THE GREATEST ASSET IN MY LIFE
19 – TURN YOUR WALL INTO A RAFT
20 – A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
22 – I’LL HAVE AN ORDER OF HAPPINESS TO GO
25 – BE MORE PROUD THEN DISAPPOINTED
28 – THE SECTION XI PARENTS ALLIANCE
30 – FROM THE PODIUM TO THE 15TH FLOOR
31 – A GREAT FRIEND GIVES YOU THE SHIRT OFF OF HIS WALL
32 – FROM THE BASEMENT TO THE JUMBOTRON
34 – THE MOST UNSELFISH ACT EVER
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It is recommended that you read 6 Minutes Wrestling with Life prior.
Your Soul Knows
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Book 3 in the ‘Every Breath Is Gold’ Memoir Series
I believe every experience we go through in life is to prepare us for what is to come in our lives.
To teach us the life lessons we need to know so we can best handle our ultimate test, somewhere in the future.
I believe that our lives are an accumulation of life lessons that can only be learned by personal experience, to be completely understood.
I believe the universe takes us on goals and missions in our lives we believe are the most important things to us at the time.
It does this to teach us lessons that we need to experience and learn, so we can successfully execute them when our real mission in life finally arrives.
I believe that if you really listen, your soul will talk to you.
And when it does…
Listen, Trust, Act
Read “Your Soul Knows” Online
Chapter:
6 – Delayed Divine Explanation
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A Good Man
It has taken me all of my life to realize my goal in life is not to look successful to the world, but to be significant to a few.
There are times when you meet someone who winds up making a big difference in your life. In the way, you think, how you act, who you have become. And despite time or their absence, a piece of them continue to live inside of you.
My life has bounced between the extremes of exhilarating and excruciating many times, but no matter where my life is in my life’s cycle the impact this one man has had on it has always been quite evident.
A Good Man has that effect on you.
Read “A Good Man” Online
Chapter:
15. WHEN A STATION WAGON IS MORE VALUABLE THAN A RED FERRARI
17. LET’S NOT GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE
26. ASS BACKWARDS AND THE ONE EYED GUY
30. YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN
35. SEPARATION OF ACT AND PERSON
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Have you ever wondered why two wrestlers can wrestle multiple times with drastically different results?
Or why –
wrestler A beat wrestler B,
wrestler B beat wrestler C,
but wrestler A lost to wrestler C?
The answer is hidden in plain sight.
Styles make matches.
Choosing to match your style versus your opponents, to create and wrestle in advantaged positions and avoid wrestling in disadvantaged positions, is the most underutilized strategic asset in wrestling.
The wrestler who wrestles in his advantage position, for a greater amount of time in the match, will have the higher probability of winning.
That is the reason why two wrestlers wrestle multiple times with drastically different outcomes, and why the logic doesn’t hold that if one wrestler beat another he should be able to beat the wrestler his prior opponent beat.
If you watch and research matches between the same wrestler’s you will see, more times than not, the reason there was a different outcome in each match was because one wrestler was able to wrestle in his advantage position in one match and was not able to do so in the other.
A wrestlers’ job is to understand which position is his advantage position versus each one of his opponents.
In which position the highest probability of scoring points as quickly as possibly exists.
And to get to that position.
I believe you don’t get to that position by chance,
I believe you get to that position by choice.
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READ THE COMPLETE BOOK ONLINE
Chapter:
Styles Make Matches
What Is The Goal Of A Wrestling Match?
What Is An Advantage Position?
Given
Let Me Be Clear
Case Study
Never Choose Based On the Score
Don’t Be A Hero
Eliminate Your Opponent’s Best Position
You Need Multiple Ways To Beat an Opponent
Be One Step Ahead
Being In Harmony With Your Coach
Choose The Known
Short Periods
When an Escape Will Earn You -1 Points
The 99 Pound Weight Class In New York
Strategies
The Ultimate
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We have all seen the contest where a person in a bank vault has 360 seconds to grab as much money as possible.
If it were you, would you stop grabbing money after you had “just enough” in your hands?
Would you stop grabbing money when there were only 60 seconds left?
Would you ever be too tired to keep grabbing more money?
Obviously, not.
Why?
