Hi Friends,
Note to newbie's: If you're just joining us, feel free to stick around but you might enjoy the story better if you start at the very beginning. It reads like a book so it's fun to start with the first post and read each entry. Here's the link: Click Here for First Post
As you may know, I work as a waiter, while I'm building my consulting business, these days at a restaurant in Santa Barbara, California called Benchmark eatery. It's a pretty cool place located on the "main drag" State Street in the Arts and Theater District. Casual dining and a nice al fresco patio. Let's stop for a moment and think about that. I'm 50 years old and I work as a waiter!! It's a very physically demanding job!! The average waiter is less than half my age, literally. But the thing that gets me is that if I tried to do this, even many years back, it would be the same as me doing this while carrying an entire case of wine with me. Next time you're at the store where they have wine or booze on display by the case, pick it up. Then walk around the store with it....for 5 to 10 hours. That's about right. Oh, but walk very, very quickly.
Well, I digress...that's pretty common for me I guess.
So while I was working yesterday, I waited on a couple. The man ordered only a side of vegetables and asked for some bread and butter. He was quite large. He said that he needed to lose weight. He said that he didn't have much choice because he had lots of health problems.
He really was very big. He told me that he weighed 300 pounds. But there were two things that struck me about him. He fully accepted and "knew" that he "must" lose weight. He was clearly committed to this. He had enough health issues that it pushed him to the place of saying, "it's do or die". Not that he used those words, but that is the general theme of what he said.
The other thing that struck me was what an amazingly nice guy he was!! He had a personality that was bright and cheery. He was funny but not silly. Clearly he was intelligent and was an absolute joy to wait on. He was positive, appreciative, and encouraging to me. He thanked me sincerely, and often. And he also gave me my largest tip of the day, in percentage, and in dollars.
This was certainly a good man. But for good or ill, society tends to judge people by how they look. And most would shy away from this gentle giant because of his size.
He told me that he was about to enter into some diet, I missed the name, but that he couldn't have anything with hooves or claws...or was it fins, I don't quite remember, but anyway, I told him about what I did with the "30 day broth fast". He seemed very interested. I gave him the address of this blog and I do hope that he reads it. Not necessarily that he would do what I did. I wouldn't be able to recommend it. Perhaps it would be great for him, but I'm not a doctor and I only did this under the recommendation of my doctor for my specific illness. But the reason why I hope he reads this is to find inspiration for however he chooses to loose the weight so that he can live a healthy life.
That is the same reason that I write this for you. I hope that this is a motivational story that inspires you to take on life's demons and to improve yourself.
For me, it changed my life. Once I lost the weight, I found that not only did I have much more energy, feel 20 years younger, lose any sort of illness, but perhaps more importantly, I felt good about the way I looked...pardon me, the way I look. It has given me great confidence. And for a guy who had none for many years, it's a thing to behold. I remember one evening in particular when I was downtown in Santa Barbara on State Street. I was wearing a new tailored black shirt, with skinny jeans, and black pointy shoes. I remember walking along and seeing people smile at me. I remember thinking to myself, "They're smiling at me because I look good". Now I don't know why they were smiling at me but I felt good enough about myself to consider that as a possibility. See. It's a complete change of mindset. It feels great to have confidence, not arrogance, about the way you look. It's life changing. It sure changed my life and I hope this motivates you to IMPROVE!
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
2 years ago today... Happy Anniversary to me! It was today that it all started
Hi Friends,
Note to newbie's: If you're just joining us, feel free to stick around but you might enjoy the story better if you start at the very beginning. It reads like a book so it's fun to start with the first post and read each entry. Here's the link: Click Here for First Post
So today is it!! Or more accurately, 2 years ago today, I started my journey to a "new me" through a doctor recommended broth fast. I had no idea what it would be like nor did I have any idea where it would take me. And I have to say that I am genuinely not the same person.
The changes have been so extreme that my wife says that she has a new husband....I'm just glad that she still likes me. :-) I look completely different. I act completely different. My attitude is different, and so is my outlook on life.
I now look at each day as a gift. Probably because it is a gift and predominantly because my new life is so much better than my old one. The truth is that the changes are so great that I feel like I was born anew this late in life. Some go through mid-life crisis by buying a Porsche, I just did a restart.
So what have I learned in these last 2 years....People are amazed that I've done this. And it always shocks me how many people say, "I could never do that". Or as my new friend Aleks asked me yesterday, "What made it possible?". I told her, "It was making the decision to do it." I went on to tell her that I would meet some people who would say, "I'll give it a try" Whenever I hear that I think, you won't be able to do it. The problem is you can't try to do this. You just have to do it.
I'm reminded of the scene in Star Wars where Luke Skywalker is speaking with Yoda and Luke says, "I'll try". Yoda's response is, "Do. Or do not. There is no try."
I just this moment, as I finished writing that quote thought to myself...Hmmm, did I get that right, is that what he said, like verbatim? So I looked it up on Youtube. Here's what I found. Take a quick moment to watch this and then come back to this blog. But please come back :-) I have another comment about this. Yoda on YouTube "Do, or do not" "There is no try"
Did you catch the part where Yoda says, "You must unlearn what you have learned". Yes!! It is so true!! I had learned wrongly. I needed to unlearn what I had learned about poor health and negative thinking. In another quote in talking with Luke, Luke asked Yoda about being alone. The conversation goes like this:
Luke: "Master Yoda, are you content? You've been alone for so long..."
