Here's to all the Giants in our lives...

A Giant of a Man

 

A giant of a man stood before me,

I trembled in fear for I a child of three.

But this Giant seemed different than others I had seen

He wasn’t really scary, not the slightest bit mean.

 

This Giant a constant, through my childhood,

A calming presence, bringing only good.

A Tenderness in this giant I found,

For a growing sprout, I found solid ground.

 

A giant of a man stood before me,

Hard work he said you will find is the key.

Two dollars to pile wood shaped like stakes?

I’d have done it for free, for goodness sake.

 

This Giant worked with me side by side,

To keep up this Giant, Oh how I tried.

But his energy level it never decreased,

The man never slowed down, he worked like a beast.

 

A Giant of a man stood before me,

But I am now a man of thirteen, surely he must see.

I put out my hand, for my strength I would show.

His grip buckled my knees; how could it be so?

 

This Giant showed me many a skill,

 And I the young pupil wanted my fill.

I thought Giant’s educations were limited so,

And yet how he made my knowledge of the world grow

 

I returned from college to visit the giant,

In respect I came, there was no defiance.

Where is the giant, his presence I ask? 

And out came my Grandpa, age was his mask.

 

A Giant of a man stood before me,

Elderly, yes, but his presence still dwarfed me.

This giant of a man, never afraid of the day,

Work must be done; it’s the only way.

 

Where is the Giant, his advice I now seek?

A man I have become of a child so meek.

Stature decreased and time has slowed his pace,

With a Giant of a man I now stand face to face.

 

A Giant of a man, once stood before me,

I welcome the giant, but how can it be?

The giants now my size in stature you see.

But in my mind a giant he will always be.

 

The call I received that the Giant is gone,

It cannot be true, you must be wrong.

No, it is true, even Giants must go

Even out of giants the life force must flow.

 

How I loved the Giant, but the words were not there,

God, please tell him I loved him; it just wasn’t fair.

I didn’t tell him in person, and sorry am I,

Alone with my thoughts, and the tears that I cry.

 

Grandpa, I’ll miss you, how can this be?

The family I’ve raised you won’t get to see.

In strength and honor I grow your family tree,

For a giant of a man once stood before me. 

Your Life! Are you creating a Masterpiece?

He thought about the conversations he would have many years from now with his grandson and staying focused on creating a life worth sharing.  As he got out his painting supplies he thought about how life is a painting and we all hope to create a masterpiece someday that will hang in the memories of others but unlike the blank canvas that we was looking at we aren’t the ones who start the painting.  We don’t get to pick the canvas we want to use or the initial strokes of paint.  We don’t choose our parents and thus the environment we are raised in.  Life is definitely not paint by numbers set. There is not instruction on which color to put where, but then again there are no paint by number paintings hanging in museums.  You won’t find any paint by number paintings that are revered as masterpieces. We receive a product that is the accumulation of the good and bad of others.  Some people want to help us create our masterpiece and carefully guide us to learning how to complete the work, encouraging us to make bolder strokes, teaching us how to blend colors and have a vision of what we can accomplish. While others carelessly throw paint around; some even damage the canvas and the frame.  There is pain and heart ache represented as cuts, tears or burns to our canvas.  And yet regardless of the shape of the painting when we become aware of it, it becomes our responsibility to complete the work. 

 Sadly, he thought, so many people give up and live with the painting they have been given and resign themselves to the state it is in and never seek to turn it into a masterpiece.  Or worse allow people to continue to damage their painting.  We have no choice as a child of who are parents were and where we were raised but as we move into adulthood we have complete control over who we allow to access our developing masterpiece.  Our beliefs become our destiny and if we give up believing in ourselves and the possibilities that exist we give up on our masterpiece and yet so many people surround themselves with people who have also given up on their masterpiece.  Their world becomes small and flat and their masterpiece goes unfinished.

