Sit still. Don’t move. Don’t think about the past or future. Forget about all that needs done and focus on the here and now…. Just (Inhale…). Breathe(…Exhale).
Having hardly rested in days and having just got off work from the early morning, I was on my way to my second business meeting of the week, and had about an hour and half before I had to be clocked-in at my next job to close. Then, after work later that night, I knew I had a ton of work to get done on my computer. The clock was ticking and I could have sworn it was ticking synonymously with my heart. As I looked out my window at the line of cars in front of me and the traffic light still on red, I realized that in that exact moment in time, I was forgetting something quintessential to life and to the journey I was on. I was so focused on the final outcome, deadlines and time constraints that I was forgetting to stop, stand still, and enjoy the moment.
Life as we know it stops for no one. It doesn’t cater to our deadlines, nor does it care if we overload our schedule and miss out on getting adequate rest. It has its own agenda, and we are just along for the ride catering to It. Time is selfish and doesn’t allow us to press pause whenever we might need a time-out. Time is elusive and presents us with the gift of present each and every second with no intervention. How we choose to value this time is up to us, for it is going to pass regardless of our deepest thoughts or desires. Time is our foundation, our platform, and if we are to live to be the best we can be, we need to take full advantage of each moment we are given and never feel that we have to look back longing for more. We just, simply, don’t have enough time for that.
Sometimes it can be easy to take time for granted because it is something we adapt to and something we build each day of our lives around. When we begin to take Time into consideration and really realize and accept that it truly isn’t for or against us, we can live each day appreciating the process of time versus wanting to jump too far ahead or behind the 'here and now'. If there’s one thing Time doesn’t care about it’s... how we spend ours.
That busy day, I found myself unappreciative to what I was being given at that present moment. I had just got out of a job that I absolutely love, was going on an amazing business meeting, was going back to another job I love just as much as the first, and later I was to work on a couple projects I had made the decision to do because they supported my future endeavors and because I enjoyed doing them. I had put time against me instead of realizing that time just exists and that it is the same for everyone.
That same day right around this same time, I had received a text from my good friend, Daniel Howell, who was out of town visiting his grandfather. If there is one thing I always gain from Daniel, it’s inspiration. He is one of the hardest workers I have ever met and sometimes when I see all that he does, I get a new perspective and jump-start on my own life. As a Licensed Massage Therapist, a Registered Dietitian, AND a Certified Personal Trainer for both is own business (Triple Threat Wellness) as well as operating out of different facilities all around Vegas, Daniel is always, always on the go. His work ethic is exceptional and anyone around him can voucher that you can always learn something new from being around him. This day, Daniel wasn’t working and was instead spending time, out of town, with his grandfather who is older and retired. His text just simply alluded to the fact that it was a nice change of pace to just take a step back and enjoy living life at a different pace, in a different light than the chaos he is used to. In this case, it was his grandfather’s. When you are constantly on the go, you get into a routine of being constantly on the go and both your mind and body can’t comprehend the true meaning of ‘stopping to smell the roses’. There is really no such thing as a 'day off' for people like Daniel, and I find myself falling into that trap sometimes as well.
Being in the fitness industry or any industry involving art (music, acting, theatre, etc.) and making a career out of it is a huge risk to partake in, a lot of work, and (best of all) a huge reward when done right. I feel blessed everyday to be able to do what I love as my ‘career’. It rarely feels like ‘work’ (even with time constraints) because it is something I fully enjoy doing. When you are submerged daily in your greatest passions, you don’t and can’t really separate yourself from work like most people aspire to do because your ‘work’ is, essentially, YOU and not... well… ‘work’. I find a common ground between like-minded people in this profession where you truly work so much doing what you love for the sake of other people that it can be too easy to lose track of putting some of that focus back into yourself to do something you enjoy outside of work. In regards to myself, I forget I am working because (and this is the honest truth) even if I wasn’t getting paid for what I do, I would still be doing it any spare second I could get. It’s just not an option in my mind, nor will it ever be. A part of me feels selfish already for insisting on being persistent in making fitness my life and not settling for anything less, and I find that when I actually get a day ‘off’, I don’t know what to do with myself or my time because it is such a big part of me that I cannot separate myself from it and end up ‘working’ anyways. The fine line between work and play can be extremely conflicting, and although this doesn’t sound like such a bad thing (and believe me...it’s not!), you can’t give more than you have or have been given. One of my friends said it best in that, “Sometimes you have to be selfISH in order to be selfLESS.” I never really valued this until I heard it put in this manner, and it truly is something to think about and to live by. Even when you love what you do everyday, it is still important to do something for YOU once and a while. It’s important to give to yourself just as much as you give to others and to be receptive when others try to give to you. If this means doing something completely un-work related, then sometimes this is what needs done. This is something Daniel really realized on that day, and it’s a battle I am constantly working to improve in my own life. Working from a young age, and working many of those years with multiple jobs, I have learned what and where hard work will get you and it’s extremely difficult for me to not be constantly invested in what I'm doing.
This Thanksgiving, I had the day off. I had the entire day off, and I didn’t know what to do with myself. Even my main priorities for that day were un-work related and I found myself, once again, feeling guilty that the day would go by and I wouldn’t have anything productive to show for it. So, I found myself on my computer that morning trying to get some work done and responding to emails and messages. Then I went to support the guys at Kaizen Crossfit as they defeated their opponents in the Turkey Bowl flag-football game held in a park near my house. After that was over, I came home and did a little more light work and got ready to accompany my roommate to the dinner we were invited to at an older couple’s house in Anthem. I had never met them prior and although I was really looking forward to it, I still felt that nagging thought in the back of my head telling me that I should be working instead of going to dinner.
As we pulled up to the house, I was already in amazement as it was just gorgeous. Perched up on a hill overlooking a golf course, pond and the beautiful Las Vegas Strip,and in a pretty secluded area that didn't feel like the city, this was truly a beautiful property. Inside the house was even more enticing as the entire ambiance had a very vintage and Victorian look to it, and smelled like Heaven with the food cooking. The couple who owned the house were just lovely people who introduced themselves to me as Mary-Louise and Henry, and I immediately felt right at home (they WERE from my home state, Pennsylvania, after all!). Remarkably, Mary-Louise’s 86 year-old mother was in town visiting and I found myself listening to her talk for hours that night. She told me the most incredible stories about her life, where she’s from, and just packed my brain full of enough wisdom to last for a long time to come. Daniel’s message from just days before resonated with me as I was able to just be around and enjoy time spent with my roommate, a retired couple and an older woman who lived life at a much slower pace than what I am used to being around, and who had more than enough time to cook an absolutely astonishing meal. As I stuffed myself full, I really felt thankful for each moment I have been given and was able to really just sit back and ‘smell the roses’ (or in this case… turkey and pumpkin pie). It really was refreshing to be in their company and to have that moment to breathe and just be surrounded by great company (and amazing food!), and all thoughts of guilt rushed away in a hurry.
What we have to realize is that there is no use blaming Time for what needs or doesn’t need done and by when and where. Life is too short to let us pass by and we should instead be focused on appreciating the processes we work on to get to our final outcome. The process is just as important as the outcome itself and we need to be able to step back and enjoy each step we take up the ladder to success in whatever endeavor we are trying to accomplish because only then will we be able to effectively ‘give’ ourselves to our tasks or to others. When we don’t take adequate time for ourselves, there is a chance we may not appreciate the precious time we are given and we may end up with resentment or regret towards Time itself, and to ourselves for not being ‘selfish’ enough with our time. Something that always helps me to take the next step (whatever it may be) is to always remember that we only get so much time and that we only have one life to spare. The seconds, minutes, hours and days we expend, we can never return to or hold onto again. Focus on the process and the journey. Does time not exist so everything isn’t required to happen at once?
Remember, you have to be selfish before you can be selfish and that time stands still for no one. Seize each day and each moment and be cognizant of how you exert your time for there are no second chances. Don’t just let them pass you by… Smell the roses.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time we are given.”
-Gandalf to Frodo, The Fellowship of the Ring (movie)
“Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.”
-Unknown
“Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely”
-Kay Lyons
“But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.” -Benjamin Disraeli
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Meet 'Courage'
Courageousness: n- The quality of mind enabling one to face danger or hardship resolutely… How is it that some of the most ‘ordinary’ people are capable of conquering and triumphing over some of the most unordinary and inconceivable feats and occurrences the rest of us couldn’t even begin to fathom? What can we learn from those who do and have possessed insurmountable courage?
Being in the healthcare industry is humbling in too many ways to count or to begin expressing. Each day, the mission of a healthcare provider is, essentially, to help others find their ‘epiphany’ which will lead them to be successful both in and out of the gym. But what about the people who don’t necessarily have the option of making a change? Or what about those who enter knowingly into a field or career knowing they are up against the life and death of both themselves and those they serve? This is something I have really come to embrace and recognize because all around us and throughout the world, people are fighting battles they will or may never win without a miracle. These people live and breathe courage every minute of their lives because they know that at any given moment in time, everything as they know it could be gone. They realize how precious life is and how it should never be taken for granted because tomorrow is never a guarantee. For some people, just waking up and having the opportunity to see the sun shining is the greatest miracle they could ever hope for. Meet “Courage”….
Having been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in high school that only inflicts a few hundred individuals a year, my 21 year-old cousin, Robbie, truly was the definition of ‘courage’. Spending his high school years and beyond fighting a never-ending battle with Rhabdomyosarcoma, Robbie was always, always one to divert any and all attention elsewhere. With a constant smile and an always positive outlook on his situation, you would seriously never have guessed from the outside all the damage and pain he was experiencing on the inside. Although in and out of the hospital and Doctor’s office for years of constant treatments, chemotherapy and every other possible procedure you could imagine, Robbie always jumped right back into life full force and never made you feel at will to feel sympathy for him. Working back home at the gym I was employed at, when he would walk in, the smile that illuminated on his face was so infectious that you couldn’t help but to feel on top of the world with him. Being around him was almost the opposite of what you’d expect from a cancer patient. He did absolutely EVERYTHING any ‘normal’ kid would do and never took for granted a single moment of his life. Instead of feeling bad for him, you almost couldn’t help but to feel bad for all those who weren’t enjoying life as much as Robbie did. He fought for life against all odds, and although he lost his battle just last week, he is someone I will look up to and admire Robbie for the rest of my life for having the physical strength and the positive mental capacity to live life like there was no tomorrow and to show the world how courageous he could be through such dire circumstances. People like Robbie come few and far between, but when you meet them… you are never the same. “Pride in being a nice guy since 1988.” (–Robbie’s default quote on Facebook)
My best friend growing up and throughout life, Cleveland (yes… he always caught a lot of flack for his name!), was the absolute most positive person I have ever met before. You would never guess that he lived each day in an extremely broken home where he almost daily suffered through abuse, poverty, and very little love and support. Talking to him was always such a positive experience, and his ability to relate to people was just outstanding. Never, ever did he project his problems onto anyone, and he always started every conversation wanting to know about how the other person was doing. People gravitated toward him like bees to honey and his energy could instantly snap you out of any negative moods. When I was younger, it was Cleveland who heard me humming a song and who encouraged me to sing it out loud. Being one of the most talented musicians imaginable, Cleveland found his happiness through his relationships with his friends and through music. Without him, I would have never found my own voice and it was he who was my inspiration to pursue music so heavily when growing up. I used to sing for hours and hours over the phone with and for him and he always supported me through anything I wanted to engage in. Nothing was ever too big for Cleveland and no matter how bad things were in his life, his courage always led him in directions typically opposite of most other people in his situation. To begin a new life for himself, he decided to courageously up and move to Colorado where he received an amazing career opportunity to head and revive the music department at a school where it had been suffering for years. He wanted so badly to escape the life that was destined for him, to live his dream and to defeat all the odds placed against him his entire life. He received his wish as his life only enhanced from that point forward. His next courageous step came in his decision to receive gastric bypass surgery to assist him in his weight-loss goals as he was a pretty hefty guy. After the surgery was over, he successfully lost over 100lbs (and counting!), and was working so hard to reach the goals he had set for himself. Upon my own decision to move to Las Vegas, Cleveland and I had planned on seeing each other as often as possible and he was still right by my side being one of my biggest supporters throughout that challenging time in my life. I was always amazed at how much he constantly ‘gave’, and how much he truly loved me for me, day after day, year after year, come rain or come shine. Right before my move, he had to go back into surgery for another gastrointestinal procedure and I was just beside myself with how far he had come in his journey, and how he never failed to be right there beside me during my own endeavors. During this second and less intense procedure, Cleveland tragically and devastatingly suffered a massive heart attack and didn’t make it through the surgery. Although I lost someone very close and dear to my heart on that day, I am able to take what I was blessed to be given from him and use it to find my own courage in this life and to ‘give’ to others what he never failed to give me. It truly goes to show that the cycle of ‘giving’ really does go full circle, and that even through loss we can find inspiration and courage, in turn, share it with others.
