Why I Choose to Love This Man

Have you ever met someone and felt like they were your brother or sister or a relative you never met?

It happens to me all the time. I will meet someone and say to myself, “That was the father I never had,” or, “That is the friend, teacher, mentor I have been looking for years.”

That was how I felt when I first picked up a book written by David Wolfe. Meeting him sealed the deal. It was not like David was my father or brother, but rather this divine being who could teach me a lot. And he did…and continues to.

There are so many teachers who have crossed my path through the years and inspired me to take action, yet I give  David much of the credit for getting me to a higher level of self-care and self-love. He taught me about nutrition through his books and videos and shed light on the energy that food is. While I always knew that processed food was depleted of energy, I was inspired to learn more about the life force of food through David’s books and through watching him speak. I love that man. Since I am on his mailing list, he recently wrote a piece called, “Why I am NOT a Millionaire.” While I know he would be the first person to not judge people who have money, he did share about the effects that scarcity consciousness has on our body and our health. He writes:

“What constitutes real wealth, anyway?

There are many people suffering in hospital beds, eating hybridized, genetically modified processed foods, who are spiritually, emotionally, and mentally confused. There are many billionaires even, suffering from poor health and unable to experience the vast number of enjoyments they have spent their life acquiring.

I have few assets, and yet I’ve never lacked for anything.  I’ve never eaten anything but the best food ever… slept in the best (grounded) beds ever… traveled to the most exotic lands ever… experienced the most extraordinary health ever, shared the company of the most beautiful friends and family, and most of all, met 100,000′s of fantastic, wonderful people like you who are hungry for the knowledge I share.

I am, in my estimation, incredibly rich — perhaps the wealthiest person in the world.

And where is true wealth found? Consider the following:

True wealth is a peaceful state of mind.

True wealth is abundant physical health.

True wealth is spiritual connection to source energy.

True wealth is emotional wellness.

True wealth is found in serving others.

True wealth is knowledge of oneself, knowledge of one’s environment… and finding and following your mission in life.

In addition:        

True wealth cannot be hoarded, only shared.

True wealth is not created by what one has acquired, but by what one gives away.

And true wealth (or happiness in oneself) is directly proportional to the happiness one brings to others.

So let’s consider that our previous notions of “wealth” and “resources” are outdated and irrelevant.

Let’s also consider that making money for its own sake is a meaningless and never-ending, never-fulfilling endeavor.”

So I ask you, what constitutes true wealth for you? I hope and pray that something inside you values health and chooses to put that at the top of your priority list. And just because you may have dodged a bullet meaning you still neglect yourself and are symptom free, I would ask you to consider your body and what it really needs. And if action is calling, the time is now. If not now, when?  David and I both agree that, “Life has so much to offer and it is no dress rehearsal.”

Be sure and connect with David: http://www.DavidWolfe.com

 

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My Year Of Swimming Dangerously – Part 2

When I left you last week, Kathleen was in pursuit of reaching her swimming goal…here is part 2 of  “My Year Of Swimming Dangerously” where we find out if she makes her goal and how she incorporates the lesson she learned into her life today.

My Year Of Swimming Dangerously –Part 2

When I left you, I was in angst about how I would swim 365 miles that year having just shown up in England where there were no pools to be found.

What was this going to do to my goal?  I remember seeing only one pool while I was in England and strangely, I didn’t want to get into it.  I think it was my way of avoiding the issue of whether or not I was going to fail or succeed in reaching this magical number.  When I returned from the trip, I had a little over 2 months to get those last 64 miles in and I was convinced I could still reach my goal.  So with what I perceived as renewed vigor and determination, I returned to the pool to continue my quest.  Now, my pool wasn’t open everyday, so I knew I would have to factor that into my calculations.  So I decided to increase the distance I would swim each time I was able to swim.  At first, it didn’t seem so bad.  But then little by little, things started to creep in. Such as, how annoyed I got when I had to go to a funeral and miss my swim.  Or the day I decided to swim 3 miles straight without stopping.  What was I thinking? I almost threw up when I climbed out of the pool.  Or the time the lifeguard stopped my swim halfway through because of lightning.  Lightning!  I’ve got my goal to accomplish, who cares if I’m struck by lightning and die?  Do I have to tell you that those last 2 months of 2005 were miserable?  I would wake up in the morning and absolutely resent having to go to the pool, AGAIN!  I told myself, “Don’t ever give yourself a goal like this EVER”!  I felt physically and mentally fatigued. After every swim, I’d note it in the journal and divide days left by miles still to go and sometimes I wondered how it would end.  Again, something to wrap my inner negative voice around.  Well, it did end. And I’m here to report I did reach my goal. In fact, I blew through it.  412.50059 miles to be exact.  But I was left with a bad taste in my mouth about swimming.  I wasn’t as happy as I thought I’d be about doing what I had set out to do because the price of it had become all too consuming.  And it showed.  In the years that followed, I had fewer and fewer trips to the pool.  Only 100 miles in 2007 for example.  So I’d learned a lesson about goals.  Which was, don’t be arbitrary when it comes to setting them.  Think carefully about what it will take to accomplish it.  And I know it comes as no surprise to you that I’ve never set another swimming goal.  I didn’t want to feel so bad about something so good.

