Crossing the Threshold

marshal - an officer of the highest rank in the armed forces (of some countries)

“Crossing the threshold is a literary device that propels the plot forward. It describes the moment in which the hero of the story commits to a quest. The main character leaves their comfort zone (the ordinary world) behind for the first time to embark on a quest, entering the special world.

Define the threshold: give your character a physical boundary they must traverse to enter the new world. Whether it’s opening a door, boarding a train, or crossing the river, having a threshold that defines a break from their life helps signify the pivotal nature of the moment.

Establish a threshold guardian: threshold guardians are archetypes that provide a necessary test to prove your hero’s commitment to their quest. Your hero must overcome an obstacle to compel the story forward. A threshold guardian can be anything that gets in your hero’s way, such as a treacherous mountain journey, an encrypted computer database or a deftly skilled sword-fighter.

Isolate your hero: once your hero crosses to the other side, the road back to their old life should be obscured. This will help provide a compelling reason for your character to commit to the quest. The only way back is to complete the journey ahead of them.

Last night was the closing of the 33rd Olympics. A memorable one. It was also a call to adventure for the 34th Olympics in Los Angeles 2028. I contemplate how the trip to Kentucky for my sister, the high school reunion, and now the 34th Olympics all play a part in my quest. I think Kentucky was a quest to save my family and to save my life. The reunion was a quest to understand myself, where I came from, and who I am now. The 34th Olympics is a separate quest. The 31st Olympics in Rio was my aim. Now, older, wiser, humbler, and intentional, I must decide if this quest is reasonable, if this quest is my destiny. Do I have the ingredients in my soul to manifest such a desire, to win the Gold Medal at the 33rd Olympics. What threshold exists?

The ultimate threshold is the Chula Vista Elite Training Center. The earliest I will see those gates as a USA 7s member would be after the 2025 National Championship. Window of August - October 2025. Which may also be when I am with the Husky football program. When is a closer threshold.

Define the threshold: give your character a physical boundary they must traverse to enter the new world. Whether it’s opening a door, boarding a train, or crossing the river, having a threshold that defines a break from their life helps signify the pivotal nature of the moment.

If it were Steve Madden, graduated May 28, 2018. Served 6 years in the Air Force to June 30, 2024. July 1, he crossed the threshold. To train for the Olympics, a tournament that has eluded him. He injured himself roughly 3 years ago. He believes there is more to achieve and overcome in the athletic space. Even at his advanced age of 28. Maybe water can serve as the threshold. A dunk in the Puget Sound, will set him a four year journey to claim the greatest prize in earthly sport.

I am mortal. I believe every creature must discover this for itself. There is a certain destiny each creature has.

The Sistine chapel flashed on my photo memories.

I need a uniformed method to end my work shift and hand off to myself the next day. First look on the calendar for tomorrow and what was important from today that was completed.

Found a missed over task. Taking care of that now…

End homelessness - teach compassion

- Review July 2024 Expenses

Pretend to be professional

Touch rugby preparation and physical therapy

If I am dating, I don’t want lust. I want chemistry, attraction and compatibility.

Not care. Cook dinner. Pegasus next action. I am the gift.

the 4 Ms: matriarch, money, mba, medal; shortcut to success; Emerald Palace

“Find three hobbies you love: One to make you money, one to keep you in shape and one to be creative.”

THURSDAY 8-8-2024

Objective:

9 VA Physical Therapy

10:45 Allegro (email, projects, 8 goals, accounting)

12 USA Basketball

3 Brett Gym Mentorship + Emerald Smoothie

6 Bowdoin Thorsday

Wake up by 8. Read blog. Not care.

2024 Sunshine

I feel a blossoming of possibilities. Actions feel linear and compounding. This website is my digital footprint. I have various foci at the moment. My ruling passion is to be strong. To revisit my old standards and push new limits. I have been dormant for some time. Experiencing setbacks in my physical development. Now I have a great physical therapist through the VA Hospital. I live in a new area of Seattle that is well connected to my needs. Grocery stores, gyms, commute, school, even beautiful women. I feel free. As tempting as it is to date and do all the things. I see this next chapter, from the start of July, until I finish fall quarter finals, as an opportunity to set my life on a strong foundation. Physically, financially, and academically. I am going to focus this page on my philosophy: #BeTheBeast. Be the strongest. I’m excited. I’ve started my physical therapy focus July 1. With a four day a week weight lifting program. Voila.

