Missing Pieces - Part II

Who, What, Where, Why…which is most important?

So what is the missing piece? What is the reason so many drift off course? And, worse yet, give up trying to get back on course, because life has beaten them down and they’ve lost the desire to try. For many, the dream slowly fades away. A life of average and “stuck” is what lies ahead.

I believe there are two significant missing pieces that are almost always overlooked. One, a plan. The other, how we deal with our fears.

When I say plan, I don’t mean just any plan. I mean a life’s master plan filled with the goals and dreams you desire……all fueled by your WHY. You know, your WHY,….that burning desire to be and do whomever and whatever you were designed to be and do. That which motivates you to live knowing what you will be remembered for. The reason that people will be crying at your funeral. That which makes you whom God wants you to be.

Imagine each day filled with the opportunity to be working toward or IN your WHY. How would it feel to be looking forward to each day because you are right where you are supposed to be? Making a difference in people’s lives, or as I Iike to say, leaving and indelible mark. Imagine influencing the lives of those around you in such a positive way that it won’t ever be forgotten. That’s an indelible mark!

So how do you get there? For everyone it is a different journey. Some know from an very early age what it is they are destined for. If you were like me, up until just a few years ago, it was more of a “purpose didn’t really matter, I was upwardly mobile, living the dream (big house, nice cars, severely in debt), instant everything” kind of existence. Then things began to change. I began to see there were missing pieces to my own life’s puzzle.

If you’re not sure of your WHY, or are sure you’re not living with yours now, you can begin by asking yourself a few of these questions to help bring some clarity.

What do I like about myself?

What excites me?

What would I do for free?

What am I passionate about?

What do I want people to know I stand for?

What does that “Indelible Mark” look like for me?

What do I believe?

What will people say about me at my funeral?

These questions and their answers may lead to other questions, and then again, still more. But no matter how long it takes you, and how many questions and answers you ponder, know that there is a purpose. YOUR PURPOSE. YOUR WHY. If it took you twice or three times as long as you thought it would, even many years, but you then had a clear direction in life, would the time invested be worth it?

Before moving on, take time to assess where you are in your journey toward knowing your WHY. Are you there? Are you living where you want? How you want? With whom you want around you? If not, why not?

Seriously, take time to ask yourself these questions (and the others above) and begin to create or solidify your WHY.

Next it is False Evidence Appearing Real....recognizing and stepping through your fears.

To your incredible life!

Missing Pieces - Part 1

Have you ever been frustrated about where you are going….or where you’re not going? Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Why am I here?” or “What am I passionate about?  or even “How did I end up here?”

When were young we are wide eyed and living a life as if there is no tomorrow and we have incredible expectations about what’s ahead. Somewhere along the way it changes. That reckless abandon for life’s experiences gives way to the monotony of day to day existence that is a far cry from the wild unabashed “party” of a life we thought we would have. We yearn for it, but sometimes the harder we try to capture it, the further away it seems to get. That reality we wanted and dreamed for becomes nothing more than a thought from the past drifting further away each day.

Life’s circumstances change the direction we head and without the proper rudder we begin to drift off course. Because it happens ever so slightly, bit by bit, day by day, it is virtually unnoticeable until one day we seemingly wake up driving an old pile of &$%#* car,  and living in a studio apartment with a borderline psycho roommate, just to make ends meet.  And we find ourselves saying things like “This isn’t what I signed up for”, “Is this it?”, etc.

Sound familiar? Well, maybe not the Yugo, but I bet there are situations you wished were different. Things you wish you could redo? Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a “Do Over” in this life?

Stay tuned for more as we dig into this further and ask the question, “Which is most important….Who, What, Where or Why?” and what we can do about it to live the life we all desire.

To your incredible life!

Clean your slate

This early Springlike morning I am getting ready to head to a very talented doctor who is going to remove the residual affects of chasing after the sun in my youth. The existence of this skin cancer is a reminder of something from my past. Today I have the opportunity to put that memory of overindulgence behind me and start with a clean slate.....or at least a clean patch of skin.
We have the opportunity to do this each day with every area of our lives. Who we are today is simply who we were not who we are. The decisions you make today will determine who you will become. Clean your own slate and begin developing the masterpiece that is YOU.
Don't let any negative circumstances today deter you from reaching your God given potential.

Here's to the doctor's steady hand and the elimination of those pesky cancer cells.

To your incredible life!

Could you be Vitamin D deficient and not know it?

Every day your body is regenerating skin, bone and muscle cells. But, especially in the case of your bone health, it needs Vitamin D to do its job.

In fact, Vitamin D is such a serious problem that in the mid-1900s, the government began fortifying the nation’s milk supply with Vitamin D to help curb an epidemic of rickets in children.

But just drinking milk may not be enough. If you’re Vitamin D deficient, you’re putting your bones and body at risk. Learn how you can tell if you’re getting enough Vitamin D and what you can do about it.

What is Vitamin D and How Does it Help the Body?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, with its main role to help the body absorb calcium. It’s no wonder Vitamin D is largely considered by the medical community as one of the most important of the vitamins needed by your body every day.

Consider the following quote from Dr. Greg Plotnikoff, Director of the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis:  “Because vitamin D … so clearly reduces all-cause mortality, I can say this with great certainty: Vitamin D represents the single most cost-effective medical intervention in the United States,” said Dr. Plotnikoff.