Back home in PA, I spent four years working for a gym that had grown and developed into a home away from home ever since I was little. During this time, I met so many amazing and courageous people who helped shape me into the person I am today and who helped guide me down my chosen path and career field as a personal trainer. Inspiration can sometimes be rare to find, but it’s always impossible to miss. My great friend, Dan, is one of these people who you just couldn’t miss. Not because he is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, but because he always wears a smile despite his disabilities and is one of the most delightful people you could ever hope to know in your lifetime. Having dove out of a tree at the age of 13 into shallow water appearing deep, Dan has spent the majority of his life wheelchair-bound without a chance or guarantee for full or any recovery. The irony of it all is that even in his disposition, he always seems happier than most everyone else around him and he speaks with such a positive demeanor that always rubs off on all those around him. In the years I have known Dan, he indirectly taught me so much about life and about never taking things for granted. Regardless of what life brought his way, he was always, always at the gym every Tuesday and Thursday morning and for a while before I moved, I had the great opportunity of training him on those days I was working. In and out of the hospital continuously due to the other conditions Dan’s immune system just couldn’t always fight off, I remember visiting him while he was in a coma on life-support and just feeling so upset that life could be so cruel to someone so incredible. When you have the honor of knowing someone like Dan, your perceptions, ‘realities’ and life change forever. Although I am 3,000 miles away, I think of Dan all the time. When I think I’m having a bad day, or if I let something get to me, my mind always, always reverts back to Dan and how hard he fights everyday just to stay alive and wake up the next day. I think of all the challenges he has faced and continues to battle through each day. I think about it because the truth is… I truly don’t know if I could ever be as courageous as Dan. I literally can’t even begin to imagine how different and challenging life would be in his shoes. There are people ALL over the world who have it SO much worse than me at any point in time when I could say I’m at my ‘worst’. A ‘bad’ day for me is a day someone like Dan would give anything in this world to experience. I have no business frowning if he can always find a way to smile. Without knowing it, knowing Dan has influenced me to be a better person and to never take life for granted. He literally lives FOR the day, and I think it’s a lesson we should all learn from and apply to our own lives. When I hear people complain about having a leaky faucet at home, breaking their watch, being too tired, needing a car repair, etc… I can’t help but wonder why if THIS is the worst of their ‘problems’, why aren’t they smiling?!... Maybe they have just never met someone like Dan.
The act of courage doesn’t always have to come directly from the people suffering through debilitating situations either. I see courage everyday, all around me in a positive light as well. Take my three friends, Leanne Nester, Jeremiah Carroll, and Martina Montgomery. Leanne is currently going through invasive training to become a Las Vegas Paramedic and is also working hard towards entering the Las Vegas Fire Department, Jeremiah was one of just 120 out of 1,500 applicants here in Vegas just accepted into the Fire Department, and Martina formerly served as one of the only females in the Las Vegas Police Department. Talking with Jeremiah the other day about his daily schedule and the absolute insanity he is dedicated to each day in his training, watching Leanne travel from training to work, to training to work, to work, and BACK to training each and everyday with little or no rest, and having discussions with Martina on what she had to go through just to get ON the LVPD, and what she was forced to handle on a daily basis, I can’t help but to just bow down in awe and admiration of the people who devote (and oftentimes volunteer) their time and lives to helping prevent tragedy, see people and situations at their absolute worst, and put their own lives at stake in lieu of saving or protecting another life. The same can also be said of many other professions as well such as the many, many, many friends and family of mine (and yours) who have served our country in all the different branches of the military and who put their lives on the line for us each and everyday. Although the stories that result from the people in these professions are heavily glorified and taken note of continuously through the news, media, community and even from some of their own personal experiences, I truly think that the individual people behind these acts of courage aren’t always appreciated enough for what they do. Although we are aware of these people and we hear about them, more often than not, it is the situation or people they save or protect that we hear about first and foremost. This is their career. This is their life. And even when we do hear about the hero behind the act, what we are sometimes jaded from and what I believe we take for granted is the fact that these individuals are literally miracle-workers. They go to work each day prepared to face situations the rest of us can’t even begin to fathom and each day they play guardian angel to families, communities, countries, and to the world. The courage these individuals unknowingly possess impresses me to no end as it truly takes a special person to have the desire and the mental and physical ability to face these situations head-on everyday. In being around people like Leanne, Jeremiah and Martina, I have grown so aware of the big and little courageous things people are doing each day for us that we may not think twice about. I also apply it to my own life and career in knowing that each person that walks into my life seeking my help has a fear of something. That each person in GENERAL is afraid of something. That part of my job is to take that person’s fear and help them find the courage to overcome it. It’s a quality we all possess and are able to do, but it is also a quality we have to be reminded about on occasion and sometimes nagged about.
These are only a couple of the many, many examples of courage that have influenced me to be the person I am today and of the billions of stories we could spend a lifetime talking about. There is something to learn from each person’s courage and no matter how glum the situation, there is always something beautiful and inspirational that will always emerge from it in time. Maybe not this instant. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not in a year. But eventually. As healthcare providers, we mustn’t ever forget to try and find the beauty that lies within the people who look to us for the courage to help them find their own. Each person will and does have a story. Each person has lived. Has lost. Has seen devastation. Tragedy. Has fought a battle and won. Has lost. These individuals possess more courage than we know for walking through our doors as for most of them, this experience alone can be terrifying and may have taken a significant amount of time to work up to.
We must approach each day like it’s our last and know we may not always win. The obstacles that Life burdens us with are in direct proportion to our strength and we must realize that we will never be thrown a ball that’s too heavy for us to catch. Appreciate all that’s around you and the next time you feel like complaining… smile.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.” –August Wilson
“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” –Mark Victor Hansen
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” –Theodore Roosevelt
“Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death.” –Earl Wilson
(Rest in peace, Robbie and Cleveland. I will always love you.)
Being in the healthcare industry is humbling in too many ways to count or to begin expressing. Each day, the mission of a healthcare provider is, essentially, to help others find their ‘epiphany’ which will lead them to be successful both in and out of the gym. But what about the people who don’t necessarily have the option of making a change? Or what about those who enter knowingly into a field or career knowing they are up against the life and death of both themselves and those they serve? This is something I have really come to embrace and recognize because all around us and throughout the world, people are fighting battles they will or may never win without a miracle. These people live and breathe courage every minute of their lives because they know that at any given moment in time, everything as they know it could be gone. They realize how precious life is and how it should never be taken for granted because tomorrow is never a guarantee. For some people, just waking up and having the opportunity to see the sun shining is the greatest miracle they could ever hope for. Meet “Courage”….
Having been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in high school that only inflicts a few hundred individuals a year, my 21 year-old cousin, Robbie, truly was the definition of ‘courage’. Spending his high school years and beyond fighting a never-ending battle with Rhabdomyosarcoma, Robbie was always, always one to divert any and all attention elsewhere. With a constant smile and an always positive outlook on his situation, you would seriously never have guessed from the outside all the damage and pain he was experiencing on the inside. Although in and out of the hospital and Doctor’s office for years of constant treatments, chemotherapy and every other possible procedure you could imagine, Robbie always jumped right back into life full force and never made you feel at will to feel sympathy for him. Working back home at the gym I was employed at, when he would walk in, the smile that illuminated on his face was so infectious that you couldn’t help but to feel on top of the world with him. Being around him was almost the opposite of what you’d expect from a cancer patient. He did absolutely EVERYTHING any ‘normal’ kid would do and never took for granted a single moment of his life. Instead of feeling bad for him, you almost couldn’t help but to feel bad for all those who weren’t enjoying life as much as Robbie did. He fought for life against all odds, and although he lost his battle just last week, he is someone I will look up to and admire Robbie for the rest of my life for having the physical strength and the positive mental capacity to live life like there was no tomorrow and to show the world how courageous he could be through such dire circumstances. People like Robbie come few and far between, but when you meet them… you are never the same. “Pride in being a nice guy since 1988.” (–Robbie’s default quote on Facebook)
My best friend growing up and throughout life, Cleveland (yes… he always caught a lot of flack for his name!), was the absolute most positive person I have ever met before. You would never guess that he lived each day in an extremely broken home where he almost daily suffered through abuse, poverty, and very little love and support. Talking to him was always such a positive experience, and his ability to relate to people was just outstanding. Never, ever did he project his problems onto anyone, and he always started every conversation wanting to know about how the other person was doing. People gravitated toward him like bees to honey and his energy could instantly snap you out of any negative moods. When I was younger, it was Cleveland who heard me humming a song and who encouraged me to sing it out loud. Being one of the most talented musicians imaginable, Cleveland found his happiness through his relationships with his friends and through music. Without him, I would have never found my own voice and it was he who was my inspiration to pursue music so heavily when growing up. I used to sing for hours and hours over the phone with and for him and he always supported me through anything I wanted to engage in. Nothing was ever too big for Cleveland and no matter how bad things were in his life, his courage always led him in directions typically opposite of most other people in his situation. To begin a new life for himself, he decided to courageously up and move to Colorado where he received an amazing career opportunity to head and revive the music department at a school where it had been suffering for years. He wanted so badly to escape the life that was destined for him, to live his dream and to defeat all the odds placed against him his entire life. He received his wish as his life only enhanced from that point forward. His next courageous step came in his decision to receive gastric bypass surgery to assist him in his weight-loss goals as he was a pretty hefty guy. After the surgery was over, he successfully lost over 100lbs (and counting!), and was working so hard to reach the goals he had set for himself. Upon my own decision to move to Las Vegas, Cleveland and I had planned on seeing each other as often as possible and he was still right by my side being one of my biggest supporters throughout that challenging time in my life. I was always amazed at how much he constantly ‘gave’, and how much he truly loved me for me, day after day, year after year, come rain or come shine. Right before my move, he had to go back into surgery for another gastrointestinal procedure and I was just beside myself with how far he had come in his journey, and how he never failed to be right there beside me during my own endeavors. During this second and less intense procedure, Cleveland tragically and devastatingly suffered a massive heart attack and didn’t make it through the surgery. Although I lost someone very close and dear to my heart on that day, I am able to take what I was blessed to be given from him and use it to find my own courage in this life and to ‘give’ to others what he never failed to give me. It truly goes to show that the cycle of ‘giving’ really does go full circle, and that even through loss we can find inspiration and courage, in turn, share it with others.
Back home in PA, I spent four years working for a gym that had grown and developed into a home away from home ever since I was little. During this time, I met so many amazing and courageous people who helped shape me into the person I am today and who helped guide me down my chosen path and career field as a personal trainer. Inspiration can sometimes be rare to find, but it’s always impossible to miss. My great friend, Dan, is one of these people who you just couldn’t miss. Not because he is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, but because he always wears a smile despite his disabilities and is one of the most delightful people you could ever hope to know in your lifetime. Having dove out of a tree at the age of 13 into shallow water appearing deep, Dan has spent the majority of his life wheelchair-bound without a chance or guarantee for full or any recovery. The irony of it all is that even in his disposition, he always seems happier than most everyone else around him and he speaks with such a positive demeanor that always rubs off on all those around him. In the years I have known Dan, he indirectly taught me so much about life and about never taking things for granted. Regardless of what life brought his way, he was always, always at the gym every Tuesday and Thursday morning and for a while before I moved, I had the great opportunity of training him on those days I was working. In and out of the hospital continuously due to the other conditions Dan’s immune system just couldn’t always fight off, I remember visiting him while he was in a coma on life-support and just feeling so upset that life could be so cruel to someone so incredible. When you have the honor of knowing someone like Dan, your perceptions, ‘realities’ and life change forever. Although I am 3,000 miles away, I think of Dan all the time. When I think I’m having a bad day, or if I let something get to me, my mind always, always reverts back to Dan and how hard he fights everyday just to stay alive and wake up the next day. I think of all the challenges he has faced and continues to battle through each day. I think about it because the truth is… I truly don’t know if I could ever be as courageous as Dan. I literally can’t even begin to imagine how different and challenging life would be in his shoes. There are people ALL over the world who have it SO much worse than me at any point in time when I could say I’m at my ‘worst’. A ‘bad’ day for me is a day someone like Dan would give anything in this world to experience. I have no business frowning if he can always find a way to smile. Without knowing it, knowing Dan has influenced me to be a better person and to never take life for granted. He literally lives FOR the day, and I think it’s a lesson we should all learn from and apply to our own lives. When I hear people complain about having a leaky faucet at home, breaking their watch, being too tired, needing a car repair, etc… I can’t help but wonder why if THIS is the worst of their ‘problems’, why aren’t they smiling?!... Maybe they have just never met someone like Dan.
