Tag: work

HAPPY(?) MEMORIAL DAY!

GOD HEAL OUR COUNTRY!

happy memorial day

For many Americans, Memorial Day has two meanings:

First and foremost, it is a day of remembrance to honor our fallen military service men and women who gave their all defending our nation so that we can enjoy the freedoms that they died to protect. Secondly, it is the ‘unofficial’ start of the Summer vacation season. The weather is nice enough usually to have a picnic and grill, take a day trip, or enjoy a 3-day weekend if you don’t have to work Monday.

I consider myself to be a very patriotic person, I love both God and our wonderful country. I make no secret of the fact that I am a Christian first, an American second, and a Trump supporting Republican third. 

When I first started writing http://www.InstantCoffeeWisdom.com three years ago, I was because I had just enjoyed a great Summer vacation, and I wanted to share how The 52 WEEK CHALLENGE helped make it possible. So the first year my articles focused on ways to save money, spend wisely, and try to simplify matters of finance. The second year of articles was more about demonstrating how negative thinking and bad information hurt your chances for success and happiness.  I focused on The bigger picture and discussed how religion and politics played a very important part in your success. The freedoms that we enjoy in this Christian nation are always in peril if the wrong leadership is voted into office. As for this third year, I have been writing mostly about health, diet, and exercise. The purpose was to show that your health is form of wealth. What’s the point of being rich and successful if you’re sick and miserable? You want the trifecta! You need to hedge your bets on being happy and successful by being strong in mind, spirit, and body.

For me personally, during this three year odyssey I have seen vast improvements in my life. I’ve lost 90lbs, took up competitive running, and am currently in training for my FIRST MARATHON! The Philly Marathon on Nov 22, 2020 has been a goal that I have been working toward since I ran my first 5K over a year ago. The finishers of the race receive a very patriotic Liberty Bell Medal. 

finishers medal

I felt amazing and empowered! 2020 was starting out to be my best year ever! And then COVID-19, the virus that shutdown the world struck in mid-March.

At first, American were asked to make ‘small’ and ‘temporary’ sacrifices to preserve our nation. We were reminded of the sacrifices of life and limb by our military, and that this was nothing compared to what they sacrificed for us. And then the small got larger, and the temporary  became long term.  Days turned into weeks then became months. The forever quarantine seems to have no end in sight as non-essential workers are still sitting at home with no income wandering how they will feed their children.  For them, there will be no ‘Summer vacation’, just this soul-crushing ‘Corona Vacation’ with nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no one to do it with, because half the country is terrified of contracting the virus.

I am a runner, and a runner runs. Since the start of this viral outbreak,  I have seen ALL my April, May, and now June, possibly even JULY races being cancelled one after another because of restrictions in assembly of large groups and social distancing.  Even non-running events like the Bowers Chili Pepper Festival that I attend in SEPTEMBER are now being cancelled! Fall County fairs are being scrapped this year, and I’m even wondering if JEEP WEEK in OCMD will actually happen now.

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Fortunately my small group of running friends, The Pack have stood together throughout this shutdown substituting virtual races for official events. So we have been having regularly scheduled weekly  races, and running virtual half-marathons   So for the near future, reality is virtual. But virtual races are really just not the same as actual races.  My nightmare is that the biggest race of my entire life, the one that I have been training so hard for The Philly Marathon might get cancelled this year.

Yes, The Pack has vowed to set up support stations for ME along a virtual 26.2 mile course should the Philly Marathon SIX MONTHS AWAY be postponed due to COVID-19.  But I don’t want ‘MIKE’S MARATHON’, I want the real thing!  The annual event hosted by the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the third Sunday of November each year since 1954. The one with over 30,000 runners, 60,000 spectators and 3,000 volunteers! The one with the course that takes you past historic landmarks, and past the Liberty Bell! It actually brings me to tears just thinking that my first Marathon might be the next victim of this cursed virus.

So yes, it is Memorial Day Weekend, and I am going to have a picnic with my friends. Hopefully some part of the Summer may be salvaged, but I’m finding it very hard to be optimistic while being bombarded by this constant stream of negativity.  So God bless America, God Bless President Trump and his family, and God heal our country. As Always I wish you success and happiness!  

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THE POLITICS OF DOOM!

WE THE PEOPLE VS LOCKDOWN!

the politics of doom

There has been a lot of COVID-19 fear-mongering being generated by both the ‘LEFT’ and ‘THE LIBERAL MEDIA’.  COVID-19 AKA ‘the Wuhan coronavirus’ has infamously become the virus that shutdown the world. There have been cases in nearly every country on the planet, and many countries including the USA have been virtually shutdown. Non-essential businesses have been shuttered, and a fair amount of they will never re-open. Even with the recently passed CARES Act providing Small Business Loans, many businesses will face an uphill struggle once they re-open whenever that may be.  

Last Wednesday, US President Donald J. Trump expressed his strong desire to re-open the USA, ASAP, preferably by the end of April, if not sooner. He also stated that the re-opening would be on a case-by-case basis, according to the wishes of the governors of each state, and with the support of the Federal Government.  Almost immediately, the president was slammed by the Left and their supporters. Democratic state governors vowed to extend the lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions into May, and possibly beyond.

