LIFE Support

“Cancer never sleeps.”…


As I listened to this heartfelt sentence roll off the tongue of a man speaking on behalf of his wife and her battle with cancer, I felt my throat tighten up and the silence of the moment stab through me like a knife. As the man spoke, his wife’s story unfolded as he choked out each word. Breast cancer was her first battle… “Cancer never sleeps.” Bone Cancer struck second… “Cancer never sleeps.” Brain cancer came next… “Cancer never sleeps.” Liver, kidney, and lung cancer are now her latest diagnosis… Cancer. Doesn’t. Sleep. Listening to him tell her story, I stood beside myself in devastating awe as I came to terms with the realization of passion, strength and courage this man bestowed.


Think of a situation in which you, Faithful Reader, experienced someone you know directly or indirectly suffering through a battle with disease. Recall the helplessness and urgency to find a way out. A way to take away the pain. A way to help FIGHT and defeat the battle.


Each year, each day, each moment, countless people are affected by disease. Each day, hundreds and thousands of people are up against great odds to overcome a never-ending combat that puts them in the middle of life and death. Until we or someone we know is impinged with one of Life’s dark angels, we seldom sit and think about the different things we could be doing to make a difference in the lives of many.


I was reminded of all these feelings and emotions and was influenced by the sense of urgency when I was seated at the ‘Relay For Life’ Kickoff Event held in Boulder City, NV this past Saturday the 23rd of January. Shortly after moving to Las Vegas last year, I remember crystal clear the first day I traversed to Boulder City with Dr. Darian Parker to meet with Marcie Gibson, who is the Fitness Center Supervisor of the City of Boulder City. She is highly involved in Boulder City’s community organizations and events and her passion radiates above and beyond most people I have ever met before. It was during that meeting where we discussed an alliance between the City of Boulder City and Connect To Fitness and how we could develop a helping relationship between Vegas and Boulder City. Both fans of this spectacular small town, Darian and myself couldn’t help but to be extremely excited about becoming more involved with this community and in having an excuse to venture out that way more often.


In meeting with Marcie, we discussed much about the fitness scene in Boulder City and how we can become a part of it. One of the events put on each year is the ‘Relay For Life’ walk in which the entire town gets together and supports this great cause to raise cancer awareness. One of the main objectives (aside from the fact that it’s a worthy cause) that caught our attention was Marcie’s explanation on how the volunteer committee, which is very, very small, work over 24 hours straight to make this event successful. This committee is dedicated to their accountability in making sure the event runs smoothly and in the process they end up volunteering a ton of their time to the cause. It is truly inspiring how dedicated these individuals are in their devotions and that, in itself, piqued my interest and sparked a light from underneath me that had me agreeing to come out and help this May before I could even hesitate to answer. The cause is just too great and they truly don’t have enough helping hands at their events. Although the CTF Team will probably be up for most of this 24 hours as well (setting up, working, and tearing down), knowing we are helping others and that we are contributing to something worthwhile. I also remember thinking how excited I was for the kick-off event after the New Year.


As I drove into Boulder City, I smiled to myself and basked in the sunlight washing over me through the driver’s side window and miraculously watched on as the desert became a small, green town. As I traversed down the 215 and slowed as it turned into Nevada Way, I was once again reminded of the small town I used to live in; Waterford, PA. Driving into Boulder City, you immediately forget about all things ‘Vegas’ as there is no huge or towering buildings, heavy traffic, casinos, flashing lights, or much of anything that stands out in particular. What you see is a historic town that encompasses and preserves its roots and foundation much like Las Vegas treasures and openly invites every new trend and disassociates itself with anything old or out of style. My hometown was much like Boulder City, right down to the one, small, main street of independent small business owners and mom and pop restaurants and shops amongst a sea of modest houses. Although I absolutely LOVE the big city mentality and rapidity of Las Vegas, it is really a great asset to know that if you want to relieve yourself of the city chaos, you can drive a half hour and be in a totally different atmosphere enjoying a completely different and fantastic experience.


