You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

Irena at home in Poland at age 91, in 2001.
Irena Sendler

For our Independence Day, I was looking for a good message and theme to send out for expressing how I feel about America and the freedoms upon which the country was founded. This story was sent to me by my mother:

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto,as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist.

She had an ‘ ulterior motive ‘ … She KNEW what the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids.) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.

She was caught and the Nazi ‘ s broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most of course had been gassed.

Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize … She was not selected. * Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming… (Oh, by the way, it’s climate change now. Not global warming.)

Please share this story of a truly courageous, freedom-loving soul with your friends, family, and children. May she rest in Peace.

Check out her website at:

http://www.irenasendler.org/

This is the spirit of American Freedom. This is why Jews, Muslims, Christians and peoples of all nations flock to the United States. Let’s hope and pray our tradtitions continue today and in the future.

Edit Your Life. Don’t accept a rough draft for publication. You are the Editor-in-Chief for your life. Life is freely given to all of us, but you can edit, modify or delete entire “scripts” out of your life.

Here is a lifestyle tip that has helped me to be a lot happier, and healthier. It the era of 15 second sound bites and the overwhelming abundance of information available to us through television, radio, the Internet, the skill of editing, deleting and filtering out what is not wanted or desired is extremely important. Dare I say, vital?

To know what you should edit, delete and filter out of your life, you will need to know what it is you really want. If you aren’t sure of the results you are looking for then how will you ever know if you are getting them?

Write the Laundry List. Having a written list of what it is you really want is absolutely necessary for success but do you know how many people have written goals? 2%. Only two people out of every hundred will take the time to think about life and write. Then we wonder why 2% of the population control 60%  of the wealth in the country! That’s a clue.

Of course, it’s not just about the money. Most lottery winners compound their problems by having access to large amounts of cash. Moral discipline lacking, most, not all,  lottery winners tend toward excess, poor decisions, momentary pleasures and lack an expressed purpose in life.

This formula works: Thoughts lead to feelings; Feelings lead to actions; Actions lead to results. If you don’t like your results, you have complete editorial control to change your thoughts!
The Passion Test

There is a book by this name that you can order and read but the test is quite simple. Start with a notepad (or computer) and write the sentence, “In my ideal life, I________________

Then fill in the blank with a ‘to be’, ‘to do’, or ‘to have’ verb that pinpoints who you are and your desires in life. Do at least 10 or 15 of these sentences and you can keep doing them if you like the exercise. Mark Victor Hansen teaches you should have a list of 101 things you want to do before you expire.

It’s important to do at least 15 if you can because we are going to edit and mark the list with your top five. Here are my top five in this present moment but I do have the freedom to edit the list and change it at anytime.

1. In my ideal life, I give value to every person I meet. (This sets a context for every interaction I have with any human being and gives me the edge I want.)
2. In my ideal life, I weigh 165 and enjoy excellent health. (This safeguards me from pigging out and eating the wrong kinds of foods and fats.)
3. In my ideal life, I provide a great environment for my family. (This keeps me focused on my family goals.)
4. In my ideal life, I have excellent friends and business partners. (This reminds me to spend time with quality people)
5. In my ideal life, I earn twice as much as I spend. (This keeps me creative, actively engaged in doing more and doing better.)

Of course the side effect of wanting to save money in this manner is that I learned a lot about my health habits and then there are more benefits to boot. It is true that all diets work and all diets fail. Guess who makes the difference? Point your thumb into your chest and say, “ME.”

It’s how big a reason and what is your “Why?” Why do you want this and how badly do you want this? Michael Jordan attended Laney High school in Wilmington, North Carolina, but as a 5-11 skinny sophomore, he was cut from the varsity basketball team. The summer before his junior year, he grew to 6-3 and began his path to super-stardom. Instead of giving up after failing to make the team, Jordan used it to spur himself to greater achievements, practicing hour after hour on the court.

“Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” Jordan said, “and that usually got me going again.” It may not be that unusual for a high school sophomore to grow 4 inches in one summer but it was a manifestation of his extreme desire, of his competitiveness that caused him to work extremely hard and grow and make the team as a junior. He made the team and led his school to the state championship.

An interesting side note, Jordan was the one who introduced longer basketball shorts to the game as he always wore his North Carolina shorts under his NBA shorts. Others followed. How embarrassing is it to watch those games from the eighties see those tall, grown men in those skimpy shorts? Thank God for Michael Jordan and longer shorts!