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

Like a growing percentage of Americans, I for one am sick to death of being told what to do, where to go, what I can or cannot buy, and that it’s to prevent the deaths of sickly people who cannot fight off the disease if they should contract it. You quarantine sick people, you do not  quarantine healthy people.  COVID-19 is a virus, just like the flu is a virus. Just like the flu comes back each year, in all likelihood we will have resurgences of COVID-19 annually for some time. I’m not a virologist, but it seems like a logical assumption. Does this mean that we will shut down the nation for several months every year?

I want my life back! I want to go into stores and buy six cases of water if I so desire. I want fully stock store shelves! I want NORMAL shopping hours! I want to do to my gym and be able to exercise on my way home, and to be able to sit down at a diner for breakfast.  There are friends that I haven’t seen in weeks, and probably still will not be seeing weeks from now because they are terrified of contracting the virus, and I don’t see their mindset changing even when the restrictions are lifted. When you live your life in fear, you are afraid until the day you die.

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At state capitals across the nation protesters are gathering in mass to demand the shutdown be ended. People need to feed their families, people need to go back to work, and life needs to go back to normal.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.  –Isaiah 41:10-13 NIV

As of the writing of this editorial, the current counter for COVID-19 in the USA stands at:

  • Cases- 957,362
  • Deaths- 54,145
  • Recovered- 116,201

With a total US population of roughly 330,000,000 people, 54,145 is a statistically insignificant percentage of the population dying from the disease. Most projection models of the virus indicate that not only are we past the peak, but that we also did not see the millions of deaths indicated by the ‘prophets of doom’ who told us all to shelter in place. We are barely at a million cases, about 10% fully recovered, and 5% died. So overall, only one person in 330 caught the virus, and that person had a 95% likely survival rate.  To put this is a ‘real world’ microcosm,  let’s look at my job:

My day job is considered an essential service. I have been gainfully employed since the first case of COVID-19 appeared in the USA back in January. I have co-workers who wear gloves, facemasks, and practically bathe in hand sanitizer. I for one, do not. I refuse to live my life in fear, and I do not kowtow to the socialist propaganda of the lunatic fringe. Last week a masked coworker cursed me out and practically accused me of attempting to murder his entire family. I did not retaliate. I stood there calmly listing to him rant and rave, but I was rather annoyed at the least. I get it, this man was AFRAID. To me his fear was totally baseless, but it was very real to him. If he feels a mask, gloves, and sanitizer are essential to his health and safety, by all means he should be allowed to use them. I refuse to be forced.

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We have more or less, about 300 employees spread across 5 branches, and about a dozen zones.  Yesterday, the ‘big-boss’ announced that ONE person has JUST this week tested positive for COVID-19.  And I’m willing to bet that that one anonymous co-worker has a 95% chance of making a full recovery. They won’t tell us who it is because of privacy laws, but if we came in contact with he or she, they will inform us personally.    

“I now believe that television itself, the medium of sitting in front of a magic box that pulses images at us endlessly, the act of watching TV, per se, is mind crushing. It is soul deadening, dehumanizing, soporific in a poisonous way, ultimately brutalizing. It is, simply put so you cannot mistake my meaning, a bad thing.” – Harlan Ellison

Listen up, while many of you are still sitting at home locked down in state-imposed, or self-quarantine, you’re probably spending a lot of time sitting in from of the TV. If you are listening to newscasts or talk shows that are left-leaning, you are probably being inundated with a constant deluge of negativity concerning both COVID-19, and how President Trump is handling the situation.  Understand, whether or not you believe it, the president is doing everything humanly possible for the good of the American people.  The CARES Act is providing COVID-19 Impact stimulus checks that are being sent out nationwide. 

a stack of three example u s treasury checks for stimulus paymen

Not one person in the USA who needed a ventilator due to COVID-19 has been denied a ventilator, and the hospitals still have not been overrun. When Andrew Cuomo, the Democrat governor of the  state of NY cried he lacked hospital beds, the Army Corps of Engineers converted the 1,800,000-square-foot Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City into an alternate care facility for more than 2,000 non-COVID-19 patients in a matter of days!  The USNS Comfort Hospital Ship was sent to aid New York! Neither was needed.  

And regarding the recent $484 Billion Coronavirus Relief Package,  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) was the only Democrat in both the House or Senate to oppose the bill. Her reason? She felt the Republicans and the president were getting too much of what they wanted.  The Government SERVES the people, not the other way around. 

This virus is NOT a death sentence. Your best defense against COVID-19 is a healthy immune system. You get that from having a healthy and active lifestyle. You get that by eating healthy and exercising, and avoiding stress and negativity. The GOVERNMENT cannot protect you from getting ANY disease, or virus. Your health is up to YOU.  This lock-down is purely political. This is an election year and the Democrats are desperate to retake the government by making Donald Trump look bad. Don’t be cattle led to the slaughterhouse. If President Trump is not re-elected in November, America  will be the final victim of COVID-19.  It is my sincere hope that my fellow Americans see through the Democrat’s deceptions and re-elect this great man. KEEP AMERICA GREAT! God bless America, and God bless President Trump and his family! As always I wish you success and happiness!

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DUST AND THIRST!

Success requires both!

dust and thirst

I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down…– Lyrics from the song Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

Sir Richard Branson is one of my role models. I admire the man, he is an inspiration although I do not agree with him politically. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinions.  One of the goals in HIS bucket list is to go into space. When I was in elementary school, that was something I wanted to do as well. When I was a young boy, the only people who actually went into space were astronauts.  That goal is a very high bar which I abandoned in high school for various reason.  