As I pulled up to the Boulder Dam Brewery right on this main street, I followed the car in front of me and took a right at the single stop sign to find a parking spot. Having become accustomed to Las Vegas where you will rarely, if ever, find parking right away, I conveniently parked right across the street from the Brew Pub and walked across the 2-lane street and immediately saw the one and only Marcie Gibson (who basically is a one-woman show in running Boulder City’s fitness agenda) turning the same corner I was approaching. After greeting her, we walked together, chatting about what’s new and discussing our excitement about Relay For Life. Approaching the main site of the Event, which was taking place in the outdoor part of the restaurant, I then saw Dr. Darian Parker and his wife, Michelle and ran over and greeted them as well. I walked with Darian over to the registration table and he sat down and began the ‘official’ creation of our Connect To Fitness team. It was a really gratifying moment and it became an affirmation to begin our mission to prepare for the month of May. As Darian signed us up, I looked around and marveled at the beauty around me and reminisced of my own small town.


The event, appropriately called ‘Brewin’ and Stewin’, conjured up a great number of people and it was different to see how everyone knew each other. The chances of running into someone you know in Vegas are slim, but in Boulder City, everyone knows each other by name. Homeade stews and soups lined the tables in back and Darian, Michelle and I passed through the line numerous times to sample and devour the delicious temptations in each Crockpot. From beef, to chicken, to barley, to potato, to macaroni and cheese, to cornbread; there was something for everyone and plenty to go around. As we sat and enjoyed the taste of home-cooking, a few speakers, including Marcie, took center stage up front where the DJ was making noise and spoke on behalf of the event and it’s purpose. As Marcie introduced the rest of her committee (all of about 6 other people), she also reflected as to why they were chosen for their different positions and what inspired them to jump onboard. Each committee member had a specific story on how cancer impacted them directly or indirectly and it reminded me to remember that you never know what someone else is going through. Someone who has, had or will have cancer does or may look exactly like the person next to them who is not affected.

Ranking second in total deaths only after heart disease, cancer claimed nearly 1/3 of total deaths in the United States in 2009, and it is expected that over 1.5 million more cases will arise this year as well (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp?level=0). It is rapidly spreading like fire day by day and the statistics are showing it’s not slowing down anytime soon.


THINK if we had a cure! THINK if you and/or someone you know never again had to be affected. THINK how many more lives may be spared in such an event. Just THINK of the possibilities! The catch? It starts with US and us alone. While listening to that man speak on behalf of his wife, I became suddenly aware of it’s existence in my own life. It has gone through many times in my family, most recently with my own cousin who lost his life battle to this disease just a couple months ago. Knowing that statistically 1 in every 2 men may develop some type of cancer and that 1 in every 3 women may do the same, I feel uncomfortable knowing that statistics aren’t on my side. The number ‘3’ resonates in my mind and as I look around the event at all the attentive faces fixated on the man standing in front of me, I think how much easier and less-painful Life would be and would have been for so many of these individuals who have lived through experience. I think about how unexpectedly it lurks and how anyone in the world is at risk and not safe from cancer’s grasp. As my own eyes well with tears, I am reminded again of how precious the gift of Life is and how walking for a cause like cancer is actually a walk for LIFE. To help maybe get just a little bit closer to finding the cure. I am suddenly filled with honor and with LIFE and I listen intently to someone braver than I know how to be. Knowing how fortunate I am makes me want to be a better person in sharing the gift of LIFE with others. We ALL have so much to give, and to give the gift of volunteering is as gratifying as Life itself.


Come join us as we raise cancer awareness in Boulder City by walking for the Relay For LIFE. Connect To Fitness is dedicated to giving back as much as we have been given and the limits to our existence in both Vegas and beyond is… well… limitLESS. We are but one person. One truth. One Life. But we have the . capacity to make a vast difference together and NOW. Come with us on the walk to everlasting Life and support a great cause while having fun. If you don’t frequent Boulder City too often, take this opportunity and come enjoy a whole new world located just next door to Vegas.