Back to editing. I should edit my stories too.  I had originally gotten down to 165 when I first started using Res-Q 1250. Over time, with holiday eating and a more sedentary life style (working at a computer replaced swinging a hammer), my weight had crept back up to 180. I am a mere 5′8″ so the Body Mass Index (BMI) charts that insurance companies use to determine a portion of your insurability pegged me as “overweight”. According to the Insurance companies, I should weigh between 125 and 164. This is normal range for my height. I am going to include a link to a BMI chart and calculator here with the disclaimer that I don’t think it is the only predictor of good health. I think if I weighed 125 at my age, the wind would knock me over. It’s a numbers game that insurance companies play. I want to win the game, that’s all.

http://www.consumer.gov/weightloss/bmi.htm#Determine

All diets work and all diets fail. What ensures success is finding one that resonates, makes sense and works for you. I like the Isagenix program (see http://www.isamiracles.com/) because the nutritional products have made it easy for me to replace empty junk calories with nutritional calories. I have lost my gut in one month. I usually weigh in between 168 and 170 these days so about 5 more pounds to go. The interesting thing is that by curbing my intake and sticking to the replacement shakes, I found the innate intelligence of my body making some decisions for me.

For example, without realizing it, I stopped coffee. I just “forgot” to make it and after several days realized, I didn’t need it. No one said, “you must stop coffee” it just happened. And I can still drink a cup when I like but I am not dependent on it. Likewise, when I go grocery shopping, I spend much more time in the fruits and vegetable sections and avoid all the process foods altogether. That also happened “by itself.”

Really, losing weight has two parts. 1) Burning more calories than you consume. Add weight training to your exercise program brings a lot of benefit. Fat gets morphed into muscle. You will look better and feel better too. 2)Take in nutritional calories. It’s a no-brainer with a program like IsAgenix as the nutrition is already there for you and the cravings for the bad stuff disappears on its own. The Res-Q Trim system works too if you can exercise and follow the meal plans provided.

Who’s in Charge? There is only one person in charge and that is you. Choose your activities based on your “Ideal Life” list; choose your friends; choose your life; choose your health. Choose your habits. You are in charge, make no mistake about it. Congratulations on your new posting as Editor-in-Chief of your life. Don’t accept anything less.

*****My Story and I am sticking to it.*****

I was on a ward of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore yesterday. A junior family member had an appointment with a doctor there. I waited in the day area where patients, doctors and nurses were going about their routines.

If you ever wondered why anyone would live in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a pretty good reason. For the 17th consecutive year, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has topped U.S.News & World Report’s annual rankings of “America’s Best Hospitals.”

What I witnessed yesterday was humanity, fraility, medicine and the hippocratic oath in total synergy. It was like poetry in real life. It was a form of dance that could be labelled a “pavane.”

The scene, a young foreign doctor, of which Hopkins has several thousand, working with an 83 year old woman confined in a wheel chair. He was taking the lady’s blood pressure. “90 over 50, that’s low. Here you put on the stethoscope and listen”. The lady had a hard time hearing her pulse coming through the instrument. “Here, you take my blood pressure.”

The doctor strapped the BP device on his own arm and had the patient listen for his arterial pulse.

When the woman patient continued having a hard time to hear the pulse through the stethoscope, he offered that she could listen to his heartbeat. “It’s easier to hear the heartbeat.” Then he had the woman listen to her own heart beat. 30 minutes later he was still having her “play” doctor, alternating with her, who would be the “doctor” and finally moved into helping understand why she was being asked to take a new medicine.

Now I have a least one reason to believe that as a teaching institution, Hopkins could very well be the best, at least in my mind and in the mind of an 83 year old woman patient in residence there.

That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

Tribute to our Service Men and Women

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”

“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas that ‘Gram always remembers.”

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Some credit is due to our U.S. Service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives, not looking for flaws, but for potential.” -Ellen Goodman

Walk one mile a day in 2008 and you will have walk 365 miles in 2008.

Give a $1 a day in charity you will have given $365 to charity by year’s end. That’s school books for about 25 kids in Africa or Ecuador. The choices are unlimited. (Why do our college textbooks cost $156 on average?)

Find a person a day to shakes hands with, give a hug to, or speak a word of encouragement to and you will have brightened the world at least 365 times. Life, light, laughter, love, a nice set of ‘L’ words.

Eat lunch with a new person once a week, you will have about 50 new deeper relationships by year’s end.

Add one new raw or organic food to your diet per month and you will have a whole new range of healthy choices in 2008.

Type the word GIFT in the coupon box on our check out page to receive $15 off your next order of $100 or more. http://optimalhealthRSQ.com

Choose health, enjoy life in 2008!

Garey Simmons

Pull up a chair and let me tell you a story. In October of 2006 I met Joe Theismann who was the Notre Dame Quarterback who threw for 526 yards in the pouring rain in 1970. He jokes that his name was pronounced THEEZMAN his whole life, but the president of Notre Dame thought he had a better chance to win the Heisman if his name rhymed. So he forever will be known as “Theismann rhymes with Heisman.” Joe went on to become a Hall of Fame Washington Redskin Quarterback, had a great career until in 1985 he met with Lawrence Taylor and another NY Giant who tackled him from opposite directions and sandwiched him breaking his fibula and tibia right there live on Monday Night Football for the nation to see. His career abruptly ended and a new life began.