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As of February 2020, the world population is about 7.7 billion people. In the history of the world ONLY 536 people have gone into space. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was the first man in space.  The first woman in space was also a Russian cosmonaut, Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova  (6 March 1937–). When you raise the bar from just going into space to going to the moon, only 12 men have ever walked on the moon,  astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was the first to do it on July 20th, 1969. In case you’re wondering, the last man to walk on the moon was Eugene Cernan  in December  1972. The oldest person to go back into space was John Glenn (77 years and 103 days old) when  he ventured into space once again aboard the space shuttle Discovery on STS-95 in 1998. John Glenn could not have gone back into space had he not maintained a lifelong discipline of healthy diet and exercise.

The Sky’s the limit!

Sir Richard Branson has an excellent chance of going into space because not only does he maintain a healthy diet and exercise regiment, he’s attempting to create a space tourism company Virgin Galactic, and is currently funding and building reusable space planes. Fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are also pursing similar ventures with SpaceX and Blue Origin, respectively.  There are over 2000 billionaires on Earth, and they pretty much collectively own everything. With a bottomless bucket of health, wealth, and knowledge at your disposal, you can accomplish damn near anything you set your mind to. If it’s possible, it will happen! It’s only a matter of time.

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Now here’s the key to success. All of these billionaires started small. Richard Branson opened a record shop. Jeff Bezos sold books on the internet from his garage,  Elon Musk was a co-founder of PayPal.  At one point or another, each of these  people encountered failures and setbacks. Their thirst for success enabled them to dust themselves off, pick up where they left off, and begin again. Each successful and completed goal lead to bigger and better dreams, and those dreams became reality because they took a chance and started something.

In life you have choices to make every day. Most of the time, you will make the wrong decision. Knowledge and experience will reduce the tendency to guess wrongly, but you will never be able to totally eliminate mistakes and human error. If you quit every time you fail, you will never accomplish anything. If you do not make plans, nothing will happen. If you do not do the work, it will not get done.  No one is going to live your life for you. YOU have to make it happen! YOU have to make the plans and do the work. YOU, and ONLY YOU. There will be mistakes and setbacks. DO NOT QUIT! You have to have the thirst for success and the wherewithal  to accomplish your goals. They will require your health, wealth, and knowledge to be top-notch. You have to be strong in all three areas, and you can’t fake strong.  Do not sabotage your success by starting ludicrous goals. Start SMALL and build your strengths, then move on to bigger and better.

It is my ULTIMATE goal as a runner to run an ultra-marathon. If I would have started my first race with a marathon, I would never have accomplished that goal, and I probably would have sustained serious injury or death . My first official race was a 5K run, and I kept building up distances, and training between races. I started training months before I ran my first 5K on April 28th 2019. I ran 11 official races last year. This year I have so far run 2, and have another 22 slated by the end of the year. This does not even take into account the time at the gym running 5K after work, between races.    My first marathon is scheduled for November 22th, 2020, months from now. I will run FIVE half-marathons, Three 15Ks and about a dozen 5Ks between now and then. All the while dieting and cross-training. And at the end of NEXT YEAR, I will attempt an ULTRA if and only if I make it through this first marathon. 

There are long-term goals, and there are short-term goals. Bigger and better means starting, and starting small. Great things come from humble beginnings.  You just have to start somewhere, so hit the road because your journey begins today! As always I wish you success and happiness!

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NOW WHAT?

Avoiding the stumbling blocks!

what now

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

The road to success is paved with hard work. There are no short cuts, and every journey is an individual one. Two of the most destructive stumbling blocks you will encounter are:

  1. self-doubt
  2. unsolicited advice

If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. – 1 John 3:20

Self doubt is often created by the internal worry that we somehow do not measure up to the task, whatever it may be. In his famous book The Power of Positive Thinking Norman Vincent Peale gives us the secret to happiness: “The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.”  Self doubt tells us that we can’t succeed, we’ll never win, and that happiness in the form of success will be forever denied us because we are not good enough. The key to remember is that if we were born with a healthy ‘normal’ body, we have the same opportunities in life as any other individual with a similar origin. Sometimes we’ll have people along the road of life to encourage and help us , and sometimes the journey will be a hard and lonely one. The strongest people in life have managed to cast away self doubt and pave their own paths. There is great power in succeeding at a challenge we have set for ourselves. The reward is knowing that we accomplished what the naysayers  told us we could not do. God never gives us anything that we cannot overcome.

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The Narrow Gate

In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.… –Matthew 7:12-14

“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – Burt Lance

Always consider the source when receiving unsolicited advice. Someone telling you not to fix something that works will hold you back from finding a better way to do it. Likewise, if you are doing something that  is working for you, but which is not the way that someone else is doing it, remember that everyone is different. What works for you MIGHT not work for them, and vice versa. As long as you are not doing something illegal or immoral, if it works, keep doing it.  Just because ‘everyone else is doing it’ doesn’t mean you should do it too just to appease them. The only person you are competing with is yourself.   You just need to check yourself to see if you are improving. This is easily accomplished by keeping careful records of your progress. For example, I myself have been struggling with my weight for years, and it took a lot of trial and error before I chanced upon a diet and exercise program that worked for me.  I have carefully monitored and recorded my weight for years. It wasn’t until about three years ago that I discovered a few dietary supplements, meal plans and exercise programs that broke the chains that had been holding me back.  Nine months ago I began competitive running, and now I monitor my progress with that, so I see the results. More importantly,  OTHER people have taken notice of the external changes to my physique, and they have been inspired by it. Actions speak louder than words, and results are hard to argue with. The proof is in the pudding.  If it works, KEEP doing it, never quit, never surrender!

