Article by Abby Mackey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Photo Courtesy of Operation Valor Arts

I was out riding around Hood River, Oregon for what had initially shaped up to be a gorgeous fall outing. The leaves were turning and the views of the orchards in the valley were hard to beat. I was cruising along Elder Road, the ridge that borders the city to the east when my pavement… Continue reading We’re All Cartographers — Mission22 Maintenance Series Part 4

I was in the breakaway group of six riders. Thirty miles into a 57-mile road race through the Buffalo National River area just southwest of Harrison, Arkansas, we were sailing down the backside of Sherman Mountain.  This was my first season of road bike racing and on my 23rd birthday, I could hardly think of… Continue reading Magic Words — Mission22 Maintenance Series Part 5

The one and only time I’ve ever been on a gurney was earlier this year when I finally elected to go ahead with a procedure called “Tenex” on my right achilles tendon. It’s a procedure far less invasive than other options for that tendon, but it still required going under the knife.  Before I ever… Continue reading You Only Live Twice — Mission22 Maintenance Series Part 6

It was the summer of 2018 and I was wheeling my way along the familiar Twin Bridges loop around Tumalo, Oregon. I was over halfway done with the loop and things were going splendidly. The weather was great, I had good rest the night before, and another two hours before I needed to be home. … Continue reading Updating the Road Map — Mission22 Maintenance Series Part 3

Triathlon is a sport that can get obsessive about gear and aero. “Aero is everything” when it comes to the bike portion of the race, they say. If you don’t have the tightest lycra tri suit matched with the industry-leading deep-dish carbon rims and space-age tire compounds, you’re just missing the boat entirely.  It’s all… Continue reading Because That’s How It Is — Mission22 Maintenance Series Part 2

When I was about 18 years old, I purchased my first bicycle. While I’d always grown up with a pair of wheels, I’d never been able to pick one out specifically for me. It was always my parents’ best guess as to which model I’d like the most.  They usually got it right, but that… Continue reading Mechanicals — Mission22 Maintenance Series Part 1

Because of the added stress of military service, veterans were the first to begin to take their lives by suicide at an alarming rate in America. In 2012, twenty-two veterans succumbed to suicide daily (Kemp & Bossarte, 2012). Currently, healthcare providers are well aware of the rising suicide trends in college students, veterinarians, and Caucasian… Continue reading Canary in the Coal Mine

Have you ever found yourself staring into your fridge, then coming to the realization that you don’t remember what you were even looking for? Often, when I walk past my pantry, something will cue my subconscious to look for a snack, even if I just ate an hour ago. Our brains are very good at grooving habits into our behaviors whenever an action is paired with a reward. Whenever we walk past the kitchen, it’s not far off from the act of walking past a cluster of blueberry bushes out in the wild before we had such conveniences as refrigeration.

Have you seen an inspiring quote lately, something about how “the storm is outside me, not in me,” or something along those lines? Maybe there’s a gladiator wielding a shining sword in a thunderstorm and you quickly shared it to your Insta story. Then, not half an hour later, you find yourself getting frustrated at such little things all over again. You inwardly agree with that idea but when the platitude faces reality, it often tends to be forgotten. What if there were a different way to frame things that allowed us to tap in to that inner strength and wisdom?

I was out for a walk last week and spotted two homes that displayed handmade signs that read “we’re all in this together.” I love that in this circumstance, our better natures can shine and be on display for all passersby. But, it’s kinda too bad that we don’t always feel this way. What could be possible if this unity toward a common cause were sustained? We’re always in this together, regardless of which epidemic you decide to band together and struggle through.

It was August 1976. We were in Florida participating in the last phase of Army Ranger training. Over half of the candidates we started with had been eliminated. Elite military training, like Ranger School, has one main purpose: to eliminate those that aren’t mentally fit. The training is physically challenging, but military trainers know that the mind quits long before the body.