The act of courage doesn’t always have to come directly from the people suffering through debilitating situations either. I see courage everyday, all around me in a positive light as well. Take my three friends, Leanne Nester, Jeremiah Carroll, and Martina Montgomery. Leanne is currently going through invasive training to become a Las Vegas Paramedic and is also working hard towards entering the Las Vegas Fire Department, Jeremiah was one of just 120 out of 1,500 applicants here in Vegas just accepted into the Fire Department, and Martina formerly served as one of the only females in the Las Vegas Police Department. Talking with Jeremiah the other day about his daily schedule and the absolute insanity he is dedicated to each day in his training, watching Leanne travel from training to work, to training to work, to work, and BACK to training each and everyday with little or no rest, and having discussions with Martina on what she had to go through just to get ON the LVPD, and what she was forced to handle on a daily basis, I can’t help but to just bow down in awe and admiration of the people who devote (and oftentimes volunteer) their time and lives to helping prevent tragedy, see people and situations at their absolute worst, and put their own lives at stake in lieu of saving or protecting another life. The same can also be said of many other professions as well such as the many, many, many friends and family of mine (and yours) who have served our country in all the different branches of the military and who put their lives on the line for us each and everyday. Although the stories that result from the people in these professions are heavily glorified and taken note of continuously through the news, media, community and even from some of their own personal experiences, I truly think that the individual people behind these acts of courage aren’t always appreciated enough for what they do. Although we are aware of these people and we hear about them, more often than not, it is the situation or people they save or protect that we hear about first and foremost. This is their career. This is their life. And even when we do hear about the hero behind the act, what we are sometimes jaded from and what I believe we take for granted is the fact that these individuals are literally miracle-workers. They go to work each day prepared to face situations the rest of us can’t even begin to fathom and each day they play guardian angel to families, communities, countries, and to the world. The courage these individuals unknowingly possess impresses me to no end as it truly takes a special person to have the desire and the mental and physical ability to face these situations head-on everyday. In being around people like Leanne, Jeremiah and Martina, I have grown so aware of the big and little courageous things people are doing each day for us that we may not think twice about. I also apply it to my own life and career in knowing that each person that walks into my life seeking my help has a fear of something. That each person in GENERAL is afraid of something. That part of my job is to take that person’s fear and help them find the courage to overcome it. It’s a quality we all possess and are able to do, but it is also a quality we have to be reminded about on occasion and sometimes nagged about.
These are only a couple of the many, many examples of courage that have influenced me to be the person I am today and of the billions of stories we could spend a lifetime talking about. There is something to learn from each person’s courage and no matter how glum the situation, there is always something beautiful and inspirational that will always emerge from it in time. Maybe not this instant. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not in a year. But eventually. As healthcare providers, we mustn’t ever forget to try and find the beauty that lies within the people who look to us for the courage to help them find their own. Each person will and does have a story. Each person has lived. Has lost. Has seen devastation. Tragedy. Has fought a battle and won. Has lost. These individuals possess more courage than we know for walking through our doors as for most of them, this experience alone can be terrifying and may have taken a significant amount of time to work up to.
We must approach each day like it’s our last and know we may not always win. The obstacles that Life burdens us with are in direct proportion to our strength and we must realize that we will never be thrown a ball that’s too heavy for us to catch. Appreciate all that’s around you and the next time you feel like complaining… smile.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.” –August Wilson
“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” –Mark Victor Hansen
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” –Theodore Roosevelt
“Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death.” –Earl Wilson
(Rest in peace, Robbie and Cleveland. I will always love you.)
Monday, November 2, 2009
"Optical Illusions"
The drive home was a blurry one. Gripping the steering wheel so tightly, I struggled to choke back tears as my faith and belief began to wither away. My world as I knew it was crumbling and the biggest challenge of my life was confronting me head-on.
Originally from Erie County, Pennsylvania and residing in a small town called Waterford, I was always a little girl with a big imagination and even bigger dreams. So big, in fact, that even I didn’t always take them seriously. Growing up modestly without many material items, imagination was the key to cure boredom and it was where I returned to on a daily basis. When friends would come over, we wouldn’t just simply play with toys and technology like most kids do nowadays, but we would be in the woods conveniently surrounding my house building castles with motes and living lavishly amongst the fantasy world we would create and believe in. We would ‘cook’ gourmet food, our careers were (obviously) no less than six figures, and most of the time even that wasn’t even an issue as anything we wanted we were able to create right before our very eyes. We would cruise around in our vehicles that never needed repaired (or gas!) and our houses were massive, always clean, and mortgage free. I grew up with the mentality that nothing was impossible because, for me, imagination had shown me that nothing WAS on the realm of ‘impossible’. I had lived each day vicariously in a different career doing whatever I desired at that moment in time, and the truth of it is that after a while, I really started to believe those things. My imagination took on a life of its own and I didn’t even understand the concept of ‘impossibilities’. As far as I knew, I didn’t have much, but at the same time, I was rich with everything I could possibly ever dream of (and dream I did!).
It seems strange to me that as the years pass and we are exposed to more and more people and more and more situations, our need for ‘safety’ increases and our emotions begin to get in the way of our belief system we have within ourselves. We become so easily influenced by those people and situations, that over time we actually believe these negative thoughts and we become worn down and pushed into fear of progressing into what is now known not as ‘imagination… but as ‘the unknown’.
Growing up myself, I didn’t have a lot, but I CREATED a lot. If I didn’t physically own something or if I wasn’t physically able to do something right at that moment (like… say… fly away), my mind would create the right conditions to make these endeavors completely viable and possible in my life. And each day I would find a way to make this happen. We all did. When we were lonely, we brought to life dolls, figurines, action figures, and tons of inanimate objects that probably made absolutely no sense to have ‘alive’. Although creating a friend out of thin air is not quite conducent to life as you get older, it doesn’t deter from the fact that most of us are guilty of lacking imagination and belief in what we may not be able to actually see before our eyes. Seeing tends to be where we find our belief, and we let our horizons end at an eye’s distance. This is explained perfectly in a quote made by Paul Chek: “The eyes only see what the mind knows.” I mean… read this over again a couple time and really digest what this is saying. Examine the truth exemplified in this simply complex statement. Now… Return to childhood when you actually could SEE the palace you created outside out of a few trees, some rocks, and the creek (aka: ‘mote’) in your backyard. Remember how transient time was and how we truly had no perception of ‘impossibility’. Anything was possible and everything WAS possible because we not only thought about what we wanted to do with our time and our lives, but we BELIEVED in it. We made all things possible not because we had to see them with our own eyes, but because our mind saw the final result. You see, the concept of belief can only be masked by our feelings of doubt, and oftentimes in life, what we doubt is what we fear. But think about this: If we do not possess doubt, then how can we truly say we possess faith? Belief is ascertained only by our ambitions to overlook doubt and fear and face the ‘impossible’ with an open and accepting mind that can bridge the gap between what we ‘see’ as the truth in a tangible sense and what we ‘envision’ in the distance as being unknown and fearful. Actual belief is about blind submission and being able to submerge yourself into the vigor of the ‘unknown’ with belief that what you want to happen is what is going to happen without having to actually see it. When we set aside our fears, we can begin to really discover ourselves and learn to ‘see’ our future without doubt to hold us back. We can move forward with our eyes always on that light at the end of the tunnel and our gaze can continue to be fixated without feeling the need to look over our shoulders and lose sight. When we ‘see’ in the distance our belief in our dreams and how our ideal life looks, we suddenly have grasped a control aspect to our lives that we hadn’t had prior to these ‘impossibilities’. Part of the reason so many people stop utilizing their imagination is because it diminishes their control over a situation. When you can’t physically see something with your own eyes, it is difficult to voucher for its existence in real time and it makes us feel as if we aren’t secure. The truth of the matter, Faithful Reader, is that without our visions to guide us forward, we will always be at a standstill. We will never know what that next step looks like or feels like because we will be lacking faith in its existence and we will actually have LESS control over our situations.
As I drove home that fateful day, I had let Life take control of the wheel even though I was the one behind it. Having known I was going to make the ‘impossible’ happen in a couple months by moving to Las Vegas by myself, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place with all the obstacles that life was throwing my way. As Life would have it, everything around me seemed to be ripping apart at the seams when it was supposed to be a time for me to embrace, enjoy and prepare myself for the changes that were to take place. As I was hit again HARD on this very day, my vision was completely fogged and the once transparent light up ahead was now shadowed by an opaque cloud of fear and doubt. Questions without answers swirled through my mind and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop shaking. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks… In that very moment in time, I realized how much I NEEDED to pull myself back together to make this work. My calling awaited me and the only thing stopping me from my destiny was ME. It wasn’t Life. It wasn’t these events. It wasn’t the ‘wall’ placed so strategically in front of my path. It was me. The deepest passion I had ever felt lied ahead of me a couple months away. What I desired more than anything else in the world was right at my fingertips… if I let it be. I just couldn’t give up as I was so close. If there’s one thing I have learned it’s that success can best be defined as learned failure, mistakes and setbacks. 99 out of 100 times, a person will ‘fail’, make a mistake, or have a setback in taking a risk. What most people can’t ‘imagine’, is that all it takes to reach your dreams is that ONE time. That one point when all the stars align and the pieces just fit together perfectly after ‘practicing’ for the other 99 times. If I can’t pull myself together, have confidence in myself and my life, and BELIEVE in my dreams, then how am I ever going to be effective at changing and having a positive impact on the lives of those around me as my entire career calls for? Doesn’t this revert back to the age-old saying of, “You can’t take care of someone else until you take care of yourself.”?
Right then, the fog began to dissipate and the light made itself just barely visible. Had I given into my disbelief, I may have never again found this light and I would have come to a standstill. The steps as I had previously envisioned would have ceased to exist and the platform my very feet touched would have crumbled with me on it. Faithful Reader, when you are in a profession dedicated to servicing others, you have to not only believe in your own endeavors, but you have to envision the final outcome of each client, patient and individual that walks through the doors to seek your advice, help, expertise and knowledge. Most of the people who we come in contact with aren’t going to believe in themselves to their full potential; They are going to rely on you to guide them in the right direction. They aren’t always going to know their full potential, because they have never reached it. The light at the end of the tunnel is going to be blurred and hard to follow for most individuals and they are going to need a second pair of eyes to help see them through. YOU are going to have to be their belief system, their second set of eyes and it is going to be your mission to help them ‘see’ and believe in the steps they can’t see for themselves. It is indeed a big responsibility, but it is absolutely not ‘impossible’ by any stretch of the word. If we can’t find it within ourselves to believe, how will we ever get those who seek our services to believe in us and to therefore believe in themselves? The answer is simple: We won’t. When you believe in something to the point where you can see the final outcome, it is much easier to invite others along for the ride. Let fear and doubt get in your way and not only will you be at a permanent standstill… but so will your clients. This journey and career path isn’t just about you, and this is something we always have to keep in the front of our minds and at an eyes distance away.
The times in life when belief is the hardest, it is of vital importance to look past the fog and know that regardless of how thick the wall is in front of you, the light is still shining. ‘See’ with your mind despite where life directs you as your eyes can only see as far as your mind can fathom… Sometimes it’s NOT seeing that’s believing.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
"All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying. "Here comes number seventy-one!" -Richard M. Devos
"Before success comes in any man's life he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do." -Napoleon Hill
"What we do not see, what most of us never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement." -Napoleon Hill
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” –Marcus Aurilius
“Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities - always see them, for they're always there.” –Norman Vincent Peale
Originally from Erie County, Pennsylvania and residing in a small town called Waterford, I was always a little girl with a big imagination and even bigger dreams. So big, in fact, that even I didn’t always take them seriously. Growing up modestly without many material items, imagination was the key to cure boredom and it was where I returned to on a daily basis. When friends would come over, we wouldn’t just simply play with toys and technology like most kids do nowadays, but we would be in the woods conveniently surrounding my house building castles with motes and living lavishly amongst the fantasy world we would create and believe in. We would ‘cook’ gourmet food, our careers were (obviously) no less than six figures, and most of the time even that wasn’t even an issue as anything we wanted we were able to create right before our very eyes. We would cruise around in our vehicles that never needed repaired (or gas!) and our houses were massive, always clean, and mortgage free. I grew up with the mentality that nothing was impossible because, for me, imagination had shown me that nothing WAS on the realm of ‘impossible’. I had lived each day vicariously in a different career doing whatever I desired at that moment in time, and the truth of it is that after a while, I really started to believe those things. My imagination took on a life of its own and I didn’t even understand the concept of ‘impossibilities’. As far as I knew, I didn’t have much, but at the same time, I was rich with everything I could possibly ever dream of (and dream I did!).