The most important thing you can do in life is to lead by example. You are being watched all the time by everyone in your life, whether or not you are aware of it. It is better to be held up in high esteem as an example of what is possible, as opposed to being a cautionary tale of what NOT to do in life. There are too many fools who took the short-cut down ‘Easy Street’ which lead to destruction. If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, live your life the right way, and remember that life is YOUR life, and you are the one who need to live it. As always, I wish you success and happiness!

THE END IS THE BEGINNING!

Life is a journey!

the end is the beginning

“Be decisive. Right or wrong, make a decision. The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make a decision.” – Anonymous.

In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul made a metaphor between his life and career in the first century church equating it with a road race.  

” I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” – Paul the Apostle (from 2 Timothy 4:7)

This was one of the many ways the early leadership of the church created bridges between people to connect unfamiliar concepts to various individuals. As I began running road races last year in 2019,  I quickly came to realize how appropriate this comparison was. Before I even attempted my first 5K, my goal was to run a marathon. 5K is 3.1 miles, and a marathon is about nine times that at 26.2 miles. I was inspired by Nathan Maxwell  @socialshark , a friend on Twitter who was an ultra-marathoner. Nate and I connected through a love of coffee. When the internet was in its infancy, it was referred to as The Super Information Highway. Now we have social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The thing about social media is that it allows individuals to share ideas, images and information of all sorts at a rapid-fire pace, with little or no filter. This double-edged sword has both brought some people closer, while at the same time destroying some relationships.   I am often amazed at the number of people around the world who check in regularly to read my weekly Sunday opinion piece. It is quite humbling.  

Running is a lifestyle choice. Like many things, you do it for as long as you can, on a regular basis. Once you quit, often there is no going back.

 “The end is in the beginning.” – T.S. Eliot

The First Key to success in life is proper planning executed at an early time. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I am currently using a lot of racing and health metaphors because of the interconnectivity of health and wealth. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “Your health IS your wealth, and your wealth IS your health!” As I prepare for my first marathon at the end of 2020, today I run my first official race of the year, a 10K in Muhlenberg PA. Last year I ran a dozen races, from 5Ks to half-marathons. In 2020, my plan is to run twice that, both in distance and frequency. Each of these races has an entry fee. Had my finances not been in order, I could not afford to do this. As an athlete in training for competition, I have certain nutritional requirements. Dietary supplements , special meal plans, and better quality organic produce all cost money. Again, had I not taken steps years ago to fix my finances, I would not be in a position to afford these added costs. Not to mention I also need to buy quality running shoes and gym clothes.  

The Second Key to success in life is you have to want it. That should be obvious, but saying you WANT it and actually wanting it enough to do the work to attain the goal are two different things. When you really WANT something, the effort you are putting into attaining that goal should be outwardly apparent to anyone observing you. Actions speak louder than words, but RESULTS shout from the rooftops! 

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The Third Key is not giving up. The road is long and hard, and there are many stumbling blocks.  My most grueling 5K of 2019 was a night run obstacle course, The Zombie Fun Run. The ‘fun’ stopped when I wrenched my knee as I slipped on a muddy hill. I was terribly concerned with each painful step that I would not be able to finish, but I managed to limp my way to the end. In a couple of days, I was right as rain again.  The first half-marathon I ran two months prior also was fun, until I hit the 9th mile, and was breaking personal distance records. That was when I started getting leg cramps.  I also limped to the end that time.  DNF (Did Not Finish) is currently not in my vocabulary. I have completed every race I signed up for. ONLY once (during the Chobert Challenge 15K trail run) was I DFL (Last), but I did finish.  Often when I am in such trying periods, struggling to reach the finish line, another quote from the Apostle Paul comes to mind.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Paul the Apostle (from Philippians 4:13)

Just like Nate’s Twitter posts inspired me to begin running, other folks I have connected with have inspired me to continue. One fellow runner who is truly amazing is Bruce Cronrath. Bruce is 76 years old, has a replacement knee and still runs half-marathons.  Whenever  we race,  he’s usually a few minutes faster than I am. I currently run about a  12 minute mile, and outweigh Bruce by over 100lbs. Bruce is a Vietnam  Vet and a credit to our country. He is the perfect example of never giving up, and demonstrates what is possible when you devote a lifetime of dedication to a healthy lifestyle  . I hope that when I reach his age, I have his level of stamina and endurance as well.

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Hopefully I have encouraged you through my blog to rise to new heights in whatever pursuits you wish to engage in. You can accomplish it as long as you give it everything you’ve got and never quit!  As always, I wish you success and happiness!

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WHAT’S YOUR VISION?

Go for the gold in 2020!