Our biological armies are a mind-blowingly complex system as robust and varied as any nation’s military (with far less admin work involved). There are detector cells, special forces agents, field artillery gunners and everything in between. An army marches on its stomach. The success of your immune system is linked to the success of your… Continue reading GOOD PRACTICE FOR IMMUNE HEALTH

Whether you consider yourself a spender or a saver, we all go through periods where we must tighten our belts to make our dollars go further. Lately, as so many continue to wait on unemployment checks or they’re dealing with pay cuts at work, we’ve had to make sacrifices. With the right approach, though, you can implement some tools that can serve you when times may not be so thin. Your approach to money doesn’t have to be a dreadful affair. More often than not, after a good hard look at the inflow and outflow of our spending ability, we have a better sense of control even if we might be in the red this month.

These weren’t the wave baffled waters of a lane lined pool. These were undulating 8-foot rolling waves in the Mediterranean Sea. The horizon appeared and disappeared in rhythmic succession. Equal parts terrified and awestruck, I reflected on where I had come from and where I was going. The next day, I would take on my first ever full Ironman triathlon. I would do so on NBC Sports TV series “Quest for Kona.”

The trauma I experienced throughout my life and military career has turned me into a student and teacher of stoicism. In my own search for meaning, I learned through Viktor Frankl that “between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” What if, in that space, we chose to take one last breath before taking action?

When we first found out we’d have to work from home, the mandate may have come with cautious excitement or measured dread. Working from home can have a bunch of great benefits, but it comes with a lot of drawbacks, too. Many of us haven’t spent an extended time working at home like this and don’t have the domestic infrastructure to stay productive while gleaning the upsides to the novel circumstance. Hopefully, by implementing a few of the steps below, you’ll be better equipped for this brave new world we find ourselves.

If you find yourself making more food for your household these days, why not experiment with a few new combinations that you might not otherwise? There is a world of spice out there that we so infrequently explore as we slide into the habit of our typical staples. As an added bonus, some spice that may heretofore be unknown to your pantry can actually contribute to your stress management. We’ve been using spices for about as long as we’ve been using fire and the added flavoring wasn’t just to please the palate.

There are plenty of things to worry about today. We see so much on the world, national, local, and Facebook news feeds. As we read headlines, our survival instincts tell us to pay attention to things that might hurt us, so we check the news throughout the day. Our caring natures tell us to try and take on these burdens, but it seems like we can only do so little. It can leave us feeling helpless. Balancing our worry with our desire to help our neighbors can be absolutely overwhelming.

With your children (and ours) at home right now we wanted to be able to offer support and fun to them as well as you. Every weekday afternoon we will release new videos and resources such as story time, guided meditations for children, a printable page from our coloring book, and other fun ways to help keep your kids having fun.

With your children (and ours) at home right now we wanted to be able to offer support and fun to them as well as you. Every weekday afternoon we will release new videos and resources such as story time, guided meditations for children, a printable page from our coloring book, and other fun ways to help keep your kids having fun.

When I was first learning to play guitar, one of the foundational principles I was taught was how to continuously move my strumming hand during the song. My right hand needed to get into rhythm, a flow, of the music even though my fingers wouldn’t necessarily strike the strings on each movement. This was an… Continue reading METRONOMIC MOVEMENT

One of our favorite environments as children was our visits to sandboxes. While parents may have preferred cleaner alternatives, any “sandbox” environment meant so much to us as we learned the capabilities of our creativity. A sandbox is a place where we can experiment, create, and explore without any real risk of harm, without our… Continue reading DIGITAL SANDBOX

As we’ve gotten comfortable with the conveniences of modern life, we tend to spend less and less time on our meals, both in their consumption and preparation. There are many benefits to modern food science and our newfound abilities to derive nutrition where we couldn’t before. Like with any new technology, there are good and… Continue reading MASTER FOOD PREP

“Obstacles are the raw material for great accomplishment.” – Tommy Newberry We have an opportunity ahead of us. The body of humanity is literally, and perhaps spiritually, sick, but we have a profound ability to find and realize healing. There have been so many examples in history of obstacles becoming our greatest boon to something… Continue reading OBSTACLES, ANCHORS, AND SETTING BOUNDARIES

A brief stroll down the oil isle at any supermarket will present a huge array of cooking oil options, likely starting with a wall of pale yellow, clear-bottled industrial seed oils likely labelled as “heart healthy.” These cheap options seem alluring, especially when compared to the more expensive and exotic coconut, macadamia, and avocado oils… Continue reading A COMMON SENSE WAY TO PICK YOUR COOKING OILS