It seems strange to me that as the years pass and we are exposed to more and more people and more and more situations, our need for ‘safety’ increases and our emotions begin to get in the way of our belief system we have within ourselves. We become so easily influenced by those people and situations, that over time we actually believe these negative thoughts and we become worn down and pushed into fear of progressing into what is now known not as ‘imagination… but as ‘the unknown’.
Growing up myself, I didn’t have a lot, but I CREATED a lot. If I didn’t physically own something or if I wasn’t physically able to do something right at that moment (like… say… fly away), my mind would create the right conditions to make these endeavors completely viable and possible in my life. And each day I would find a way to make this happen. We all did. When we were lonely, we brought to life dolls, figurines, action figures, and tons of inanimate objects that probably made absolutely no sense to have ‘alive’. Although creating a friend out of thin air is not quite conducent to life as you get older, it doesn’t deter from the fact that most of us are guilty of lacking imagination and belief in what we may not be able to actually see before our eyes. Seeing tends to be where we find our belief, and we let our horizons end at an eye’s distance. This is explained perfectly in a quote made by Paul Chek: “The eyes only see what the mind knows.” I mean… read this over again a couple time and really digest what this is saying. Examine the truth exemplified in this simply complex statement. Now… Return to childhood when you actually could SEE the palace you created outside out of a few trees, some rocks, and the creek (aka: ‘mote’) in your backyard. Remember how transient time was and how we truly had no perception of ‘impossibility’. Anything was possible and everything WAS possible because we not only thought about what we wanted to do with our time and our lives, but we BELIEVED in it. We made all things possible not because we had to see them with our own eyes, but because our mind saw the final result. You see, the concept of belief can only be masked by our feelings of doubt, and oftentimes in life, what we doubt is what we fear. But think about this: If we do not possess doubt, then how can we truly say we possess faith? Belief is ascertained only by our ambitions to overlook doubt and fear and face the ‘impossible’ with an open and accepting mind that can bridge the gap between what we ‘see’ as the truth in a tangible sense and what we ‘envision’ in the distance as being unknown and fearful. Actual belief is about blind submission and being able to submerge yourself into the vigor of the ‘unknown’ with belief that what you want to happen is what is going to happen without having to actually see it. When we set aside our fears, we can begin to really discover ourselves and learn to ‘see’ our future without doubt to hold us back. We can move forward with our eyes always on that light at the end of the tunnel and our gaze can continue to be fixated without feeling the need to look over our shoulders and lose sight. When we ‘see’ in the distance our belief in our dreams and how our ideal life looks, we suddenly have grasped a control aspect to our lives that we hadn’t had prior to these ‘impossibilities’. Part of the reason so many people stop utilizing their imagination is because it diminishes their control over a situation. When you can’t physically see something with your own eyes, it is difficult to voucher for its existence in real time and it makes us feel as if we aren’t secure. The truth of the matter, Faithful Reader, is that without our visions to guide us forward, we will always be at a standstill. We will never know what that next step looks like or feels like because we will be lacking faith in its existence and we will actually have LESS control over our situations.
As I drove home that fateful day, I had let Life take control of the wheel even though I was the one behind it. Having known I was going to make the ‘impossible’ happen in a couple months by moving to Las Vegas by myself, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place with all the obstacles that life was throwing my way. As Life would have it, everything around me seemed to be ripping apart at the seams when it was supposed to be a time for me to embrace, enjoy and prepare myself for the changes that were to take place. As I was hit again HARD on this very day, my vision was completely fogged and the once transparent light up ahead was now shadowed by an opaque cloud of fear and doubt. Questions without answers swirled through my mind and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop shaking. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks… In that very moment in time, I realized how much I NEEDED to pull myself back together to make this work. My calling awaited me and the only thing stopping me from my destiny was ME. It wasn’t Life. It wasn’t these events. It wasn’t the ‘wall’ placed so strategically in front of my path. It was me. The deepest passion I had ever felt lied ahead of me a couple months away. What I desired more than anything else in the world was right at my fingertips… if I let it be. I just couldn’t give up as I was so close. If there’s one thing I have learned it’s that success can best be defined as learned failure, mistakes and setbacks. 99 out of 100 times, a person will ‘fail’, make a mistake, or have a setback in taking a risk. What most people can’t ‘imagine’, is that all it takes to reach your dreams is that ONE time. That one point when all the stars align and the pieces just fit together perfectly after ‘practicing’ for the other 99 times. If I can’t pull myself together, have confidence in myself and my life, and BELIEVE in my dreams, then how am I ever going to be effective at changing and having a positive impact on the lives of those around me as my entire career calls for? Doesn’t this revert back to the age-old saying of, “You can’t take care of someone else until you take care of yourself.”?
Right then, the fog began to dissipate and the light made itself just barely visible. Had I given into my disbelief, I may have never again found this light and I would have come to a standstill. The steps as I had previously envisioned would have ceased to exist and the platform my very feet touched would have crumbled with me on it. Faithful Reader, when you are in a profession dedicated to servicing others, you have to not only believe in your own endeavors, but you have to envision the final outcome of each client, patient and individual that walks through the doors to seek your advice, help, expertise and knowledge. Most of the people who we come in contact with aren’t going to believe in themselves to their full potential; They are going to rely on you to guide them in the right direction. They aren’t always going to know their full potential, because they have never reached it. The light at the end of the tunnel is going to be blurred and hard to follow for most individuals and they are going to need a second pair of eyes to help see them through. YOU are going to have to be their belief system, their second set of eyes and it is going to be your mission to help them ‘see’ and believe in the steps they can’t see for themselves. It is indeed a big responsibility, but it is absolutely not ‘impossible’ by any stretch of the word. If we can’t find it within ourselves to believe, how will we ever get those who seek our services to believe in us and to therefore believe in themselves? The answer is simple: We won’t. When you believe in something to the point where you can see the final outcome, it is much easier to invite others along for the ride. Let fear and doubt get in your way and not only will you be at a permanent standstill… but so will your clients. This journey and career path isn’t just about you, and this is something we always have to keep in the front of our minds and at an eyes distance away.
The times in life when belief is the hardest, it is of vital importance to look past the fog and know that regardless of how thick the wall is in front of you, the light is still shining. ‘See’ with your mind despite where life directs you as your eyes can only see as far as your mind can fathom… Sometimes it’s NOT seeing that’s believing.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
"All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying. "Here comes number seventy-one!" -Richard M. Devos
"Before success comes in any man's life he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do." -Napoleon Hill
"What we do not see, what most of us never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement." -Napoleon Hill
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” –Marcus Aurilius
“Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities - always see them, for they're always there.” –Norman Vincent Peale
Monday, October 19, 2009
Acting On a New 'Idea'
Reading my Mapquest directions, I drove out of The Ridges in gorgeous Summerlin after leaving work early prepared to locate yet another facility around town, down a road less travelled. Each and every day we are all struck with opportunities, crossroads, and forks in the road that divert our attention to doors that are either just cracked or fully open. It is up to us, and us alone, to not fear walking through these doors to see what may lie on the other side.
I find that the drive to each Connect To Fitness Event is a time in which reflection and reminiscence take over the moment. I typically don’t listen to music on my way (which is REALLY rare), and I just let my mind wander as I sit back with the Las Vegas air streaming through my hair, sunshine on my skin and really just take some time to recap how I got from Point A to Point B. It never ceases to amaze me what a little careful planning without searching can do.
Have you ever went to tell someone something important only to completely forget until later what the heck you were going to say when all is said and done? Or have you ever walked into a room with the intention to get or do something, and the intention itself escapes you until you leave the room and are on your way once again? Well… Life isn’t much different in this regard. Throughout life, I always felt an insatiable need for something I was constantly searching for. High and low, it seemed that the only doors I allowed myself to see were the ones I physically opened myself. There was always a missing link to the puzzle that seemed to escape me no matter how much time I spent looking for it. Whether it was relationships, which path to take for my future, or how to get from one point to the next, the answer just never seemed to be anywhere I looked!
As I drove out of the luxurious Ridges in Summerlin after an awesome day of work at Club Ridges, I hopped on the highway and ventured to my own unexpected reality of a dream come true with Connect To Fitness. I thought back to the day shortly after I had moved out here when Darian sat me down and talked to me about this ‘idea’ he had called Connect To Fitness and about the involvement he envisioned me having. At the time, I was star-struck to begin with as the ‘idea’ really wasn’t anything I had ever heard of prior to that conversation, and I just felt so faithful about the bottom line of the mission and with my position in the organization. I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed just HOW involved I would be in this awesome idea.
As I came to, I realized that I was almost to The Hara Center (http://useyourhara.com/), where our event was being held. Holding my hand-written directions (I admit to not having a printer…), I pulled up into the parking lot and noticed that most of the businesses in the same building were closed, yet the parking lot was reasonably full with vehicles. I got out and saw I had arrived at the same time as Troy Meier, my Fitness Director at Dragon Ridge Tennis and Athletic Center, and I greeted him as we walked toward the same destination. Just as we began walking in the wrong direction, out comes Darian from the doors of Hara’s to lead us in the right direction with his always enthusiastic and welcoming salutations. So, to the doors of Hara’s we went!
On my way to the door, I realized the irony as I got closer as the door was standing wide open awaiting a new and unexpected adventure. All I had to do was simply walk through it. As I entered inside, I was welcomed this time by Darian’s amazing wife, Michelle, who was handing out all the creative handouts the staff at Hara’s put together including a ‘favorite recipe’ card, a health quiz to complete and hand in for raffle tickets (and extra shots at our prize give-away!) as well as some information on Hara’s class schedules, pricing, and an entire itinerary for the event (not to mention the awesome bright orange ‘Hara’ pen that everyone received to fill out the paperwork!). As I thanked Michelle, I peeled my eyes away from the pen (it was a pretty cool pen!), and looked up. To my surprise (sort of) and astonishment (again… sort of), the room was already filled with people and there was already conversations and networking happening throughout the room. The packed parking lot was definitely due to this event! Not only that, but there was actually a line waiting to sign into the event. It was definitely something to smile about.
When you first walk into the Hara Center, you are immediately greeted to the left by the awesome front desk staff are just so kind, friendly and approachable. Over to the right, you can purchase any number of workout clothes and activewear to feed your frenzy, and for the event, any attendees received 25% off their entire purchase! Moving to the back of the room, you notice how awesome the ambiance is created to suit the studio through the use of color with tans, oranges, deep reds and a touch of yellow. As you cross through the rest of the room showcasing their activewear, you can be sure that your eyes will not be bored with your surroundings. Towards the back of the room, you could find the cooler set up by Charles Ware of PFI loaded with both bottled water and Vitamin Water, and on the far left was an entire table set up loaded with food. From ground turkey burgers, lettuce, tomato and whole wheat pitas, to healthy chips and pita chips with hummus dip, there was something for everyone (and it was all incredible!).
Moving into the room in the back, this same ambiance is carried to create a really zen-like atmosphere and you immediately notice the large mirrors and the bars attached to the ceiling to help assist the massage therapists with their Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy Massages. Ashiatsu is a really neat alternative to traditional massage therapy as the bars are held by the therapist’s hands throughout the duration of the massage, and the therapist actually use their feet as hands to provide a deeper, less painful and more beneficial massage overall. The bars are used for balance and gravitational assistance, which is pretty impressive! Their bodywork menu also includes foot massages, Swedish, Sports, Injury, Deep Tissue, Myofascial Release, and Prenatal as well as Ashi-Thai massages. You don’t want to miss out on their treatments, and if you need a great reference or testimonial from a trustworthy individual, look no further than Dr. Darian Parker, who went back to Hara’s with his wife the following day to receive a treatment.
The gift of Hara’s doesn’t stop giving either. You can take any number of their innovative group exercise fitness and/or dance classes, (listen to this, personal trainers…) you can rent out their studio with clients for only $25.00/hour, and you can purchase a membership to Hara’s where you will receive generous and discounted benefits and perks to make your experience even more grandiose each time you visit.