“Cancer never sleeps.”… But one day it will. It all starts with YOU. It all starts right NOW. Let’s walk together and finish strong in the Relay For Life.


Until next time, Faithful Reader…


“Together we can help celebrate more birthdays…”
–Marcie Gibson


“Cancer is a word, not a sentence.”
-John Diamond


“During chemo, you're more tired than you've ever been. It's like a cloud passing over the sun, and suddenly you're out. You don't know how you'll answer the door when your groceries are delivered. But you also find that you're stronger than you've ever been. You're clear. Your mortality is at optimal distance, not up so close that it obscures everything else, but close enough to give you depth perception. Previously, it has taken you weeks, months, or years to discover the meaning of an experience. Now it's instantaneous.”
-Melissa Bank


“The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around.... Throughout history, "tender loving care" has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing.”
-Larry Dossey


“It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds apart, who has no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body.”
~Marcel Proust

The Deception of Perception

This week is Your week, Faithful Reader. I am going to take a break from my own philosophies and share with you a couple amazing thoughts I received this past week from other like-minded individuals. I hope they keep you thinking long after the thought as they did me…


While driving during last week’s Boot Camp at the Professional Fitness InstituteÔ, I was enjoying a great piece of dialogue with my new friend, April, who was in Vegas to spend some time with us before graduating school and becoming a certified personal trainer. During our conversation, she repeated a simple statement said from her grandmother that completely made me think outside of my own box. She said, “If you can spare a penny, you have too much.” Let that thought marinate for a minute before moving on. Sitting there analyzing this thought, I came to realize how incredibly true this is to our everyday lives and how easy it is to take for granted what we have, don’t have and/or need. When we feel like we don’t have anything while letting our desires get the best of us, we need to check our pockets, our purses, and even our couches for those missing pieces of change that we forget we have, but that someone else might treasure. Sure, a penny is useless to you and I for the most part and there really isn’t much in this world we can purchase with a single cent piece. However, envision if each person on Earth took their loose pocket pennies and change and gave them to something or someone who could really use them. If we don’t even realize we have these small treasures to begin with, it won’t hurt us to part ways with them and we will have helped to facilitate a better world. When you give selflessly and without regret to the world around you, the world around you will reward you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. Don’t take what you have for granted and always appreciate the little things in life that we seldom think twice about. Somewhere, someone is wishing they were in your shoes and praying for a small treasure to help get them there. Give freely and without expectations. I dare you…


During this same conversation with April, I was able to listen in to a second story which really impacted my heart and soul. She alluded back to a day when she and her husband passed a homeless man on the street whom they graciously gave a few dollars to. Nothing substantial, but enough for someone of his stature to do plenty with. A few minutes after the kind exchange between April’s husband and the homeless man, the homeless man called April’s husband back over his way. As he went over, the man thanked him and said, “By the way- my name is John. I just wanted someone to know that.” Just think, Faithful Reader, of how many times you pass a person while you are walking, driving, running errands, and in Life where you make a judgment and immediately put a stereotype to a face without making it a fact to remind yourself that under these stereotypes lies a person. A human being. We are all guilty of it. This particular man just wanted someone to know that underneath his tattered clothes, battered persona, and vulnerability that he was a person with a name and feelings. As she told me this story, I thought back to a million and one instances in my life where I put a name onto someone before ever getting to know them or their story and how awful I would feel if someone were to do the same to me if I was in a disposition or had hit a rough patch. No one deserves to be treated that way regardless of if the problem was related to them or from an outside force. We truly don’t know the full story and need to be cognizant of the labels we use on people. We are all here to lift each other up, not to break each other down or exclude people from Life when they are fully exposed to suffering and vulnerability. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is different than you- and who knows it. Imagine if you were suffering so badly and were so poor that you had to actually go up to strangers and beg them for their goodness and kindness. How prideful would you feel? How much dignity would you feel you possessed? Encompass these thoughts and feelings and revert back to them when you find yourself pre-disposing people to labels. We really don’t know the story or the cause of what caused the individual to be in their disposition to begin with, so why should we, then, be the ones dictating who they are through false accusations? Next time you walk by someone you don’t feel the need to look twice at, look again and think about how you would want the world to empathize with you if you were in their shoes. We should always want and desire to life each other to new heights, not to dismiss someone because they are not as fortunate as us or if they choose to be different than us. Before you choose a stereotype, ask them what their name is. And while you are at it… give them a penny or two.