WHATS YOUR VISION

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.  – Anonymous

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Having put 2019 behind us and recuperated with a long winter’s  nap we are now faced with a fresh new year.  2020 is a golden opportunity to begin again. We can brush off our failures, learn from our mistakes, and build up higher from our successes. The future is mainly how we see it. The term 20/20 is used by optometrists to describe normal, clear and ‘perfect’ vision in a person.  So your primary goal in 2020 is to make your life this year better than it was last year. Everyone faces difficulties in life, but no one ever said life was going to be easy or fair. Living is a process that we all go though  and some of us will always be more successful than others. There will always be someone smarter, faster, richer and better-looking than you. That is NO excuse to give up and do nothing. Nothing happens by itself. Success is a process that takes action, time, hard-work, resources, and most of all, determination. The moment you say ‘I can’t’, you are DONE! Many people defeat themselves before they even start due to their negative outlook. You cannot have a positive life with a negative mind.   

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Define your terms!

Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

  • Action : the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim.
  • Goal : the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.
  • Idea :  a thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.
  • Plan : a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something.
  • Process:  a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.
  • Strategy : a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.
  • Vision : the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.

The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.– Proverbs 21:5

Clarity of vision begins with the understanding that certain actions have to be undertaken to achieve the desired goal.  It is a PROCESS! You must learn to crawl, before you learn to walk. Success takes steps. Overnight success stories are so rare as to be practically myths. ‘Get Rich Quick’ schemes are the pursuit of fools. If being successful were THAT easy, EVERYONE would be wealthy.

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Lead by example!

Your actions speak louder than your words. There are countless motivational speakers and coaches on the lecture circuit. The reasons for this are as varied as the number of self-improvement books on the shelf. They are all variations on the same theme, and as the Bible says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” The best type of motivation comes from within. YOU have to want it! YOU have to do it! No one can live your life for you.  When YOU decide that ‘enough is enough’ and that ‘something must be done’ is when the process of self-discovery and healing begins. This is YOUR LIFE! I want you to be happy and successful, but I can’t do the work for you. I can give you the tools but you must use them and do the work yourself.  It will not be easy, but I assure you, in the end it will be worth it.

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In 2019, I took up distance running with the goal of working towards eventually running a full marathon or longer. A marathon is 26.2 miles. My first official run of 2019 was a 5K race (3.1 miles). I trained for two months before I even undertook that initial run.  Prior to that first run, I had no idea how I would physically handle the challenge, but I was determined to complete it. Over the course of 2019 I ran a dozen official timed races ranging from 5Ks to half-marathons. As I built up to the longer distances, the shorter distances became cakewalks.   I put my fitness plan into action and began the process towards achieving my goal. Along the way, I received great advice and encouragement from peers in the running community who lifted my spirit to greater heights.

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I hit 2020 running from the first! On New Year’s Day January 1st, 2020 I ran my first un-official  5K race with another runner in my running pack. It was just the two of us, mono a mono. It was symbolic as Steve Capozello  was much faster than I, so I had no expectation of beating him.  The result was not the important part, running the race was. Next Sunday Jan 12th 2020 is my first OFFICIAL race of the year, number 2 in the ‘Shiver by the River’ winter running series held in Muhlenberg PA on second Sundays from December through March. In 2020 my plan is to have at least one OFFICIAL race every single month, sometimes running up to four races. I intend to run twice as many races as last year with the goal of running a full marathon in November. Again, had I not started this process of self-improvement I would not be able to attain these milestones that I have been reaching along the way. It was NOT luck. I did the work, and I ran the race. I share this with you not for bragging rights, but as encouragement to demonstrate that it IS POSSIBLE to do. You just have to want it first! As always, I wish you success and happiness!

TURNING BACK TIME!

Let’s do the time warp again!

turning back time

The idea of turning back time, or speeding ahead into a future time, is quite often the plot of many science fiction stories. UNFORTUNATELY here in the most parts of the USA it’s a reality, and an outdated nuisance.  Twice a year we ‘change the clocks’. Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November  at 2:00 AM when we turn the clocks back one hour to Daylight Standard Time.  To add to the confusion, not all of the USA observes Daylight Saving Time. the states of Arizona and Hawaii ignore it completely, as do all of the US territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. So in the Autumn, we ‘gain’ an hour when the clocks ‘FALL BACK’, and ‘lose’ an hour in the Spring when the clocks ‘SPRING FORWARD’.  Despite this little ‘FALL BACK, SPRING FORWARD’ mnemonic to help people remember to adjust their clocks  accordingly, many times they still get it wrong, either setting the clock the wrong way for some bizarre reason, or forgetting completely.  It used to also be done at a different time prior to 2007. (Back then, the time shift was the last Sundays in April and October.)

BLAME CANADA

Benjamin Franklin once theorized about the benefits of adjusting the clocks to save daylight in the Winter months when the days are ‘shortened’  in the Northern Hemisphere due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis.  In 1908 Canadians in Thunder Bay Ontario adopted this asinine  practice for the first time. A few years later it was also instituted by the Germans in 1916 to conserve coal during the first World War. It didn’t plague us here in the United States until 1966 when President Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act under the assumption that it would ‘conserve energy’ because if it’s light outside longer, you’ll use the lights in your homes less.