For the sake of the event, we were fortunate enough to have Arthur Hsu and Haley Hollander at the event presenting live demos of and with their TRX Suspension Training Systems, which they conveniently hung on the massage bars on the ceiling. If you aren’t familiar with the TRX System (once again: to all you health and fitness gurus!), it is definitely something to become familiar with as they are becoming more prevalent in the industry and it is a ‘trend’ that looks like it’s going to be around for a long time to come. Arthur demonstrated a full-body workout and had the attention of everyone in at the event. After the demo, he was able to work one-on-one with many of the guests who expressed specific interest in this innovative training style.
After the TRX demo, Darian and I announced the winners of the first prize giveaway (which is always one of our favorite parts of the events), and, as always, we had some amazing prizes donated from some of our fantastic sponsors. We had some amazing prizes ranging from a Travel Trainer from Scott Lenz at AFP, a couple Professional Fitness Institute backpacks stuffed to the max as usual from Charles Ware and the PFI staff, free personal training from Tracy at Studio 222, and many more.
As I wandered around after the prize giveaway, mingling with familiar and new faces, I once again let my mind just take in the moment and I felt so proud to be a part of this amazing journey. To think this all started as an ‘idea’! I thought about how much more fulfilling the lives of others would be if they were to just walk through these ‘doors’ that approach them everyday. Think to yourself once again about a time (and everyone has had at least one of these times) when you see someone else ‘commercializing’ on an idea that you ‘came up with’. Have you ever watched an infomercial, or read a magazine and saw that someone else ‘stole’ an idea you came up with years ago? Well, you can’t take credit for this endeavor as you weren’t the one who took the opportunity to make it a reality. For those of us who put those ideas in the backs of our minds, we can’t claim it as our own as we weren’t the ones who walked through that door that was wide open. Rather, we sat back until someone else walked through the door first. This is a common venture that happens to people everyday, and the more people I meet and the older I get, I realize how rare these people are who are willing to step through a door without someone else entering first. I am proud to say that Darian Parker is one of these rare exceptions and he is able to see his dreams and goals stretch so distant in the future that it’s actually difficult sometimes to fathom his ‘ideas’. He leads by a great example, and (as the numbers from the events show) more and more people are catching on and walking through those same doors themselves to take that risk of being a part of something monumental. With him, there is no such thing as an ‘idea’. It is all a reality that is going to happen, and it is an example that we should all follow in our own lives so life doesn’t pass us by and leave us with closed doors.
As I made my way around the room, gabbing and snapping photos, the next demonstration was scheduled to begin before I even realized it. Three women from MOKSHA and Bikram Yoga by Biram Yoga SW (located right in the same building!) came in to demonstrate a snip-it of what you could expect to get if you were to attend one of their Bikram yoga classes. If you aren’t familiar with Bikram, it’s yoga in extreme heat of between 98-102 degrees (at least with this particular studio. Temperatures do fluctuate depending upon where you take it), and it readily allows for better and more lax movement from the body being heated as well as a more detoxifying experience as the added sweat and perspiration during class removes and releases everyday toxins out of our pores and body more easily. If you are into yoga and haven’t yet experienced the benefits of Bikram, give it shot and see for yourself how great your body feels afterwards.
Once again, after this demonstration, Darian and I had our second prize giveaway which included another bag from PFI, towels and gym bags donated from our awesome TRX representatives, as well as some awesome prizes from Hara’s themselves including a large bag loaded with gifts, a free 60 minute massage, and an entire year membership to their facility. The prize giveaways are always so humbling and it is just the best feeling to give to others and to see the facial expressions of those whose ticket number is called. There is nothing better than giving to others, as it always comes around full circle.
As the event tapered down, we began our final announcements regarding our final events of the year in the month of November and let everyone know that November 7th, we are having an event at Kaizen Crossfit (http://www.kaizencrossfit.com/) at 4:30pm (RSVP asap as space is limited!), as well as our final event of the year which will take place at REI in Boca Park (http://www.rei.com/) the following Saturday the 14th of November from 4:00-7:00pm. Both events will be jam-packed with surprises and things you don’t want to miss, so please RSVP to both events asap to Darian Parker, Heather Doane or myself or email the CTF staff at Connecttofitness@gmail.com to reserve your spot!
As the event tapered down and guests began filing out, Darian, Heather and I were all smiles after another successful event came to an end. As we, also, filed out the doors after the final guests left, we exchanged our ‘goodbyes’ and all went our separate ways.
The ride home was as serene as the ride to the event as the event replayed in my mind the entire ride home. While listening and dancing to Miley Cyrus’s song “Party in the USA”, I smiled as I came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ idea. With that said and done… Wouldn’t your ideas be so much more appealing coupled with an action?
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.” -Jim Rohn
“If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” -Albert Einstein
“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“Everyone who's ever taken a shower has an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.” -Nolan Bushnell
I find that the drive to each Connect To Fitness Event is a time in which reflection and reminiscence take over the moment. I typically don’t listen to music on my way (which is REALLY rare), and I just let my mind wander as I sit back with the Las Vegas air streaming through my hair, sunshine on my skin and really just take some time to recap how I got from Point A to Point B. It never ceases to amaze me what a little careful planning without searching can do.
Have you ever went to tell someone something important only to completely forget until later what the heck you were going to say when all is said and done? Or have you ever walked into a room with the intention to get or do something, and the intention itself escapes you until you leave the room and are on your way once again? Well… Life isn’t much different in this regard. Throughout life, I always felt an insatiable need for something I was constantly searching for. High and low, it seemed that the only doors I allowed myself to see were the ones I physically opened myself. There was always a missing link to the puzzle that seemed to escape me no matter how much time I spent looking for it. Whether it was relationships, which path to take for my future, or how to get from one point to the next, the answer just never seemed to be anywhere I looked!
As I drove out of the luxurious Ridges in Summerlin after an awesome day of work at Club Ridges, I hopped on the highway and ventured to my own unexpected reality of a dream come true with Connect To Fitness. I thought back to the day shortly after I had moved out here when Darian sat me down and talked to me about this ‘idea’ he had called Connect To Fitness and about the involvement he envisioned me having. At the time, I was star-struck to begin with as the ‘idea’ really wasn’t anything I had ever heard of prior to that conversation, and I just felt so faithful about the bottom line of the mission and with my position in the organization. I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed just HOW involved I would be in this awesome idea.
As I came to, I realized that I was almost to The Hara Center (http://useyourhara.com/), where our event was being held. Holding my hand-written directions (I admit to not having a printer…), I pulled up into the parking lot and noticed that most of the businesses in the same building were closed, yet the parking lot was reasonably full with vehicles. I got out and saw I had arrived at the same time as Troy Meier, my Fitness Director at Dragon Ridge Tennis and Athletic Center, and I greeted him as we walked toward the same destination. Just as we began walking in the wrong direction, out comes Darian from the doors of Hara’s to lead us in the right direction with his always enthusiastic and welcoming salutations. So, to the doors of Hara’s we went!
On my way to the door, I realized the irony as I got closer as the door was standing wide open awaiting a new and unexpected adventure. All I had to do was simply walk through it. As I entered inside, I was welcomed this time by Darian’s amazing wife, Michelle, who was handing out all the creative handouts the staff at Hara’s put together including a ‘favorite recipe’ card, a health quiz to complete and hand in for raffle tickets (and extra shots at our prize give-away!) as well as some information on Hara’s class schedules, pricing, and an entire itinerary for the event (not to mention the awesome bright orange ‘Hara’ pen that everyone received to fill out the paperwork!). As I thanked Michelle, I peeled my eyes away from the pen (it was a pretty cool pen!), and looked up. To my surprise (sort of) and astonishment (again… sort of), the room was already filled with people and there was already conversations and networking happening throughout the room. The packed parking lot was definitely due to this event! Not only that, but there was actually a line waiting to sign into the event. It was definitely something to smile about.
When you first walk into the Hara Center, you are immediately greeted to the left by the awesome front desk staff are just so kind, friendly and approachable. Over to the right, you can purchase any number of workout clothes and activewear to feed your frenzy, and for the event, any attendees received 25% off their entire purchase! Moving to the back of the room, you notice how awesome the ambiance is created to suit the studio through the use of color with tans, oranges, deep reds and a touch of yellow. As you cross through the rest of the room showcasing their activewear, you can be sure that your eyes will not be bored with your surroundings. Towards the back of the room, you could find the cooler set up by Charles Ware of PFI loaded with both bottled water and Vitamin Water, and on the far left was an entire table set up loaded with food. From ground turkey burgers, lettuce, tomato and whole wheat pitas, to healthy chips and pita chips with hummus dip, there was something for everyone (and it was all incredible!).
Moving into the room in the back, this same ambiance is carried to create a really zen-like atmosphere and you immediately notice the large mirrors and the bars attached to the ceiling to help assist the massage therapists with their Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy Massages. Ashiatsu is a really neat alternative to traditional massage therapy as the bars are held by the therapist’s hands throughout the duration of the massage, and the therapist actually use their feet as hands to provide a deeper, less painful and more beneficial massage overall. The bars are used for balance and gravitational assistance, which is pretty impressive! Their bodywork menu also includes foot massages, Swedish, Sports, Injury, Deep Tissue, Myofascial Release, and Prenatal as well as Ashi-Thai massages. You don’t want to miss out on their treatments, and if you need a great reference or testimonial from a trustworthy individual, look no further than Dr. Darian Parker, who went back to Hara’s with his wife the following day to receive a treatment.
The gift of Hara’s doesn’t stop giving either. You can take any number of their innovative group exercise fitness and/or dance classes, (listen to this, personal trainers…) you can rent out their studio with clients for only $25.00/hour, and you can purchase a membership to Hara’s where you will receive generous and discounted benefits and perks to make your experience even more grandiose each time you visit.
For the sake of the event, we were fortunate enough to have Arthur Hsu and Haley Hollander at the event presenting live demos of and with their TRX Suspension Training Systems, which they conveniently hung on the massage bars on the ceiling. If you aren’t familiar with the TRX System (once again: to all you health and fitness gurus!), it is definitely something to become familiar with as they are becoming more prevalent in the industry and it is a ‘trend’ that looks like it’s going to be around for a long time to come. Arthur demonstrated a full-body workout and had the attention of everyone in at the event. After the demo, he was able to work one-on-one with many of the guests who expressed specific interest in this innovative training style.
After the TRX demo, Darian and I announced the winners of the first prize giveaway (which is always one of our favorite parts of the events), and, as always, we had some amazing prizes donated from some of our fantastic sponsors. We had some amazing prizes ranging from a Travel Trainer from Scott Lenz at AFP, a couple Professional Fitness Institute backpacks stuffed to the max as usual from Charles Ware and the PFI staff, free personal training from Tracy at Studio 222, and many more.
As I wandered around after the prize giveaway, mingling with familiar and new faces, I once again let my mind just take in the moment and I felt so proud to be a part of this amazing journey. To think this all started as an ‘idea’! I thought about how much more fulfilling the lives of others would be if they were to just walk through these ‘doors’ that approach them everyday. Think to yourself once again about a time (and everyone has had at least one of these times) when you see someone else ‘commercializing’ on an idea that you ‘came up with’. Have you ever watched an infomercial, or read a magazine and saw that someone else ‘stole’ an idea you came up with years ago? Well, you can’t take credit for this endeavor as you weren’t the one who took the opportunity to make it a reality. For those of us who put those ideas in the backs of our minds, we can’t claim it as our own as we weren’t the ones who walked through that door that was wide open. Rather, we sat back until someone else walked through the door first. This is a common venture that happens to people everyday, and the more people I meet and the older I get, I realize how rare these people are who are willing to step through a door without someone else entering first. I am proud to say that Darian Parker is one of these rare exceptions and he is able to see his dreams and goals stretch so distant in the future that it’s actually difficult sometimes to fathom his ‘ideas’. He leads by a great example, and (as the numbers from the events show) more and more people are catching on and walking through those same doors themselves to take that risk of being a part of something monumental. With him, there is no such thing as an ‘idea’. It is all a reality that is going to happen, and it is an example that we should all follow in our own lives so life doesn’t pass us by and leave us with closed doors.
As I made my way around the room, gabbing and snapping photos, the next demonstration was scheduled to begin before I even realized it. Three women from MOKSHA and Bikram Yoga by Biram Yoga SW (located right in the same building!) came in to demonstrate a snip-it of what you could expect to get if you were to attend one of their Bikram yoga classes. If you aren’t familiar with Bikram, it’s yoga in extreme heat of between 98-102 degrees (at least with this particular studio. Temperatures do fluctuate depending upon where you take it), and it readily allows for better and more lax movement from the body being heated as well as a more detoxifying experience as the added sweat and perspiration during class removes and releases everyday toxins out of our pores and body more easily. If you are into yoga and haven’t yet experienced the benefits of Bikram, give it shot and see for yourself how great your body feels afterwards.