One of my favorite parts about Boot Camp is at the end of the week when the students all have an opportunity to step in front of the classroom and, essentially, tell their own stories on how they got to where they are today and why they decided to enter into the fitness industry. It is always an emotional time for many reasons, but mostly because I am humbled to the fact that you can never judge a book by it’s cover. Tying in the previous lessons mentioned above… When the students first arrive to Las Vegas, they are (for the most part) eager to begin the week and to become certified personal trainers. When I first began working for PFI, I tended to make my own judgments in trying to decipher what walks of life most of our future trainers came from. One of the things that has (and still) leaves me in utter shock is when I hear the reasons behind the student’s yearning to help others. A big percentage of the students we have the pleasure of working with are in pretty great shape and most of them look like they have never had to struggle a day in their lives to look the way they do. This is something else I take for granted and something I am always humbled to stand corrected about. Extremely humbled. Many times, behind the smiles, confidence and success lies a difficult story that takes raw courage to spill out and share. One thing I have learned is that no matter WHAT it is you see externally, the internal spirit is a hidden gem that is untouched in many individuals and never brought to life because it gets buried in the midst of the exoskeleton. We can be very devious if we choose to be and, many times, just a look of confidence and a great body can be a cover-up in itself. Or you could go the opposite direction and look at someone who may not be in the greatest shape and make a preconceived notion about them as well. I try to do neither as I have found that I am wrong more often than not in making my own assumptions. Some of the most heartfelt and emotional stories I have ever heard have come from some of the most beautiful people I have ever met. Some of the most difficult and treacherous moments have stemmed from these individuals who have decided to dedicate their own LIVES in lieu of helping others improve their own. It takes a certain personality to be so bold, and I find most often that the people who decide to embark upon this career field have hit rock bottom at one point or another and had to make the hardest and most detrimental decisions of their lives on going to one extreme or the next to fight for their own lives. The difference between these students and most other people is a simple fact that when forced to see the glass as half empty or half full, they took a risk and saw it as completely full and overflowing. Half just wasn’t enough. It is so easy for us as humans to focus solely on the negative. It’s just easier. We can stand around and pout instead of doing something about it and nothing is stopping us from sitting around and waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the problem to resolve itself. When it doesn’t resolve on it’s own, we find more reasons to be negative and we run circles in spite of ourselves in complaining about something we aren’t being proactive in doing anything to prevent. It takes a person of courage and bravery to step up to the plate and decide to take action. And not only that, but to change the negative situation into a life-altering, positive action to go against all odds and come out on top when everyone else would expect the opposite. THAT is true courage. Learn from this lesson and realize that regardless of what you see on a person externally, each person has been through hardships, loss, struggles, challenges, failures and mistakes. We musn’t ever take for granted another person’s story and we must always be humbled to the fact that everyone has written their own Book of Life. Read through some of their pages before guessing the ending.