Meditations of Erik Duechle

After a long period of time, I feel refreshed and hopeful. My old self had to die, my old identity, transformed into who I am now. There are no longer military sergeants around to tell me to get my flu shot. There are no longer warnings to get my teeth cleaned and to complete my suicide prevention training. I am untethered.

Right now I am working within my new routine. Sitting at Cafe Ladro with a cold brew, oat bar, and laptop. I am an entrepreneur. I am an Olympic hopeful. I am a visionary leader. War is chaos. I think the civilian world has just as much chaos and more. How do you guide yourself in this void? A man must establish for himself, what his priorities are. The law of prioritization states that relationships, fitness and finance are the top. Everything else can work within this framework. Before I learned this guide, my life was a spiral of ADHD. A friend once called me the “King of Distraction”. I recognize my father is the same way.

Relationships

Fitness

Finances

I woke up to the reality that our relationships have alot to do with our attractiveness. Personal attractiveness to me is cleanliness, hygiene, showering, exercising, style. I believe that money and looks are not in play here. It’s actually your habits of self-care. This is even more important if you want to find a partner. Friends will over look deficiencies. Yet, if you want to maintain intimate relationships, self-care, smell, confidence, all come into play. Glow up seasons are great, though it should continue into winter, spring, and fall.

Finance is an interesting topic. Each priority has a psychology around it. Towards the end of this past decade, I had amassed a lump sum of liquid funds. I had a large sum come in, then small to medium sums go out, until it was all gone. I spent little mind on earning funds. I had this notion that there was another jackpot at the end of the rainbow. There was indeed a leprechaun, and he was there to fleece me. I went through a difficult adjustment. I started working in the gig economy, delivering food. It was a fascinating job in the sense that I traveled to people’s homes, and found homes in places I had never seen. Some homes were on top of a business district. Some were overlooking cliffs, some were in utter posh palaces, some were in overcrowded lodgings. The work was fun and mindless. The pay was meager and humbling. I had never had to manage my cash in such a scarce environment. I quickly learned what was essential. Food, gas, entertainment, family and emergencies. I wore my clothes until there were holes. I smoked weed to self-soothe. I drove the streets of Seattle, pondering and reflecting. Then came a day of disaster. I felt the pinch that I know thousands and millions feel. It was humiliating and I felt ashamed. I made an unconscious vow that day. I knew I was capable of more, and even if the current situation was bleak, the future can unfold a million different ways.

I developed a resilience and level of courage that was foreign to me. I found my inner furnace. My knees were busted, my feet unstable, my pockets were empty, I was lonely, and drowning. I thought that my 6 months in Iraq would be the crescendo of agony that would define my life. From that paradigm then, it certainly was, but I needed to face another front, that lied at the edge of my soul. As a warrior, I relish the battle. In my deepest moment of despair, I could finally see the enemy. His camouflage disappeared. When you stop running, courage will meet sword with sword. The enemy is now confronted with you. Now his metal is tested. If he slips, I will pounce.

Once, I was a baby. Once, I was a boy. Once, I was a young man. Now, I am a man. One day I will be middle aged. One day I will be a senior. One day I will be at my twilight. In all of these phases, I say, treasure your relationships, improve your fitness and build your wealth. Risks will always need to be managed, yet, with the correct why, you can weather any how.

Minimum for Success

Sometimes its not about the plan, its about the intention. My intention with blogging is to become a consistent, vocal content creator. I want this blog to be the staging point for my vlog. Or specifically, my athletic career and personality. I am at a crossroads as an athlete. I think to myself that my rugby career could be over for the most part. I can still compete in the Rugby 10s Championship, Club 7s, Aspen, etc. The crossroads is whether I am an international competitor, or if that dream and commitment is over. I don’t know. I am 37. I am sore. I have more work responsibilities.

I also ask myself, what is the minimum I need to train now to be an olympian in 2024. And to make it more simple, how close is that minimum to the lifetime lifestyle I want to live as an athlete. Because right now I am a coffeehound desk jockey. I work remote for Seattle Compassion Services. Remote may not be the best term. I have a home office and I mostly work at cafes. Being an executive director with one employee has its flexibilities. Sometimes I miss the routine of military life. The structure and physical manifestation.

If we are to not be too troubled and look at the minimum. We start today. There are 405 days 7 hours and 47 minutes until the Opening Ceremony. 40 days and a year. 40 days of purification and boundaries. 40 days to establish something, with this blog, with this body, with this one life. Amen.