Once again, after this demonstration, Darian and I had our second prize giveaway which included another bag from PFI, towels and gym bags donated from our awesome TRX representatives, as well as some awesome prizes from Hara’s themselves including a large bag loaded with gifts, a free 60 minute massage, and an entire year membership to their facility. The prize giveaways are always so humbling and it is just the best feeling to give to others and to see the facial expressions of those whose ticket number is called. There is nothing better than giving to others, as it always comes around full circle.
As the event tapered down, we began our final announcements regarding our final events of the year in the month of November and let everyone know that November 7th, we are having an event at Kaizen Crossfit (http://www.kaizencrossfit.com/) at 4:30pm (RSVP asap as space is limited!), as well as our final event of the year which will take place at REI in Boca Park (http://www.rei.com/) the following Saturday the 14th of November from 4:00-7:00pm. Both events will be jam-packed with surprises and things you don’t want to miss, so please RSVP to both events asap to Darian Parker, Heather Doane or myself or email the CTF staff at Connecttofitness@gmail.com to reserve your spot!
As the event tapered down and guests began filing out, Darian, Heather and I were all smiles after another successful event came to an end. As we, also, filed out the doors after the final guests left, we exchanged our ‘goodbyes’ and all went our separate ways.
The ride home was as serene as the ride to the event as the event replayed in my mind the entire ride home. While listening and dancing to Miley Cyrus’s song “Party in the USA”, I smiled as I came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ idea. With that said and done… Wouldn’t your ideas be so much more appealing coupled with an action?
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.” -Jim Rohn
“If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” -Albert Einstein
“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“Everyone who's ever taken a shower has an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.” -Nolan Bushnell
Monday, September 28, 2009
Regret Me Not
Stop for just a moment and look back on the past 24 hours of your life. Evaluate all your actions, your motives, your decisions, your accomplishments and what you may have put off until tomorrow. Ask yourself, “How am I going to feel tomorrow about today?”
Think about today as a day you can never return to and in tomorrow as a day too late. As decisions are made in a day’s time and throughout your life, take time to ask yourself how you will proceed to feel about your decision 5, 10, 20 or even 50 years down the road. We are all given the gift of living in the moment, and it is our choice and our choice alone, that will dictate what our future beholds and what will defy who we are and who we become.
Upon recently having a great conversation with someone I love deeply about life and about events (both fortunate and unfortunate) that have helped to create the mold to which we both exist, the thought occurred, “If a person is at one with who they are and can say with an honest heart that they are proud of who they have become, then can ‘regret’ in its truest form be said to exist?”… I stopped to look at my own life right in the midst of the conversation and couldn’t help but smile to myself in where my own journey took me. Being an ‘un’believer in the act of ‘regret’ to begin with, I began to consider all the tragedy and misfortunes (in or out of my control) that have happened in spite of myself and in spite of what I may have been striving for and began pondering the subject matter further…
By feeling regret for past or present actions or inactions, it places a mental boundary on where you are today and where you are striving to go tomorrow. You are never fully able to progress past that point in time, and you stay locked in what ‘could have been’ instead of what ‘is’ or ‘could be’ as a result of that particular situation. To feel as if you are pressed between two thick walls of regret that are holding you back from moving forward will cause you to do just that… stay idle.
Feelings, in general, are involuntary. What does this mean, you ask? Well, have you ever said to yourself or to someone else that someone or something is the cause of or to blame for your happiness, sadness, anger, disposition… etc? To put it in perspective; although these people, places or things may have had an impact on you and may influence your feelings, we are the only ones who are capable of extracting these feelings and bringing them to life both physically and mentally. It can be difficult to realize, but we voluntarily make a conscious decision to choose our emotions and to choose how we are going to react to any given situation. These situations can make endless attempts at penetrating through our surfaces and walls of protection, but only we can let them in and only we can allow their influences to impart on our mental and physical well-being.
It’s easier said than done, but it is important to realize this fact in every circumstance you encounter as you have every right to oppose the emotions of any external force that may wish to inflict regret over you. Those who are stuck in regret constantly use these emotions as an excuse to not accept what has happened or is happening and they create a wall (or ‘boundary’, if you will) that prevents them from being able to access the ability to grow from the situation. Think about it… What if we all made a conscious effort to choose our emotions and what we let get to us, instead of impulsively reacting to a scenario? By realizing that we are what we choose to be and by taking the time to listen for the ‘reason’ in each situation, we can then take what happened and assess the stipulation to work out in our favor. In all that we do, there is always a lesson to be learned and a way to grow physically and emotionally to benefit our present and future. Without the negative and bad aspects of life, we could never learn to recognize and appreciate the positive or good things. Without sadness or despair, we wouldn’t know just how wonderful a dusting of happiness could feel.
One of the things I have learned about regrets is, simply, not to have them. I view regret not only as a negative connotation, but also as a burden, or weight, that stays centered on our lives and won’t budge. As I was conversing with my loved one and taking all this in, I was once again reminded of why I regret nothing that has ever happened to me. Sure, I will be the first to admit that I have made some mistakes as big as my accomplishments, and that have I allowed other people more time than they deserved to treat me just as bad as I knew I should be treated good. I know I have caused hurt to others and I know I’m not perfect. But, that’s not the point. By stepping back and looking at exactly where my feet are planted in the sand at this very moment in time, I can look at all these events and know that I wouldn’t be standing in this very spot right now if even one of them hadn’t occurred. In the midst of all the hurt, pain and suffering I may have encountered on my life path, I can now say I have never been happier and that I know the worst is over as I have lived and learned and know I am now in complete control of my destiny. I also know that the people whom I have affected and the people who have affected me wouldn’t be where they were if not for the interactions we had together, whether bad or good. And you can even look at it a step further in that the people associated with THOSE people wouldn’t be where they are at either had such events never occurred. It is quite a humbling and mind-boggling concept to take in and grasp when you really allow yourself to get submerged in the theory.
Reminiscing upon certain events of my past, I remember, sitting back and just wondering, ‘Why? Why me?” I remember thinking that I would never get through the situation and that life definitely would never be the same. I can remember wishing so deeply and profoundly that I would give anything to go back and alter what had happened. The truth is, time will never stop ticking, and life will never stand still for anyone. Just as well, we can never return to a moment despite what the outcome is. Apart from what we choose to do, or what others choose to do, need not matter. Pick your feet up, lift your chin, and let each moment influence you to do better next time, to not make the same mistake again, to be proud and rejoice, to take it all in and savor it, to become a better person as a result, or to thank the person next to you for helping you discover something new about yourself. If you cannot return to change something from your past, there is no point in wasting precious time wishing for the impossible. Nothing from this moment on is impossible and why should we expend more time generating more possible regrets by regretting what we ‘should have done’. This is like an alcoholic who is so depressed about being an alcoholic (and all the issues that come along with it…) that he goes out to drink his sorrows away each night. Now, does this make any sense when you look at it from this perspective? Didn’t think so. So, WHY spend your time wallowing in what ‘could have been’, when you could be using that valuable time (you will later regret wasting) to do something productive that CAN be done?
Simply, life is too short as it is. Life isn’t forever and each moment is here, gone, and in the history books. The story of your life is exactly what you make of it each day. It is written based off your perceptions, your realities, your emotions and your burdens and regrets.
Live and learn and make the best of each day as one day your time will stop ticking all together. Make memories, not regrets and let your life aspire to greatness with each passing event. How will YOUR today look from tomorrow’s standpoint? Your future begins with You.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets." -Author Unknown, from Dreams
“Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.” -Henry David Thoreau
“Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.” –Johnathan Larson
“Regret for time wasted can become a power for good in the time that remains, if we will only stop the waste and the idle, useless regretting.” –Arthur Brisbane
Think about today as a day you can never return to and in tomorrow as a day too late. As decisions are made in a day’s time and throughout your life, take time to ask yourself how you will proceed to feel about your decision 5, 10, 20 or even 50 years down the road. We are all given the gift of living in the moment, and it is our choice and our choice alone, that will dictate what our future beholds and what will defy who we are and who we become.
Upon recently having a great conversation with someone I love deeply about life and about events (both fortunate and unfortunate) that have helped to create the mold to which we both exist, the thought occurred, “If a person is at one with who they are and can say with an honest heart that they are proud of who they have become, then can ‘regret’ in its truest form be said to exist?”… I stopped to look at my own life right in the midst of the conversation and couldn’t help but smile to myself in where my own journey took me. Being an ‘un’believer in the act of ‘regret’ to begin with, I began to consider all the tragedy and misfortunes (in or out of my control) that have happened in spite of myself and in spite of what I may have been striving for and began pondering the subject matter further…
By feeling regret for past or present actions or inactions, it places a mental boundary on where you are today and where you are striving to go tomorrow. You are never fully able to progress past that point in time, and you stay locked in what ‘could have been’ instead of what ‘is’ or ‘could be’ as a result of that particular situation. To feel as if you are pressed between two thick walls of regret that are holding you back from moving forward will cause you to do just that… stay idle.
Feelings, in general, are involuntary. What does this mean, you ask? Well, have you ever said to yourself or to someone else that someone or something is the cause of or to blame for your happiness, sadness, anger, disposition… etc? To put it in perspective; although these people, places or things may have had an impact on you and may influence your feelings, we are the only ones who are capable of extracting these feelings and bringing them to life both physically and mentally. It can be difficult to realize, but we voluntarily make a conscious decision to choose our emotions and to choose how we are going to react to any given situation. These situations can make endless attempts at penetrating through our surfaces and walls of protection, but only we can let them in and only we can allow their influences to impart on our mental and physical well-being.
It’s easier said than done, but it is important to realize this fact in every circumstance you encounter as you have every right to oppose the emotions of any external force that may wish to inflict regret over you. Those who are stuck in regret constantly use these emotions as an excuse to not accept what has happened or is happening and they create a wall (or ‘boundary’, if you will) that prevents them from being able to access the ability to grow from the situation. Think about it… What if we all made a conscious effort to choose our emotions and what we let get to us, instead of impulsively reacting to a scenario? By realizing that we are what we choose to be and by taking the time to listen for the ‘reason’ in each situation, we can then take what happened and assess the stipulation to work out in our favor. In all that we do, there is always a lesson to be learned and a way to grow physically and emotionally to benefit our present and future. Without the negative and bad aspects of life, we could never learn to recognize and appreciate the positive or good things. Without sadness or despair, we wouldn’t know just how wonderful a dusting of happiness could feel.
One of the things I have learned about regrets is, simply, not to have them. I view regret not only as a negative connotation, but also as a burden, or weight, that stays centered on our lives and won’t budge. As I was conversing with my loved one and taking all this in, I was once again reminded of why I regret nothing that has ever happened to me. Sure, I will be the first to admit that I have made some mistakes as big as my accomplishments, and that have I allowed other people more time than they deserved to treat me just as bad as I knew I should be treated good. I know I have caused hurt to others and I know I’m not perfect. But, that’s not the point. By stepping back and looking at exactly where my feet are planted in the sand at this very moment in time, I can look at all these events and know that I wouldn’t be standing in this very spot right now if even one of them hadn’t occurred. In the midst of all the hurt, pain and suffering I may have encountered on my life path, I can now say I have never been happier and that I know the worst is over as I have lived and learned and know I am now in complete control of my destiny. I also know that the people whom I have affected and the people who have affected me wouldn’t be where they were if not for the interactions we had together, whether bad or good. And you can even look at it a step further in that the people associated with THOSE people wouldn’t be where they are at either had such events never occurred. It is quite a humbling and mind-boggling concept to take in and grasp when you really allow yourself to get submerged in the theory.
Reminiscing upon certain events of my past, I remember, sitting back and just wondering, ‘Why? Why me?” I remember thinking that I would never get through the situation and that life definitely would never be the same. I can remember wishing so deeply and profoundly that I would give anything to go back and alter what had happened. The truth is, time will never stop ticking, and life will never stand still for anyone. Just as well, we can never return to a moment despite what the outcome is. Apart from what we choose to do, or what others choose to do, need not matter. Pick your feet up, lift your chin, and let each moment influence you to do better next time, to not make the same mistake again, to be proud and rejoice, to take it all in and savor it, to become a better person as a result, or to thank the person next to you for helping you discover something new about yourself. If you cannot return to change something from your past, there is no point in wasting precious time wishing for the impossible. Nothing from this moment on is impossible and why should we expend more time generating more possible regrets by regretting what we ‘should have done’. This is like an alcoholic who is so depressed about being an alcoholic (and all the issues that come along with it…) that he goes out to drink his sorrows away each night. Now, does this make any sense when you look at it from this perspective? Didn’t think so. So, WHY spend your time wallowing in what ‘could have been’, when you could be using that valuable time (you will later regret wasting) to do something productive that CAN be done?