Spread read the confusion

I don’t know of any person who truly believes that changing the clocks is beneficial , but it is observed for better or worse by 70 countries around the globe, each adjusting their times on a slightly different schedule.  If you are one of those people who simply forgets about adjusting the clocks, it’s not so bad in the Fall when you gain that hour, but it’s a nightmare in the Spring when people who are already ‘pressed for time‘ rush out the door only to find out too late that they are an hour late. The poet Charles Bukowski  wrote a poem about this in 1972 titled DAYLIGHT SAVING, and it is a concrete poem shaped like a time card. The poem recounts an event in which the poet went to his day job only to discover the time cards were all pulled and he was late one hour, and had to explain why to his disbelieving supervisor. Fortunately today many of our electronic devices auto adjust themselves to the proper time.

The changing of the artificial clock doesn’t reset the biological clock. Our Circadian rhythm is the 24-hour internal clock that controls sleep-wake cycles as well as metabolism, cognition, and more. It uses clues such as light and darkness to help determine when it’s time to shift into sleep mode and when the body should wake up. When we artificially change the time, our bodies need an adjustment period.  If you’ve ever flown in a plane across several time zones, like from the East Coast of the USA to the West, you probably experienced this disruption by another common term,  jet lag. It can take as little as a day to recover, but some people feel the effects of jet lag for up to several days. Also since animals and very young children do not tell time by a clock, playing with the clocks means that you may get an earlier wake-up call from your pet dog who urgently needs to go outside and ‘never got the memo’.

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Why so S.A.D?

The end of Daylight Saving Time means less natural daylight during the day. When you couple the darkness with cold Winter’s chill, it can lead to a mental state of depression known as Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D.  This is no laughing matter. People suffering from S.A.D. have a general feeling of less energy and moodiness.  Depression during the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas and even to a lesser extent New Year’s when you are surrounded by happy merry-makers and an abundance of alcohol results in higher accidental deaths from drunk driving, as well suicides from desperate people who can’t see past their current circumstances.  Life is a cycle. We have good times, and bad times, but things do get better.  In the end, everyone of us is going to die, but it’s important how we live. There is not a person on Earth that can say with absolute certainty that they will be alive tomorrow, so don’t wait for tomorrow. This is why you don’t put off important things, like spending time with friends and family and letting them know you care. This is why it is of the utmost importance to take care of our physical bodies with proper diet and exercise. This is why it is vital to straighten our minds and our souls with  knowledge and wisdom, especially the Gospel found in the Holy scripture contained in the Bible. We can do all things with Christ who strengthens us, and  we can deal with today much easier when we have hope for a better tomorrow. As always, I wish you success and happiness!

PRESSED FOR TIME?

Simple tips for avoiding the mad morning dash!

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We’ve all been there at one point or another.  Stayed up way too late,  hit the snooze button one time too many, and now you have seconds to dash out the door or risk being late for work. Inevitably something goes wrong at the worst possible time and we forget some vital item. It happens, BUT it can be avoided with a few simple tricks and a bit of determination on your part. The keys involve proper time management and developing a system that works for you.

All successful people have mastered time management and develop a system of doing things in a routine fashion which becomes second nature, occurring automatically. Time IS money, and wasting time is wasting potential. If your daily norm is a disorganized mess, you get far fewer things accomplished, face undue stress, and possibly depression. Stress and depression negatively affect your health. When your health is affected, again, your potential is diminished and you begin a vicious downward spiral. Your HEALTH IS YOUR WEALTH!  All three, TIME, MONEY, and HEALTH are interconnected and when mastered form a trifecta of success.

The way you start your day will impact how your day progresses. Why not start the day right? There’s an old adage, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. ”  Truer words were never said. Morning prep should begin in night before.

Keep the same sleep schedule. For some people this may be tricky, esp. if you work a job with irregular hours such as a swing shift position, or one which has you on call for emergencies when off duty. In such situations, keeping a set sleep schedule may prove difficult or impossible. You’ll just have to do the best you can.  For some people  though, watching the BIG GAME, or some movie, is all important. This is nonsense. Television programs are a choice you make, and a time-wasting activity. When your team scores the winning point, it has ZERO impact on your life. Oh, you may cheer and get a momentary rush of excitement, and you may enjoy the leisure activity of sitting on the couch and munching snacks. But how does this add to your success? Anything that does not contribute to your success hinders it in some fashion. This doesn’t mean you can’t  stay up late occasionally, just don’t make a habit of it. Bad habits form easily. All things in moderation.     

Form a system. Set out all the things you need the night before in a set area. My father used to drape his clothes for the next day on a chair in his bedroom. I’ve adopted a similar technique. Also, keep keys, wallet, cell phone and other things you normally carry when leaving the house in a set location. When you get home, immediately put these items in that place until needed the next morning. Cell phones may be the sticking point for some people who can’t bear to be separated from their phone until the battery runs down and they have to place it on the charger. This can be remedied by placing a NOTE TO SELF reminding you to grab your phone before leaving the house with your keys, or taped to the door. After all it would be tragic if you left the house and left your cell phone there.  Also if you have pets or small children, make sure that this place where you keep your needed items is well out of reach. If Fido decides that the leather loop on your keys would make an excellent chew toy, you don’t want to tear-up the house looking everywhere for your car keys. If you have a spouse the likes to put things ‘out of the way’ , make sure they know this is your PERSONAL SPACE and off limits. And if they have their PERSONAL SPACE where they keep their stuff, return the courtesy.