Because the reward of what that money can do for you overrides any of the reasons to stop.
A wrestling match is the same type of contest.
You need to have the same kind of mindset.
To a wrestler, points are money.
In each match, you have 360 seconds to score as many points as possible.
When the whistle blows, the allure of scoring points must override any and all obstacles.
Have a safe lead?
Need to score more points.
Have short time?
Need to score more points.
Have a fear of losing?
Need to score more points.
As like with the money grab, the only time you stop scoring points is when there is no time left in the contest.
Read The Complete Book Online
Chapter:
The Contest
Why Dominate
Leave No Doubt
The Ultimate Domination
There Are 4 Types of Wrestlers
The Release
Little Voices
Score First
Expand The Lead
Back Points
Score On The Line
Score With Short Time
The Power of Unanswered Points
Score On The Line With Short Time
Everything Matters
End Each Period On Top
Now, What?
Wrestle Like You’re Down By 1
Matches Are Live Practice
Be Dominant In Each Position
Be Entertaining To Watch
If You Dominate, They Will Come
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One of the greatest assets in my life, other than my family and friends has been the sport of wrestling.
It has made me into the person I am today.
A person who can handle whatever adversity life throws at me.
The disciplines of wrestling are impactful on a young athlete’s life.
At first, one wrestles to win championships.
Then, after many years, one realizes it wasn’t the pursuit of championships that wrestling was all about –wrestling is about preparing you for life.
I owe a great deal to this sport, that is why I write about it so passionately.
I have written about the sport in my memoirs,
“6 Minutes Wrestling with Life,” “Again,” and “Your Soul Knows,” and I continue to write about it in this blog.
This book is a compilation of all my writing on the sport.
The book is designed to be read like each chapter is a short story, separate from one another.
Chapters can be read in order or randomly, that is your preference.
The first fifteen stories originate from my blog, and the last thirteen chapters, starting with “Overtime or Over Time?” are excerpts from my memoirs.
I felt it was necessary to compile all my writing of this great sport under one cover.
The chapters that are excerpts of my other books have been slightly edited to preserve the integrity of the story they come from.
I hope you enjoy reading “Wrestling Writing,” as much as I have enjoyed living it.
JohnA
Read Complete Book Online
Be Incapable of Discouragement
What Do You Do When It Happens to You?
Sometimes, Texas Is Not Forever
From the Thread Of Their Coach
Greatness Versus Greatness Arrived
From the Basement to the Jumbotron
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CONTACT
JohnA Passaro
[contact-form]
July 11, 2018
The Vision for my Life
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To improve the quality of other people’s lives by emanating the best version of myself by converting life experience into the seeds of love, kindness, gratitude and appreciation which I will plant in the human spirit, be present and nurture during chaos and crisis and share in and enhance the bloom during accomplishment.
To live in a manner and way which will inspire those I serendipitously share paths with to live their version of the same in their lives.
That is the vision for my life.
July 10, 2018
Mission Statement
[image error]As far as mission statements go, this is by far one of the best.
“We will continue to view our work through both a microscope and a telescope, focusing on the most granular details as well as the larger ambition of building a business that acts in accordance with our values, each of us striving to do what’s right for the company and what is right for our communities, because at the end of the day there is no separating the two.”
Indra Nooyi
Pepsi CEO
July 8, 2018
The Best
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There is a difference in being #1 and in being the best.
It is the difference between the destination and the journey.
Every second of the journey is the destination.
July 3, 2018
Valuable
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The scarcest commodity in the world, by far, is time.
And we all have some.
July 1, 2018
Genuine Being
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The soul of the individual eternally hungers for the heroism of genuine being.
And the willingness to take on that responsibility is identical to the decision to live a meaningful life.
If we each live properly we will collectively flourish.
Jordan B. Peterson
12 Rules for Life
June 17, 2018
Today
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Welcome to TODAY.
The absolute most important day of your life.
It is yesterdays tomorrow.
It is tomorrow’s yesterday.
It is now.
There is one thing I know for sure, and that is one day you will wish you had another today to live.
Today is that day.
Live it now.
Don’t wait for tomorrow,
Don’t carry yesterday.
You have a fresh unlived day.
What is better than that?
So live.
Love.
Enjoy.
That’s what today wants.