Simply, life is too short as it is. Life isn’t forever and each moment is here, gone, and in the history books. The story of your life is exactly what you make of it each day. It is written based off your perceptions, your realities, your emotions and your burdens and regrets.
Live and learn and make the best of each day as one day your time will stop ticking all together. Make memories, not regrets and let your life aspire to greatness with each passing event. How will YOUR today look from tomorrow’s standpoint? Your future begins with You.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets." -Author Unknown, from Dreams
“Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.” -Henry David Thoreau
“Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.” –Johnathan Larson
“Regret for time wasted can become a power for good in the time that remains, if we will only stop the waste and the idle, useless regretting.” –Arthur Brisbane
Monday, August 24, 2009
Dear John Cloud of Time Magazine...
Dear John Cloud,
Upon just recently reading your article in Time Magazine entitled, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html), I wanted to give you a sincere reply as this is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. Whether or not your article was made deliberately to cause a stir of controversy, I don’t know and I don’t care. I just can’t find it within myself to stay quiet any longer.
Being in the fitness industry prior to going to school, having went to school to become a personal trainer, having worked with and having been mentored by some of the most recognized, decorated, successful, and educated professionals in the world, having trained clients of my own, and being loyal to training myself, I can tell you first hand that if there is anything I have learned about the state of today’s people, it’s that, collectively,they need to move a LOT more and eat a LOT less.
Having introduced myself, I would therefore like to ask you what your contribution to the fitness industry has been as far as education, hands-on experience, professionalism, as well as your own training? I ask this for a number of reasons, the first being to get to know you a little better and second being I don’t believe you have had any formal training nor do I believe that you understand the science underlying the art of weight loss and of the body itself. How do I know this? Well, for one; you inquired in your article about whether, “…exercise turn fat to muscle, and doesn't muscle process excess calories more efficiently than fat does?”. If you would have done just a little bit more research, you would have found, Mr. Cloud, that it is impossible for muscle to turn to fat, or vice versa, as fat and muscle are two entirely different types of tissue. Everyone has both fat cells and muscle cells, and it isn’t a matter of transforming one into the other, but it is a matter of shrinking and growing these different tissue types to transform your body composition. This is something that can be accomplished by both moving your body and by feeding your body not only the right amount of food, but the right types of food. I was embarrassed reading your article for your own sake and am just sick that you would impede on an industry you have no business being involved in.
What many people fail to realize is that being ‘healthy’ isn’t just a term used synonymously with a quick-fix without effort, rather it is a combined effort of being healthy from the inside-out; from your brain and how you feel mentally, to your mouth and digestive system and what you are putting in it each day, to your body and how your training program is designed to help benefit your specific and individual needs physically. Being ‘healthy’ is not in style just for bikini or wedding season. Rather, it is a life-long commitment just like a marriage or any other lasting relationship between two people. It is something you need to be dedicated to and something that can’t be accomplished without all the correct elements in place. As a country, fitness and wellness has become completely commercialized and so many of us are deceived into thinking that if we all eat a certain (and similar) way and if we all move in a certain (or similar) way then we will see fast (and similar) progress in ‘6 minutes or less!’. Folks... this isn’t reality and the truth is that each of our bodies are as individual as our fingerprints in what we need to attain our own optimal health. Our features inside are as unique as the features we possess on the outside, and although you touched on this briefly, Mr. Cloud, I don’t believe you and I are delivering the same message to the public on the specifics of this topic.
Just as each human body is as one-of-a-kind as our own fingerprints, so are our specific needs for our specific fitness, wellness and health goals. You mention how vigorous exercise may not be for everyone, and certainly this is a valid and respectable point to mention as you are correct in your statement. Depending on your specific goals, vigorous exercise may NOT be the best possible answer for your body and for attaining these goals, especially if you have any contraindications permitting you from performing high intensity training or if you just simply don't need it for your personal needs. To optimize weight loss in a healthy and efficient manner, you have to incorporate not JUST clean eating or JUST exercise or JUST having a clean mental plate, but all three of these aspects meshed together to create a combined effort of life-long commitment. What controls the body controls the mind, and what controls the mind controls the body. Exercise is not a cure for negative eating habits and patterns. You can train all you want, but if you aren’t receiving the proper nutrients needed for your body to function correctly, you are still going to either plateau, maintain, or (most often) gain weight. With all the junk and processed food we have at our disposal these days, it’s no wonder people aren’t losing weight! The simple science of weight loss first involves a caloric deficit combined with movement. The calories you are expending each day, or your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), have, have, HAVE to be more than what you are taking in through food, or reaching your fitness goals of weight loss will be next to impossible.
In your article, you mentioned how obese people actually burn more calories per day than an average person who isn’t overweight might burn. Reverting back to TDEE… A person’s total daily energy expenditure is the sum of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the calories you expend processing and digesting the food you consume, and the calories burned through activity level. The first two variables aren’t subject to too much manipulation as they are, on average, pretty standard in people of similar weight and size. Energy expenditure through physical activity (or lack of, in many cases) is extremely variable and the generally the easiest controlled of the three components that make up TDEE. Scientifically speaking, heavier people burn more calories than lighter people when doing the same work as it takes more energy to fuel and move a heavier body, no matter WHAT the activity may be. This doesn’t cultivate that overweight and obese people are ‘exercising’ any more than average or lighter people, this is just a variable that is proportionate to body weight and size. So, you were essentially correct in your 'findings', Mr. Cloud, but your presentation on the matter was vague and you used this to take advantage of your audience in misguiding them by not explaining the science behind your observation and claim.
‘Exercise’ in itself is a term in which people, like yourself, cringe upon hearing. The word itself is partly deceiving because it has been used synonymously with training in a gym or something similar, and not everyone enjoys training in that environment. It creates a narrow pathway and a sour taste in the mouth of most people and they aren’t able to open their eyes a broader standpoint that all this word essentially is referring to is ‘movement’. As a population, we in no way, shape, or form move as much as we once did. Humans report (as you mentioned) that they are moving ‘more than ever’ and that they are meeting the recommended daily guidelines established by such organizations as ACSM, NSCA and many other accredited organizations. The fact of the matter, plain and simple, is that as life and technology fuse together, we are not moving like our ancestors did, and people tend to over-report their activity levels to begin with. You claim you would be better off not going to the gym and taking up leisure activities and incorporating short bursts of activity into your day whether it be taking the stairs, walking more, etc. Have you actually TRIED doing this or incorporating this into your life? Unless we miraculously have technology stripped from our everyday lives (right down to our vehicles), we will never again, as a human race, acquire the same energy output that our ancestors did way back when no matter HOW many stairs we climb or parking lots we walk. We are a population that is now accustomed to sitting whenever possible and getting up only to sit down once again. I mean, think about it… We (humans) are the only animals on the planet that have managed to change our environment. We have established a convenient world where food can be replenished and where we can rely on technology to do most of our dirty work for us. Sure, we can (and should!) incorporate other daily activities into our lives besides our daily workout at the gym. We should definitely take stairs and walk from here to there. But my point is that we just need to collectively get up and just move no matter where you are going or what you are doing! Every little bit of activity counts and the more calories we burn… the better.
Just as well, I mentioned above that exercise does NOT undue poor eating and nutrition habits. In your case, you claim that it’s because of exercise that you aren’t losing your gut. Have you thought about what your gut might look like if you were to stop exercising?... It appears you are in a maintenance stage as you aren’t gaining or losing any weight, but that you aren’t fusing together the proper elements of an all-around lifestyle change, including the mental, physical and emotional aspects. Clean eating is a tremendous part of weight loss, just as well as eating the right portion sizes, nutrients and nutrient timing, number of meals, and so on. Have you gone or considered seeing a registered dietitian or nutritionist? Part of the problem we are facing today is that we are stuffing our faces with processed garbage, artificial flavors, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, white everything (table salt, sugar, flour, etc…), artificial sugars and sugar substitutes, non-organic food and food products plagued with hormones, pesticides and other harmful chemicals, and the list goes on!!! What we fail to realize is that these substances weren’t made to be consumed by the human body and when we are constantly feeding ourselves these substances; our bodies aren't accustomed to digesting these substances and guess what? It stores them. That’s right. Many of them DON’T digest. Try that one on for size. In a world of processed everything and anything, we are basically the guinea pigs of these food companies luring us and feeding us this garbage. If you were to eat clean and keep up your weekly training regiment, I have no doubts that you would see more progress than you are now. Maybe start by asking yourself if you are eating good, quality food and if you are getting the proper nutrients, fiber and servings needed for weight loss to supplement your training. Are you drinking enough water and how many meals are you consuming? It also wouldn’t hurt to seek out advice from a professional who could analyze your dietary intake and give you some helpful suggestions on how to eat right.
Just as well, in your ‘findings’ you say that exercise induces appetite, when in fact just the opposite has been proven to be true (found in studies done by Les Mills, University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, NSCA, etc…). Exercise actually suppresses appetite hormones during and after training and can actually help lead to weight loss if managed properly. When managing your diet for weight loss, it is of dire importance that you are eating the right foods for your body and at the right times. If you aren’t, then you aren’t going to lose weight the way you want and you aren’t going to see results even though you are training.
All in all, this article was extremely disappointing as the whole reason why our country and this world are in such a bad state is because of these same reasons you are advocating. As a country, we need to move more, eat better and be more cognizant of our mental state and how we are managing our stress and stress levels. We are no longer living like our ancestors and we have to (sadly) look and search for ways to incorporate activity into our lives and we also have to search high and low for good, quality food that we can feel safe about putting into our systems. Weight loss isn’t an easy task and there are many, many other elements involved in the process. As you can see, life without the caloric expenditure of the past and without clean eating has led us to become the most unhealthy country in the world. And decidedly so. If you look at less established, less industrialized and less commercialized countries where the people rely on the land and hard work through constant labor, they are far better off then we are. They are treating their bodies exactly as nature intended for them to. In America and in other advanced countries, we have the 'luxury' of sitting back and letting technology take the ropes for us in completing our daily tasks. We don’t use our minds or bodies as we used to, yet we eat more food then ever before. The body is very adaptable, but not very fast and efficient at evolving. It takes the human race over 100,000 years to evolve and we are forcing ourselves to go against the grain of Mother Nature by evolving in a way that we aren’t able to quite get a grasp on and handle efficiently.
We are more than capable of making changes, even if we start off small, and you, Mr. Cloud, are no different. Invest some time into learning more about the subject you are committing to sabotage and realize that you are taking the easy way out by looking for a quick fix. You have made yourself the poster-child for what's wrong with our country and the way we think (and what we THINK we know) about health. Dedicate your life to incorporating all aspects of health and fitness into each day with the help of qualified professionals, and you will begin to see the results you are lacking. Many people other than yourself simply aren’t educated on these subjects and therefore have troubles making decisions of their own as they have no prior knowledge to give them a solid base for their assumptions. Stand for something, Mr. Cloud, but stand for something that will help to benefit the world, not something that will give just another excuse to keep ‘sitting’ around waiting for something to happen. That solution will never and has never paid off and it’s not going to start now.
To help prevent a lot of these misconceptions Mr. Cloud so diligently reported on, Connect To Fitness is in the works of establishing a magazine made for and made by professionals and aspiring professionals who can deliver the knowledge they have attained through education, experience, hard work, and through their own misconceptions that have helped them to thrive in this industry. It is being created with the intentions to showcase and feature the best of the best in the Las Vegas Valley and will keep you up to date with a variety of subjects ranging from business to inspiration, to mental exercise to nutrition, to fitness and exercise. It will also spotlight different professionals and different facilities in the area that deserve recognition and will also include job postings and classifieds. We are currently looking to bring together a solid team and I am pleased to say that I couldn’t be happier with the select people who are already on board. You are definitely in for a treat and we want to reach out to you, Faithful Reader, in getting the word out about the opportunity to work with CTF in creating this valuable resource that will provide a wealth of knowledge to you and the public. Ideally, each professional will have a designated topic that they will be designated to report on for each issue, and they will be responsible for creating their articles and columns. CTF is going to work hard to bring you the best of the best with the promise to deliver legitimate, accurate and beneficial information from those who specialize in it. The featured professionals can benefit as well by getting their names out and by sharing their knowledge and experiences with those who desire to learn from those who know best. There is a need for quality information as millions of people read things like Time Magazine and receive deceitful information from people like Mr. Cloud. This needs to be prevented and the truth needs to be exposed.