In speaking with my great friend, Scott Hopson, I became reminded of one thing we all don’t give enough appreciation to… Silence. Scott brought up an amazing point that silence not only speaks volumes, but it is actually the ONLY universal language in the entire world. Think about it- When do you ever just sit back and actually enjoy and appreciate the silence of the world around you? Do you allow yourself to be encased and enclosed in the silence of the moment on occasion? Personally, I know that it takes me extreme focus to concentrate on silence because I am rarely exposed to it these days. Life sends in commotion as soon as noise ceases to exist and I am truly someone who is guilty of not appreciating the world around me in all its silent glory. I tend to specifically search for noise as I don’t know what it’s like to be without it. I tend to therefore feel the discomfort of the silence because I have become so dependant on hearing sounds to know if I am being productive. Silence is a gift we are given and a gift we so easily throw away or ignore. Regardless of where we go, we are drenched in noise and become dependant on ‘hearing’ Life to know its existence. What we fail to realize is that in silence, we can be at one with the world and with ourselves and it is here where we sometimes find our greatest answers to life’s most ‘impossible’ questions. If we take the time to ‘listen’ to how piercing the silence is, we can then open our ears to receiving the answers the commotion hides from us. With all the language barriers in the world, silence speaks the only language that each and every person can understand. Tell me, Faithful Reader: Is it not true that you can discover how great a partnership between two people is through silence? If you can be comfortable sitting in mere silence right next to someone when there are just no words, you have truly found the deeper meaning behind friendship and relationships. We are very hard-wired to think that we should never have a dull moment with another individual. While this is true by every means, silence is typically put under the domain name of ‘dull’ and is shunned away into a deep corner and looked down upon. However- isn’t it in the silence when in the presence of another when we can truly say we have found ‘comfort’? If you cannot be comfortable in silence and if words are the only means of expression, then are we truly able to say we are completely comfortable with another person? Sometimes silence speaks louder than words and if you take a moment to discover it for yourself, I no doubt believe you will agree with this fact. Experience and enjoy silence. It is a gift in disguise and if we all take a little bit of time to enjoy it, we may just find the answers we have trouble hearing in all our regular commotion.


In essence, there is much to be learned from the simple things in life and many times, the things we are most familiar with and consider to be the most ‘simple’ are actually the most complex facets of life that we simply forget to pay attention to. Give selflessly. Live each day without judgment. Experience the loudness in a bout of silence. And by the way… What is your name?


Until next time, Faithful Reader…


“I have learned that some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet are those who have suffered a traumatic event or loss. I admire them for their strength, but most especially for their life gratitude - a gift often taken for granted by the average person in society.”
-Sasha Azevedo


“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
-Lao Tzu


“I don't think you ever stop giving. I really don't. I think it's an on-going process. And it's not just about being able to write a check. It's being able to touch somebody's life.”
-Oprah Winfrey


“Silence is the true friend that never betrays.”
-Confucius


“Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation... tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. His anxiety subsides. His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation.”
- Jean Arp


“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

Resolution To An Evolution

Dear Faithful Reader,

“We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.”… With the New Year upon us, how are planning resolve your resolutions? What mark are you going to leave on the world in 2010?


With 2010 upon us, we need to buckle down and take a look at the big picture. While the New Year should be a time to celebrate and encompass the spirit of the season, it is also a time to gear up, buckle down and open our eyes to the road ahead.


Today is an opportunity and it’s the chance for you to make a difference not only within yourself, but throughout the rest of the world. Look around you. I mean really look around you. Let the world go in slow motion as you view the prevalence of obesity, as you view the ever-growing population of sick, diseased and suffering individuals who don’t know how or where to go for help. This is why you entered into this industry. The people who need our help need it now and WE are going to be the ones who make the most difference in the lives of the millions of people who need our help whether they or WE even know it. How many times a year does a typical person see their family (or other) practitioner? How many times do you go see the doctor a year? A typical response to this question is one, maybe two times. Although most doctors can be effective at leading patients in the right direction, who is going to be there the other 363-364 days of their lives? The answer?... YOU. YOU are the one who needs to step in and take the reins during that time. As trainers and fitness professionals, we see our clients (on average) 1-3 times per WEEK! That is an incredible amount of time to have a profound effect on someone’s life and way of living. And, if you are an outstanding professional (which we are all striving to be, right?), you will make it a point to be even more involved with your clients even after they leave your facility or studio. Our goal is to encompass the person as a whole and to make every aspect of their life better than it was before they came to you.