Vitamin D and Bone Health
Your skeletal system serves as the literal and figurative backbone of your body. Strong bones give you strength and help improve your posture and balance. But when your body doesn’t have the minerals – like calcium – it needs to strengthen your bones, you’re at risk for developing conditions such as osteoporosis.

The problem with these conditions? Many people – especially middle-aged adults – may not realize their bones are growing weaker due to a deficiency in Vitamin D until it’s too late.

Why You’re Not Getting Enough
You’ve seen the countless TV and magazine commercials urging you to drink milk and touting the benefits of calcium. But what good does getting calcium in your diet if you don’t have enough Vitamin D to help absorb it?

Vitamin D deficiency is a relatively new phenomenon among the human race. That’s because, in the modern area of the desk job, sitting in front of the TV and shopping malls with artificial light, we get less exposure to the sun than ever before. That’s right, the main source of Vitamin D comes from exposure to the UVB rays of the sun. On top of that, the darker your skin, the less you’re able to absorb the UVB rays that provide the precious Vitamin D for your body’s needs.

Natural Sources of Vitamin D
So where do you turn for Vitamin D? Your first guess might be the carton of milk sitting in your fridge. Most milk sold commercially has Vitamin D added, but not enough to satisfy your daily needs. According to the National Institutes of Health, most of the nation’s milk supply is fortified with 100IU/cup, only 25 percent of the daily recommended amount of Vitamin D. The fortification of milk with Vitamin D began in the mid-1900s in response to the staggering number of children who developed rickets – a condition common in children marked by weakening of the bones. Now most of the dairy supply, as well as infant formula, is required to have Vitamin D added to it.

Even if milk provided the magic solution for Vitamin D deficiency, drinking extra portions of it isn’t necessarily the best solution. Most non-skim forms of dairy contain saturated fat, a major contributor to conditions like high cholesterol and coronary heart disease.

So, where else can you turn? Some fish, such as mackerel, salmon and tuna contain Vitamin D. Or you could try a spoonful of cod liver oil. Liver, beef and margarine contain some Vitamin D, but not nearly enough to satisfy your daily needs. In fact, you’d have to eat eight servings of beef liver every day to get the daily recommended amount Vitamin D in your diet. Doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? According to the National Institutes of Health, only 29 percent of men and 17 percent of women are able to satisfy their daily Vitamin D needs through diet alone.

The Solution
So how do you get the Vitamin D your body needs and help protect your bones? Getting out and exposing your skin to sunlight is one way. But with the hustle and bustle of work, family and all there is to do in life, it can be hard to find time to just bask in the glow of the sun’s warm rays for the sake of soaking up more Vitamin D. And even when you do get an opportunity for exposure to the sunlight, there’s sunscreen to worry about.

Ask me how I can help you supplement your life with the right essentials to ensure you give your body the increased amount of Vitamin D it needs. It is critical to your well being and to your good health. Together let’s make sure that you get everything you want out of this life.

To your incredible life,

Rob

article content courtesy of Isafyi.com, March 3rd, 2011

Truly a transformation

September 9, 2010 was a turning point in my life. It was the day, or night to be specific, that I made the decision to begin taking better care of the temple God entrusted to me. It took 45 years of abuse and a very evident lack of exercise to reach what was my starting point of 207 pounds and wickedly out of shape.

Earlier that week I had reluctantly agreed to go with my wife Beth to a friend's house to learn about nutrition....like a guy like me really wanted to spend my night doing that. I was normally much more comfortable watching "Lie to Me" and eating handfuls of popcorn instead of being faced with all of the things I was doing wrong nutritionally. After all, I was doing ok. I had been to the doctor not long before and blood pressure was good, oxygen levels excellent. I was relatively healthy for my age. And if I were to compare myself to the population around me (don't we always do that) my belly was a lot smaller than most. And heck, I wasn't shopping at the Big and Tall store......yet.

Something that night rushed across me as I listened to our friend talk about the many benefits of proper nutrition. At the time, I wasn't quite sure what it was. To my surprise (and Beth's too), I committed that night to something that I had no intention 2 hours earlier to doing...at least not soon. Getting healthy. Now, don't get me wrong. We all want to be healthy, but most of us, like me, just don't want to do what it takes to get there. We don't want to live without the things we love (like Twizzlers and diet Coke, or pizza and pitchers of beer).

Everything we see about weight loss and getting healthy looks easy, but when we try it, it is very, very difficult. We learn there is NO quick fix. And, it is because of lack of a quick fix, with our instant everything mentality, that we choose to take the easy road.

My journey over the past five months has been nothing short of amazing. That night in September a Divine message was delivered to me from a friend that has forever changed my life. I am incredible\ly grateful that my eyes were opened up to the world of health and nutrition. In the first month alone, I released 18 pounds! To date, I have released over 30 pounds of fat and gained muscle that I haven't seen since somewhere back in the days when listening to Flock of Seagulls and catching Ferris Bueller at the drive in. I have less stress now that I have had in years. The world around me hasn't changed, but the way my body reacts to it has.

I am healthier than I've been in years, probably my entire life, and I owe it to anyone and everyone, who wants to improve their own health, to help them as well. I believe I have been prepared to do just that. For some, they know from a very early age what they will be when then grow up or how they will impact the world. For me, it took a lot of prayer and a night at a friend's house to see what the next step down life's path would be.

Here's to your incredible life!

check out these pics - August 2010 and now! Pretty crazy!!