Yoda: "Alone? No. Always the past to keep me company."
Yes, and that is sometime the problem. "Always the past to keep me company." Sometimes company is nice to have. But sometimes company is horrible and you can't wait for them to leave. And sometimes "company" or "the past" show up at the most inopportune times. Sometimes the past is like an evil ghost who is there to torment and remind us of past failures. To accuse us in our new life that we haven't really changed. All that old stuff is still there. But like an old girlfriend, or a troublesome car that has since been sold, we don't have to carry this with us. And even a haunted house can be left and we can move to a new home, in a new city, far away from the past. We can learn from the past but we don't have to carry it around like a ton of lead.
Jerry Garcia sings in his song, "New Speedway Boogie"
"Now I don't know, but I've been told it's hard to run with the weight of gold,
Other hand I've heard it said, it's just as hard with the weight of lead."
Yes, what he sings here is true. But a weight of gold has more value than a weight of lead. How we view the past determines whether we carry a weight of gold or a weight of lead. And although we do carry the past with us, we can choose to cary with us the parts of the past that are gold or the parts that ate lead. In truth, we cannot carry both. It’s not possible to carry that much. We can only carry a limited portion of weight, that is all that is possible. For some of us, it’s best not to carry any at all. Life is lighter that way. So if you are to carry the load, make sure it’s gold. For those who try to carry both, they find a weight to great to carry. It leads to failure.
Note to newbie's: If you're just joining us, feel free to stick around but you might enjoy the story better if you start at the very beginning. It reads like a book so it's fun to start with the first post and read each entry. Here's the link: Click Here for First Post
So today is it!! Or more accurately, 2 years ago today, I started my journey to a "new me" through a doctor recommended broth fast. I had no idea what it would be like nor did I have any idea where it would take me. And I have to say that I am genuinely not the same person.
The changes have been so extreme that my wife says that she has a new husband....I'm just glad that she still likes me. :-) I look completely different. I act completely different. My attitude is different, and so is my outlook on life.
I now look at each day as a gift. Probably because it is a gift and predominantly because my new life is so much better than my old one. The truth is that the changes are so great that I feel like I was born anew this late in life. Some go through mid-life crisis by buying a Porsche, I just did a restart.
So what have I learned in these last 2 years....People are amazed that I've done this. And it always shocks me how many people say, "I could never do that". Or as my new friend Aleks asked me yesterday, "What made it possible?". I told her, "It was making the decision to do it." I went on to tell her that I would meet some people who would say, "I'll give it a try" Whenever I hear that I think, you won't be able to do it. The problem is you can't try to do this. You just have to do it.
I'm reminded of the scene in Star Wars where Luke Skywalker is speaking with Yoda and Luke says, "I'll try". Yoda's response is, "Do. Or do not. There is no try."
I just this moment, as I finished writing that quote thought to myself...Hmmm, did I get that right, is that what he said, like verbatim? So I looked it up on Youtube. Here's what I found. Take a quick moment to watch this and then come back to this blog. But please come back :-) I have another comment about this. Yoda on YouTube "Do, or do not" "There is no try"
Did you catch the part where Yoda says, "You must unlearn what you have learned". Yes!! It is so true!! I had learned wrongly. I needed to unlearn what I had learned about poor health and negative thinking. In another quote in talking with Luke, Luke asked Yoda about being alone. The conversation goes like this:
Luke: "Master Yoda, are you content? You've been alone for so long..."
Yoda: "Alone? No. Always the past to keep me company."
Yes, and that is sometime the problem. "Always the past to keep me company." Sometimes company is nice to have. But sometimes company is horrible and you can't wait for them to leave. And sometimes "company" or "the past" show up at the most inopportune times. Sometimes the past is like an evil ghost who is there to torment and remind us of past failures. To accuse us in our new life that we haven't really changed. All that old stuff is still there. But like an old girlfriend, or a troublesome car that has since been sold, we don't have to carry this with us. And even a haunted house can be left and we can move to a new home, in a new city, far away from the past. We can learn from the past but we don't have to carry it around like a ton of lead.
Jerry Garcia sings in his song, "New Speedway Boogie"
"Now I don't know, but I've been told it's hard to run with the weight of gold,
Other hand I've heard it said, it's just as hard with the weight of lead."
Yes, what he sings here is true. But a weight of gold has more value than a weight of lead. How we view the past determines whether we carry a weight of gold or a weight of lead. And although we do carry the past with us, we can choose to cary with us the parts of the past that are gold or the parts that ate lead. In truth, we cannot carry both. It’s not possible to carry that much. We can only carry a limited portion of weight, that is all that is possible. For some of us, it’s best not to carry any at all. Life is lighter that way. So if you are to carry the load, make sure it’s gold. For those who try to carry both, they find a weight to great to carry. It leads to failure.
So I chose not to to “try”.
I chose to “Do”. And moving
forward I choose not to “carry a weight of lead”. I choose to carry a “weight of gold”.
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