Most people who are unhealthy have never even experienced what it feels like to feel ‘good’. To ACTUALLY feel ‘good’. If they know (as we do) what being healthy feels like from a mental and physical standpoint, I guarantee they will never return to the way they were. We have to show them what it feels like and we have to inspire them to believe in being healthy and motivate them to make a change to lead a better life. Without you to hold them accountable and to educate them, they have NO ONE. This is YOUR time to step up and vow to give your all to make a difference. 2010 is here and the days are passing by. How they pass by is up to you. Are you going to sit there and watch; waiting for something to happen, or are you going to get up and do SOMETHING? Look around you and let your mind hover around the epidemics plaguing the world. Step outside of the pretty picture and get down to the nitty gritty. THIS is what we are up against, and it is going to take each and every one of us to put a dent into all that has been corrupted, manipulated and destroyed in our industry. Stand with me now.


We are up against monsters, folks, and it is going to be a rocky, bumpy, cloudy and exhausting road. We have to be willing to put up a fight, and a good fight at that. We need to show the world why we DESERVE to be treated with respect. Why we DESERVE to be listened to. Why we DESERVE a flawless reputation. There are so many people who are currently in our industry giving us a bad name right this very moment in time. Right NOW there are 'professionals' sabotaging our name and repelling people from getting the help they need. Because regulations are so lax, almost anyone can be a healthcare provider of some sort. We are looked down upon because of those individuals and our reputation is being sabotaged amongst other healthcare providers. We aren’t taken seriously and we never WILL be unless we band together and do something about it. Why should we let those individuals overtake all that we are working so hard for everyday? We don’t deserve this. The people of the world don’t deserve this. Don’t wait until the damage is irreversible. Get up NOW and do something. Rise with me and raise your torch! Stand shoulder to shoulder with your beliefs and hold your shield before you just high enough so you can still see the light in front of you. The road is going to get dark. It’s going to get scary. But we have one shot. One life. One TIME to get this right. There is no turning back and there is NO stopping. Put one foot in front of the other and keep pushing forward. Make yourself stand out in the crowd. When you see something terribly wrong being done by the person next to you, allow yourself to not give up or be discouraged, but use these times to remind you why it’s so important to be just THAT much better. It is your job. It is your duty. This is your LIFE. We have a lot of slack to make up for, but if we all try ten times harder to make up for one person each, we are making significant progress and we will eventually be able to separate the good from the bad. After that, it’s only a matter of time before the rest is done for us. Let’s make the gap between the GREAT and the not-so-great SO big that people will have no choice but to notice us. If the government and legislation isn’t going to step in and assist us with creating standards, let’s set them ourselves. Let’s raise the bar so high that those who aren’t and never were qualified can’t reach it. Let’s then proceed to keep raising it higher and higher. Let’s, together, hold the bar while we climb our ladders and leave no man behind. Let the ones who don’t take what we do seriously take a seat behind us and let the world label them as ‘followers’ and not ‘professionals’. Let. Us. Lead. There is nothing we can’t do both independent and together to change the stereotype lurking in our midst and in the way of our future. In order for us to progress as an INDUSTRY, we need to make change and we need to do it NOW. Do we plow through ONE man strong or do we march forward TOGETHER one foot in front of the other and force the world to see us in a new light? It is your CHOICE.