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Make meals ahead.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. One of the worst things you can do health and wealth-wise is  to grab fast food for breakfast and or lunch because you didn’t have time in the morning.  You can prep your meals ahead of time and save money as well as eating healthier at the same time. In my case, I’ve also simplified my meals because I’ve taking up running and as an athlete in training for competition, I have certain nutritional  requirements that need to be met in order to build lean muscle while decreasing body fat.  Some people LIVE FOR FOOD. The mindset of the athlete is that FOOD IS FUEL.  Again, what we eat is a personal choice. Some people MUST HAVE variety, some people MUST HAVE what works. YOU have to find what works for YOU. Whatever it is that you chose to eat, as long as it is nutritious and doesn’t make you fat, go for it!

Cape Diem! When that morning wake-up call goes off answer it! Don’t hit the snooze button!  Every time you do, you waste valuable time getting ready for work. You know exactly how much time you need for your daily morning routine. You know the average commute-time, a how long it takes you to eat breakfast,  pray, exercise, shower and dress. Every time you hit that button, you lose time.  Do not cut your time in any way, and ideally you should set your alarm as a reminder to leave by a certain time having already been awake and completed your  morning ablutions. Most people use their cell phone as their clock, and you can  set multiple reminder alarms for various activities throughout the day. It’s easy to get sidetracked, but always remember, if you snooze, you lose!   As always, I wish you success and happiness!

A FULL-TIME JOB!

Are you only working part-time?

a full time job

Imagine that you had an awesome full-time job which paid an enormous salary with great benefits. The full package is enough to meet all your daily needs and attain your long-term goals. If you had such a job, would you give it your all, or would you just show up when you felt like working? This is a no-brainer for most people, you would get up every day and go to work thankful for having such a great job. Even with such a job, we all know that one person who does as little as possible and shows up when they feel like working. Eventually they lose their job,  and we wonder why they didn’t care enough to do the required work and keep the  job.

When most people think about their full time job, they only consider their nine-to-five day job. In reality, everyone has more than one full-time job, but the one which we all share is our health. When we lose our health, getting it back can be difficult, or even impossible. Our health is our wealth!

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You CANNOT lose weight by exercising!

Our physical health revolves around two points, diet and exercise. Both are full-time jobs. You cannot lose weight by exercising. Exercising tones the body and builds muscle. Adding lean muscle increases your metabolism so that you can burn calories faster, but by building muscle you can actually gain weight by exercising. Consider professional body-builders who pack on pounds of muscle and spend hours a day exercising.  You would not consider a body-builder fat, though they may be considered to be  overweight compared to the physical norm. Being overweight as a result of being muscle-bound is much different than being overweight due to obesity, but both carry health concerns. Being fat is never a good thing.

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We exercise to maintain and improve our physical fitness.

Components of Physical  Fitness include:

  • Agility
  • Balance
  • Body Composition
  • Cardiovascular Endurance
  • Coordination
  • Flexibility
  • Muscular Endurance
  • Muscular Strength
  • Power
  • Reaction Time
  • Speed

 

Soda is a carb, and so is broccoli!

In order to lose weight you must first control your diet. The phrase ‘we are what we eat’ is a tired cliché but there is some wisdom there. If we eat junk food frequently, our health will suffer as a result. Your diet is composed of both quality of food, diversity of food, and most importantly quantity of food.  The Standard American Diet is about 2,200-2,500 calories per day, with 50% of calories from carbohydrates, 15% protein, and 35% fat.  All of our food is made of three components: Carbohydrates (carbs), fats, and protein. Food also may contain certain vitamins and trace minerals which our bodies need. We burn these calories for energy each day.  At rest and during normal activities, fats contribute 80–90% of our energy; carbohydrates provide 5–18% and protein 2–5%. During exercise there are four major endogenous sources of energy: muscle carbohydrate stores (glycogen), blood sugar, blood fatty acids, and intramuscular triacylglycerols. The extent to which these substrates contribute energy for exercise depends on the intensity and duration of exercise, the level of exercise training, the initial muscle glycogen levels, and supplementation with carbohydrates during exercise.  

So the key to losing weight is to eat better quality food, and eat less than our normal daily caloric intake for maintaining our weight. In other words, eat less calories than you use each day.

Water, water, everywhere!

Soda and fruit juice, as well as so-called sport drinks such as Gatorade or Powerade contain a lot of empty calories. When you are working with a daily allotment of 2,200 – 2,500 calories, drinking these add excesses calories which don’t fill you up, and then you still have to eat. Jesus Christ didn’t have soda or Gatorade and got along just fine drinking water. Water contains ZERO calories, metabolizes fat, and maintains good hydration to ensure the body works the way it should. It is important to drink water on a regular basis at regular intervals. A good rule of thumb is to aim to drink half your body weight in ounces daily. If you are exercising or exerting yourself in high heat, you may need to up this amount. You should drink a glass of water shortly after waking,  with each meal,  and before bed, as well as sips throughout the day as needed.   Water was good enough for Jesus, and it should be good enough for you as well!

Let’s THINK this through.