In 2006, he spoke for 45 minutes to a group of vendors at the International Food and Dietary Supplements Trade Show. One of the main points he shared with this unlikely group of business men and women was about “WRITING DOWN YOUR GOALS.” It’s not-so-common knowledge that only 2% of the population actually take the time to write down their goals. And it’s almost laughable when you consider that 2% of the population controls 80% of the wealth in the country. Is there a connection? Hmmm? I will let you be the judge.

OK, so I am a bit late in sharing my goal setting philosophy but actually I purposely held off until now with the express purpose that maybe you have fallen off the wagon from your New Year’s Resolutions already. Is it true? How do I know this? From experience!

What you are going to read below is the Jack Canfield method of not just setting goals but attaining goals. Interested?

Before the process begins, consider these 7 areas to focus on in your life with your goals. This is my priority of ordering and you can mix up the order as you like, but for me money means nothing without health, therefore I moved that up to number one. Relationships are really important and maybe I will write about that in another article.

1) Health/ Fitness
2) Relationships/ Family/ Friends
3) Fun Time/ Recreation/ Sports/ Hobbies/ Travel
4) Personal/ Learning/ Projects/ Purchases
5) Business/ Professional/ Career/ Job
6) Contribution/ Service/ Community/ Legacy
7) Financial/ Income/ Debt Reduction/ Investments/ Net Worth

How to make it happen in 2008 and realize your goals:
If you do this process or some form of it, I guarantee that reaching your goals will seem almost effortless in comparison with efforts you may have made in years past without the real results.

The Process:

1) Reflect on these 7 areas of your life and identify 3 goals for each area. Set aside an hour one evening or one morning. It may be the most valuable hour of 2008. Note: each goal must be specific and include a date and time by when it will be completed.

2) Write these areas down on a piece of paper or type them into your computer so you can see all 21 of your goals.
Note: if you want to have more than 3 goals in a particular area, go for it. However, set for yourself to the number of goals you feel you can realistically attain. Do be comprehensive for yourself so you feel complete with each area.

3) When you have your 21 goals (or more), write each one down on a 3 x 5 index card. This is the critical piece right here. On the back of each card, write down an accompanying Visualization of how you will feel when you have completed this goal. Use feeling words such as “I am happily…” or “I’m enjoying…” If you get lazy and skip this part, your chances of success have just diminished.

Example: “I am enjoying going to the gym 3 nights a week.” “I am happy to get up for my 6:00AM cycle class.” “I really enjoy my outing each Sunday with my kids.” Use your mind to visualize these short sentences. Believe me this is the tipping point in making things happen.

When you have your index cards and priorities in place, review your index cards (”flip ‘em”) by reading the front goal and the associated visualization on the back once in the morning when you wake up and once again in the evening before you go to sleep.

For me, this process is a part of my “hour of power” in the morning and the last thing I do before I pray and go to sleep at night. This will keep your mind focused on what it is that you want to accomplish. It will heighten your awareness for opportunities to implement action to reach your goals and see your dreams turn into reality.

In 2007 this process created all kinds of good things for me and my family. I recommend it to you.

Advance Technique when you are ready to commit:
A) Go back to your list of written goals. Prioritize 3 goals from the 21+ goals as your focus for your intentions and attention. These goals should have activities around them every day. Ideally, identify 5 actions you can take for each of these each day to complete.

B) Again review the list of your written goals. Identify which one goal is your breakthrough goal for the year. This goal is a goal that will stretch you, that is not part of your normal routines, and one that you will have to work for.
This goal should have activity around it every day - and ideally 5 actions associated with it.

After Joe’s talk, I went up to the dais to greet him and I pulled out my visualization “map” I had in my pocket and shared it with him. He thanked me for sharing with him that you can write down your goals but you can also use pictures to point your mind in the right direction. Happy 2008!

Living with an Open Heart

“How can my heart be healed? How can my heart find relief?” People frequently ask questions such as these when they are suffering with physical, emotional, or psychological issues of the heart.

Although we might think that heart ailments affect just the physical body, new medical research has proven that our thoughts and emotions play an important part in the development of heart disease. In fact, studies have shown that certain emotional states - social isolation, anxiety, depression, and anger are actually risk factors for heart disease.

Dean Ornish, M.D. a prominent cardiologist from the University of San Francisco has shown that healing our emotional and psychological state is critical for preventing and reversing heart disease.

What can be called “An Open Heart” is a way of living that can be learned. It’s my experience and belief that learning to live with a more open heart can have a profound affect on heart disease. Click here to read more from Dr. Laman, Cardiologist