2010 is OUR year to make this change last forever. It is OUR year to step up, hold our ground and stand up to the people who have tried so hard to take away our dignity. We are strong and we are even stronger as ONE. We may have to walk in as the minority, but we have voices to be heard that deserve attention. Band with me once and for all and let’s MAKE this change happen. Let’s get up right now and pledge our time as healthcare PROFESSIONALS to making this industry come back around full circle as a force that can’t be touched, brought down, or STOPPED. There is absolutely NOTHING we can’t do if we don’t put our minds to it and we have all the proof in the world that this fact is true, valid and reliable. Many people have gone up against great odds and beat them. We are no different. We are facing a situation here that is bigger than any one of us, but not unattainable for ALL of us. Let 2010 be our ANTHEM. Let us rise against all the tides and all the forces trying to keep us at a standstill. And let’s march. Let’s look the rest of our industry in the eye and demand to be listened to. We were all given talents and gifts that we should be sharing with each other and sharing with the world. Use them! Share them! Learn more about them and IMPLEMENT them into your life. Into your work. Bring them to life! This is YOUR future and we can make it THEIR past.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of seeing people sick and tired. So many people need our help, Faithful Readers, and if we don’t get out there to help them, who will? This is YOUR year, YOUR destiny. The wall in front of us isn’t there to keep us out. Rather it’s there to see how BADLY we want what’s behind it. How hard we are willing to fight to find a way above, around or through it. If we will be persevered through our heart’s will to redeem what so many others are sabotaging, we can make this year a year to go down in history. We can set ourselves apart from the rest by our own actions. By our own endeavors. Why must we stand back and wait for initiative to be taken outside of our industry? We need to work with what we have right now in the present moment and we have to take our own initiative. Time is what stands in our path and the longer we wait, the longer we sit back and wait. What we need is a revolution! We need to be standing when everyone else expects us to fall. We need to collectively band together and stand as ONE. This is YOUR time. Your year. Your life.


Stand with us in Connect To Fitness, and help us FIGHT together for what is rightfully ours. By coming together we can effectively strive in trying to optimize our careers in this industry. 2009 was an incredible success, but it was just the VERY tip of the iceberg. I would like to cordially invite you to join us in the most incredible journey you will ever be a part of. One that is taking over the fitness industry as we know it, beginning in Las Vegas and starting with YOU. Become involved. Walk with us. Become a part of what’s to become the biggest and movement and innovation in the fitness industry as you know it now and how you will know it in the future. If you are truly PASSIONATE about being a healthcare provider, you should feel an undying urgency to do something and to do it now. It’s never too early to come along, but one day… It could be too late.


2010 is OUR year to shine and the things we have planned to bring to YOU, Faithful Reader, and to the rest of the industry are beyond the longest stretch of the imagination and are completely unfathomable. Don’t sit back or make yourself unseen any longer. Now it THE time. This is IT! You may not get another chance in this lifetime… Make today the first day of the rest of your life….


You have the opportunity to make a difference starting NOW. How do you want to be remembered and how do you want to look back on your own life story? Don’t stand still. ACT. Don’t just act. RESOLVE. And don’t stop there... EVOLVE.


Get ready 2010… Connect To Fitness can’t be stopped.


“'Where there is a will there is a way'.' is an old true saying. He who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often scales the barriers to it, and secures its achievement. To think we are able, is almost to be so/to determine upon attainment is frequently attainment itself.”
-Samuel Smiles


“I am in earnest. I will not equivocate. I will not excuse. I will not retreat a single inch and I WILL be heard.”
-William Lloyd Garrison



“Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire. Threaten the threat'ner, and outface the brow Of bragging horror. So shall inferior eyes, That borrow their behaviors from the great, Grow great by your example and put on The dauntless spirit of resolution.”
-William Shakespeare


“Either I will find a way, or I will make one.”
-Philip Sidney



“You may be whatever you resolve to be. Determine to be something in the world, and you will be something. "I cannot," never accomplished anything; "I will try," has wrought wonders.
-J. Hawes


“There is no impossibility to him who stands prepared to conquer every hazard. The fearful are the failing.”
-Sarah J. Hale


“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.”
-G.B. Shaw


“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.”
-Buddhist Saying