Our bodies have an innate intelligence and they know what needs to be done, and when to do it. We don’t have to tell our hearts to beat, our lungs to breathe, etc.  Our bodies do this naturally. That same  innate intelligence works against us when we disrupt our natural cycles of eating, drinking, and sleeping. If we starve ourselves to lose weight, the body slows down our metabolism to conserve fats. If we try to drink less, our body ‘thinks’ it needs to hold on to fluids, and we can stop sweating, which is a natural cooling system.  As amazing as the body is, it only knows what it knows, and when we change our daily cycles of eating, drinking, and even sleeping we alter our metabolism.  In order for our bodies to work properly, we need to maintain regular cycles. This is why crash diets don’t work, as well as short-term dieting. When we cease regularly dieting and exercising, we lose the benefits gained by doing so. We take care of our bodies by eating, drinking, exercising, and resting on a regular cycle each day. When we do this, we make ourselves stronger, and we last longer. Everyone should want to live a long and healthy life, but whether or not we accomplish this is entirely up to ourselves! As always, I wish you success and happiness!

YOU CAN’T ‘FAKE’ STRONG!

Only the strong survive!

you cant fake strong

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.­–Paul the Apostle ,  Philippians 4:13

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One of the most common breakdowns associated with cars are flat tires. When tires are low on air, you can generally see that they need air as you approach you car, but most people do not make a habit of taking the time to inspect ALL FOUR tires on a regular basis, instead looking at the two that face them as they approach their vehicle.  Fixing a flat can be as simple as adding more air, or plugging a small leak. Ignoring the problem can result in serious damage to your tire, car, or even yourself.

According to Goodyear Tires:

“Maintaining proper air pressure is an important factor in tire safety and performance. If a driver experiences a flat tire or loss of air pressure, they should slow the vehicle gradually and carefully pull off to the side of the road as soon as possible. Driving on a flat tire can cause internal structural damage to the tire, may lead to wheel and vehicle damage and may result in poor vehicle handling and control — which could lead to an accident, injury or death.”

You may be familiar with the phrase “the road of life”. As you travel down the road of life, you are the vehicle which carries you on your journey. Like the four tires on a car, you have four categories that determine IF you will have forward momentum, or if your journey will end abruptly.  Your car has both front and rear tires. One each on the passenger and driver sides. You can still drive on a bad tire,  ignoring all the warning signs and neglecting repairing that tire until disaster occurs. Likewise YOU yourself have YOUR four ‘TIRES’ divided into two sides, and keeping all four at or as close to full strength as possible are vital to determine how far you will go down the ‘road of life’.

The two sides are your HEALTH and your WEALTH. Your HEALTH is your WEALTH, and your WEALTH is your HEALTH. HEALTH has two sides as does WEALTH. Your HEALTH is both PHYSICAL and MENTAL. Your WEALTH is both FINANCIAL and INTELLECTUAL. You need all four  to be at your maximum strength to go far in life, but running on three will carry you along for a little distance, and a brief time.   You cannot ‘fake’ strong, you are either strong, or you are weak. A strong person can things that a weak person cannot, and that is an undeniable fact of life.  

How strong are you:

FINANCIALLY

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 “There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.” Proverbs 21:20

If you have zero debt and just $10 in your pocket, you are richer than 25% of Americans. Do you spend EVERY cent you get?  The reason the wealthy amass such huge fortunes is NOT because they have stolen it from the poor, but because they have mastered the art of handling money. Getting financially fit means taking the time to develop spending, saving, and investment plans.

 

INTELLECTUALLY

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“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!” –Proverbs 16:16

Knowledge is power! Education opens doors to greater ventures and better opportunities. The accumulation of ‘USEFUL’ knowledge and ‘USEFUL’ skills will result in greater possibilities of  employment. Having specialized knowledge in technical jobs or trades will get you hired faster than unskilled laborers. There are many classes being offered in colleges and universities nationwide that are totally worthless. Graduating with a degree in ‘gender studies’ or ‘lesbian dance theory’ is a surefire path to poverty. As poet Charles Bukowski once said, the world doesn’t need poets. Would a restaurant hire a chef who couldn’t cook an omelet?  The world needs doctors, teachers, farmers, and builders. An auto-mechanic may not be a glamorous job, but the next time you need your car fixed, you’ll be glad  if they are experienced and competent.  

PHYSICALLY

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“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, who you have received from God? You are not your own: you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

When you take care of your body, you can fight off illness faster, recover from infirmities, and lead an active lifestyle. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed. How can you enjoy life if you are too weak and sickly to join your friends and family in various activities? Watching is fun but it is not the same as participating in the fun. Getting physically fit means taking time to eat healthy and exercise regularly.       

MENTALLY

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“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light”. – Matthew 11:28-30

Depression is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of having been too strong for too long. Eventually everyone hits a point when we tire. When things go badly, we tend to focus on our troubles instead of counting our blessings. The Bible is the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and is infallible and without error. When we focus on the world, it’s a depressing place. When we turn our focus to Jesus, we see that with God, all things are possible, and that when  God is with us, no one can stand against us. The Bible is a book filled with hope for something better than this fallen creation. The answers to all of life’s problems can be found in the pages of the Holy scripture, yet there are many who are reluctant, or totally against reading this book for themselves. I was an atheist when I was a teenager, but in college I became a Christian when my one professor challenged me to go to his class on the Bible and read through it cover to cover. I can honestly say I am a better man with God than I ever was without God.   People may disappoint you, lie to you, and hurt you.  Jesus is always good, faithful, and true. What if the one book that you are dead-set against reading is the only book which could provide you comfort and answers. Wouldn’t it be wise to take the time and discover the truth for yourself?  Isn’t it time to fill your ‘TIRE’ with the ‘breath of life’? As always I wish you success and happiness!