And now we come to the present day.  A day you may be surprised to hear that I swam my 441th mile of the year and it’s the final week of December 2011. What happened you ask?  I can only tell you that I kept that promise to myself to never set another goal and I didn’t.  And what returned due to keeping that promise was the joy I felt when I did swim.  So on many days, I would swim in the morning and then again in the evening.  I loved it!  Again.

This story is not meant to squash the value of goals.  It can be motivating and fun to set goals.  I share this story because so many of us experience that negative self talk which I was hearing louder and louder as I was reaching for a brass ring, rather than just enjoying the moment.  I enjoy the moments again.  My body, soul and especially my mind, thank me for that.

I wish you a very Happy New Year 2012 and I hope that you find some movement that you love and set up your goals coming from a place of self-love rather than guilt or pain.

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My Year Of Swimming Dangerously –Part 1

I am so proud of all my Pinky’s! And when one comes forth and wants to share a story of her journey to find peace through movement, I welcome it with open arms. Please read what Kathleen has to share and you will want to read both part 1 and part 2.

My Year Of Swimming Dangerously –Part 1

As an ongoing student of the OnePinky philosophy, I wanted to share a recent insight I had into the mind/body/soul connection and how it affects the goals we make for ourselves in our continuing journey to be the best we can be.  As we approach the beginning of another “New Year”, I hope my reflections will resonate with you and perhaps even help you have an easier time keeping those “resolutions”.  

In 2001, I weighed 200 pounds and was not making any time for real activity in my life.  So I decided I would go back to doing something I loved.  And what I loved was swimming.  Since I had grown up on a riverbank, swimming was something I began at an early age and took to it like, well, like a fish to water.  While I was never on a swim team, I became a fitness swimmer in 1980.  I would swim for several years, then not swim for several years, and then pick it up again.  Off and on spanning 2 decades. So in 2001 when I was itching to go back to the pool, it helped that swimming was a great activity for someone who was carrying some extra weight, as the water provides buoyancy for added comfort and ease.  And it’s also a great equalizer.  I would often swim faster and farther than other swimmers who looked like they had just stepped out of a catalog for swimwear.  I’ll never forget the day I was soaking in the hot tub after my swim and a personal trainer who was wearing a 2-piece and does not have a 6 pack, SHE HAS AN 8 PACK, walked over to me and said, “You are an awesome swimmer!”.  She was right. I am.  I knew in that moment I had rediscovered something that I did not want to stop doing as I had done in the past.  So I bought some journals and I started logging every swim I did.  What I noticed was each year I would swim a little farther than the year before.  So at the beginning of 2005, I set a goal for myself.  I would swim 365 miles that year.  After all, I had logged 330 miles in 2004, so how hard could it be?  Well, what I didn’t realize was, I didn’t have a preset goal in my head those other years and therefore I had no pressure on myself to reach a magic number.  And what ended up happening was my existence over the course of that year became all about reaching, as I called it, “My Mile Per Day Year”.  I had no idea of the effect this seemingly simple challenge was about to have on me.  Halfway through the year, I had already logged just over 200 miles so the goal seemed very attainable. But something was looming on the horizon that was about to twist my psyche into a knot.  I was planning my first trip to London in October, which would last 3 weeks.  3 weeks I thought, without a pool.  

Please stay tuned to Part 2 of this blog (coming next week) to find out if I make my goal and hear how I made it through England without a pool.                

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