Join us, Faithful Reader, as we take the next step in our journey to become a better organization for you and for the industry. Let’s help each other to build a solid foundation that can’t be touched and that we can rightfully call, Connect To Fitness. And Mr. Cloud, would you please take (another) seat, and quit your whining?
(If interested in contributing, please contact me directly on Blogspot, Facebook, Myspace, or by email: Epfitness@gmail.com or ConnectToFitness.gmail.com)
Until next week, Faithful Reader…
“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.” –Buddah
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.” –Spanish proverb
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” -Mark Twain
Upon just recently reading your article in Time Magazine entitled, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html), I wanted to give you a sincere reply as this is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. Whether or not your article was made deliberately to cause a stir of controversy, I don’t know and I don’t care. I just can’t find it within myself to stay quiet any longer.
Being in the fitness industry prior to going to school, having went to school to become a personal trainer, having worked with and having been mentored by some of the most recognized, decorated, successful, and educated professionals in the world, having trained clients of my own, and being loyal to training myself, I can tell you first hand that if there is anything I have learned about the state of today’s people, it’s that, collectively,they need to move a LOT more and eat a LOT less.
Having introduced myself, I would therefore like to ask you what your contribution to the fitness industry has been as far as education, hands-on experience, professionalism, as well as your own training? I ask this for a number of reasons, the first being to get to know you a little better and second being I don’t believe you have had any formal training nor do I believe that you understand the science underlying the art of weight loss and of the body itself. How do I know this? Well, for one; you inquired in your article about whether, “…exercise turn fat to muscle, and doesn't muscle process excess calories more efficiently than fat does?”. If you would have done just a little bit more research, you would have found, Mr. Cloud, that it is impossible for muscle to turn to fat, or vice versa, as fat and muscle are two entirely different types of tissue. Everyone has both fat cells and muscle cells, and it isn’t a matter of transforming one into the other, but it is a matter of shrinking and growing these different tissue types to transform your body composition. This is something that can be accomplished by both moving your body and by feeding your body not only the right amount of food, but the right types of food. I was embarrassed reading your article for your own sake and am just sick that you would impede on an industry you have no business being involved in.
What many people fail to realize is that being ‘healthy’ isn’t just a term used synonymously with a quick-fix without effort, rather it is a combined effort of being healthy from the inside-out; from your brain and how you feel mentally, to your mouth and digestive system and what you are putting in it each day, to your body and how your training program is designed to help benefit your specific and individual needs physically. Being ‘healthy’ is not in style just for bikini or wedding season. Rather, it is a life-long commitment just like a marriage or any other lasting relationship between two people. It is something you need to be dedicated to and something that can’t be accomplished without all the correct elements in place. As a country, fitness and wellness has become completely commercialized and so many of us are deceived into thinking that if we all eat a certain (and similar) way and if we all move in a certain (or similar) way then we will see fast (and similar) progress in ‘6 minutes or less!’. Folks... this isn’t reality and the truth is that each of our bodies are as individual as our fingerprints in what we need to attain our own optimal health. Our features inside are as unique as the features we possess on the outside, and although you touched on this briefly, Mr. Cloud, I don’t believe you and I are delivering the same message to the public on the specifics of this topic.
Just as each human body is as one-of-a-kind as our own fingerprints, so are our specific needs for our specific fitness, wellness and health goals. You mention how vigorous exercise may not be for everyone, and certainly this is a valid and respectable point to mention as you are correct in your statement. Depending on your specific goals, vigorous exercise may NOT be the best possible answer for your body and for attaining these goals, especially if you have any contraindications permitting you from performing high intensity training or if you just simply don't need it for your personal needs. To optimize weight loss in a healthy and efficient manner, you have to incorporate not JUST clean eating or JUST exercise or JUST having a clean mental plate, but all three of these aspects meshed together to create a combined effort of life-long commitment. What controls the body controls the mind, and what controls the mind controls the body. Exercise is not a cure for negative eating habits and patterns. You can train all you want, but if you aren’t receiving the proper nutrients needed for your body to function correctly, you are still going to either plateau, maintain, or (most often) gain weight. With all the junk and processed food we have at our disposal these days, it’s no wonder people aren’t losing weight! The simple science of weight loss first involves a caloric deficit combined with movement. The calories you are expending each day, or your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), have, have, HAVE to be more than what you are taking in through food, or reaching your fitness goals of weight loss will be next to impossible.
In your article, you mentioned how obese people actually burn more calories per day than an average person who isn’t overweight might burn. Reverting back to TDEE… A person’s total daily energy expenditure is the sum of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the calories you expend processing and digesting the food you consume, and the calories burned through activity level. The first two variables aren’t subject to too much manipulation as they are, on average, pretty standard in people of similar weight and size. Energy expenditure through physical activity (or lack of, in many cases) is extremely variable and the generally the easiest controlled of the three components that make up TDEE. Scientifically speaking, heavier people burn more calories than lighter people when doing the same work as it takes more energy to fuel and move a heavier body, no matter WHAT the activity may be. This doesn’t cultivate that overweight and obese people are ‘exercising’ any more than average or lighter people, this is just a variable that is proportionate to body weight and size. So, you were essentially correct in your 'findings', Mr. Cloud, but your presentation on the matter was vague and you used this to take advantage of your audience in misguiding them by not explaining the science behind your observation and claim.
‘Exercise’ in itself is a term in which people, like yourself, cringe upon hearing. The word itself is partly deceiving because it has been used synonymously with training in a gym or something similar, and not everyone enjoys training in that environment. It creates a narrow pathway and a sour taste in the mouth of most people and they aren’t able to open their eyes a broader standpoint that all this word essentially is referring to is ‘movement’. As a population, we in no way, shape, or form move as much as we once did. Humans report (as you mentioned) that they are moving ‘more than ever’ and that they are meeting the recommended daily guidelines established by such organizations as ACSM, NSCA and many other accredited organizations. The fact of the matter, plain and simple, is that as life and technology fuse together, we are not moving like our ancestors did, and people tend to over-report their activity levels to begin with. You claim you would be better off not going to the gym and taking up leisure activities and incorporating short bursts of activity into your day whether it be taking the stairs, walking more, etc. Have you actually TRIED doing this or incorporating this into your life? Unless we miraculously have technology stripped from our everyday lives (right down to our vehicles), we will never again, as a human race, acquire the same energy output that our ancestors did way back when no matter HOW many stairs we climb or parking lots we walk. We are a population that is now accustomed to sitting whenever possible and getting up only to sit down once again. I mean, think about it… We (humans) are the only animals on the planet that have managed to change our environment. We have established a convenient world where food can be replenished and where we can rely on technology to do most of our dirty work for us. Sure, we can (and should!) incorporate other daily activities into our lives besides our daily workout at the gym. We should definitely take stairs and walk from here to there. But my point is that we just need to collectively get up and just move no matter where you are going or what you are doing! Every little bit of activity counts and the more calories we burn… the better.
Just as well, I mentioned above that exercise does NOT undue poor eating and nutrition habits. In your case, you claim that it’s because of exercise that you aren’t losing your gut. Have you thought about what your gut might look like if you were to stop exercising?... It appears you are in a maintenance stage as you aren’t gaining or losing any weight, but that you aren’t fusing together the proper elements of an all-around lifestyle change, including the mental, physical and emotional aspects. Clean eating is a tremendous part of weight loss, just as well as eating the right portion sizes, nutrients and nutrient timing, number of meals, and so on. Have you gone or considered seeing a registered dietitian or nutritionist? Part of the problem we are facing today is that we are stuffing our faces with processed garbage, artificial flavors, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, white everything (table salt, sugar, flour, etc…), artificial sugars and sugar substitutes, non-organic food and food products plagued with hormones, pesticides and other harmful chemicals, and the list goes on!!! What we fail to realize is that these substances weren’t made to be consumed by the human body and when we are constantly feeding ourselves these substances; our bodies aren't accustomed to digesting these substances and guess what? It stores them. That’s right. Many of them DON’T digest. Try that one on for size. In a world of processed everything and anything, we are basically the guinea pigs of these food companies luring us and feeding us this garbage. If you were to eat clean and keep up your weekly training regiment, I have no doubts that you would see more progress than you are now. Maybe start by asking yourself if you are eating good, quality food and if you are getting the proper nutrients, fiber and servings needed for weight loss to supplement your training. Are you drinking enough water and how many meals are you consuming? It also wouldn’t hurt to seek out advice from a professional who could analyze your dietary intake and give you some helpful suggestions on how to eat right.
Just as well, in your ‘findings’ you say that exercise induces appetite, when in fact just the opposite has been proven to be true (found in studies done by Les Mills, University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, NSCA, etc…). Exercise actually suppresses appetite hormones during and after training and can actually help lead to weight loss if managed properly. When managing your diet for weight loss, it is of dire importance that you are eating the right foods for your body and at the right times. If you aren’t, then you aren’t going to lose weight the way you want and you aren’t going to see results even though you are training.
All in all, this article was extremely disappointing as the whole reason why our country and this world are in such a bad state is because of these same reasons you are advocating. As a country, we need to move more, eat better and be more cognizant of our mental state and how we are managing our stress and stress levels. We are no longer living like our ancestors and we have to (sadly) look and search for ways to incorporate activity into our lives and we also have to search high and low for good, quality food that we can feel safe about putting into our systems. Weight loss isn’t an easy task and there are many, many other elements involved in the process. As you can see, life without the caloric expenditure of the past and without clean eating has led us to become the most unhealthy country in the world. And decidedly so. If you look at less established, less industrialized and less commercialized countries where the people rely on the land and hard work through constant labor, they are far better off then we are. They are treating their bodies exactly as nature intended for them to. In America and in other advanced countries, we have the 'luxury' of sitting back and letting technology take the ropes for us in completing our daily tasks. We don’t use our minds or bodies as we used to, yet we eat more food then ever before. The body is very adaptable, but not very fast and efficient at evolving. It takes the human race over 100,000 years to evolve and we are forcing ourselves to go against the grain of Mother Nature by evolving in a way that we aren’t able to quite get a grasp on and handle efficiently.
We are more than capable of making changes, even if we start off small, and you, Mr. Cloud, are no different. Invest some time into learning more about the subject you are committing to sabotage and realize that you are taking the easy way out by looking for a quick fix. You have made yourself the poster-child for what's wrong with our country and the way we think (and what we THINK we know) about health. Dedicate your life to incorporating all aspects of health and fitness into each day with the help of qualified professionals, and you will begin to see the results you are lacking. Many people other than yourself simply aren’t educated on these subjects and therefore have troubles making decisions of their own as they have no prior knowledge to give them a solid base for their assumptions. Stand for something, Mr. Cloud, but stand for something that will help to benefit the world, not something that will give just another excuse to keep ‘sitting’ around waiting for something to happen. That solution will never and has never paid off and it’s not going to start now.
To help prevent a lot of these misconceptions Mr. Cloud so diligently reported on, Connect To Fitness is in the works of establishing a magazine made for and made by professionals and aspiring professionals who can deliver the knowledge they have attained through education, experience, hard work, and through their own misconceptions that have helped them to thrive in this industry. It is being created with the intentions to showcase and feature the best of the best in the Las Vegas Valley and will keep you up to date with a variety of subjects ranging from business to inspiration, to mental exercise to nutrition, to fitness and exercise. It will also spotlight different professionals and different facilities in the area that deserve recognition and will also include job postings and classifieds. We are currently looking to bring together a solid team and I am pleased to say that I couldn’t be happier with the select people who are already on board. You are definitely in for a treat and we want to reach out to you, Faithful Reader, in getting the word out about the opportunity to work with CTF in creating this valuable resource that will provide a wealth of knowledge to you and the public. Ideally, each professional will have a designated topic that they will be designated to report on for each issue, and they will be responsible for creating their articles and columns. CTF is going to work hard to bring you the best of the best with the promise to deliver legitimate, accurate and beneficial information from those who specialize in it. The featured professionals can benefit as well by getting their names out and by sharing their knowledge and experiences with those who desire to learn from those who know best. There is a need for quality information as millions of people read things like Time Magazine and receive deceitful information from people like Mr. Cloud. This needs to be prevented and the truth needs to be exposed.
Join us, Faithful Reader, as we take the next step in our journey to become a better organization for you and for the industry. Let’s help each other to build a solid foundation that can’t be touched and that we can rightfully call, Connect To Fitness. And Mr. Cloud, would you please take (another) seat, and quit your whining?
(If interested in contributing, please contact me directly on Blogspot, Facebook, Myspace, or by email: Epfitness@gmail.com or ConnectToFitness.gmail.com)
Until next week, Faithful Reader…
“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.” –Buddah
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.” –Spanish proverb
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” -Mark Twain
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