Yet others acknowledge the state of the painting and then decide what they need to do to begin to turn it into a masterpiece, day by day they make a few new strokes, begin to repair the broken frame, the tears, cuts and burns and move closer to the end result.  They learn new techniques and work toward mastery.  They seek out others who can help them work on their masterpiece; coaches, supporters, instructors and mentors.  They accept responsibility for completing the work and who they allow access to their developing work of art.  They befriend and collaborate with others who are working to develop their own masterpiece and encourage them.   They see all of the possibilities hidden in the developing work.  They realize that you can’t create a masterpiece overnight.   It will take years of effort but that the journey will be worth it and someday their children and grandchildren will marvel at the masterpiece that was created.  Then they will be ready to coach and guide them to developing their own masterpiece.

 He thought about the future and the conversations he would have with his grandson and having a better answer to ‘what did you do with what I gave you?’  But, there is still a lot of painting to be done to complete his life master piece.

The conclusion from my book "Life Pioneers:  The Edge of Possibility!"  check it out on www.alifepioneer.com or on Amazon. 

A Life Pioneer-Lessons from Columbus

It's finally happened!  I've finally launched a web page about my passion of being a Life Pioneer.  It all started a couple of years ago with writing my first book.  While I continue to be involved and see patients at TERRIO Physical Therapy, I want to also pursue helping others to become Life Pioneers and seek out the life they have always wanted!  So check out www.alifepioneer.com to learn more or to purchase any of my books. 

While writing the book, I came to identify with Christopher Columbus.  The more I learn of his story the more value I see.  One of his early trips ended in a ship wreck yet he continued to pursue his dream.  A lesson for all those chasing dreams, there will be a few wrecks/failures.  What I find interesting is that he finally convinced the King of Spain to payroll his mission.  Defying conventional wisdom of the times he went with the theory that the world was a sphere but he had it around 63% of the actual size.  So actually if he hadn't hit unexpectedly we would have run out of provisions.  Lesson 2:  Sometimes what you run into is unexpected but beneficial.  Had he run out of provisions then the story would have ended there.  But, he stumbled onto something he didn't expect and it actually not only saved him, it made him rich.  The King of Spain granted him title and riches for the discovery.  A true success story for a pioneer!  Well almost!  After establishing a settlement in the new world Columbus returned to Spain leaving the settlement under the supervision of his brothers.  They completely failed leading to natives burning down the settlement. Lesson 3:  be very careful who you trust with your success.  Upon his return he enslaved the local inhabitants to force them to rebuild everything.  He decided to keep the slaves to continue to build the new land.  The problem was the King of Spain was against slavery so when he learned of what Columbus was doing he had him brought back in chains.  Columbus was stripped of all title and wealth.  A true rags to riches back to rags story.  A true entrepreneur he convinced the King to let him make one more trip to make things right.  He was granted some of his previous wealth but never fully recovered. 

The story of Columbus and his brothers encompasses the lament of the visionary/pioneer (entrepreneur if you like).  You take a risk and if you are successful you need to eventually rely on others but who do you trust.  If you are wrong it can destroy your dreams, if you are right it can take you to new heights.  While there are a lot of books and opinions it remains a difficulty thing to navigate.  I believe the answer lies in what visionaries like the least...Structure.  While the visionary/pioneer thrives in the growth mindset, free to make changes on the fly and exploring all possibilities, in reality very few people have that skill set.  There will always be confusion and friction unless the visionary realizes that they see the world differently and need to set up or have someone set up the structure to keep the settlement going so they are free to continue to explore.

Nutrition is NOT a Religion!

 

We just wrapped up our New Year's Weight Loss, Health & Wellness Challenge!  It was awesome to see all the positive changes people made in adopting new, healthier habits.  The goal of our program is to make sensible, sustainable changes.  During the Challenge I did weekly webinars on the steps of our program.  I wanted to share the nutrition part in hopes that you will understand the basics of nutrition.  I hope you will enjoy...

 

 

 

We are currently ramping up for our TERRIOFit Active Summer Challenge!  A 12 Week Comprehensive wellness program.  We assure that everyone is given the appropriate level of workout regardless of their starting point.  With my background as a physical therapist, athletic trainer and strength & conditioning specialist we have the knowledge to help everyone from those with medical issues/injuries, or who have been sedentary for long periods to those who are already at a high level but want to take it to the next level with a medical professional.   The most important thing is that we are not a 'Gym', we are a Therapeutic Health & Wellness Center.  All of our programs are under constant supervision.  We do not have an 'open' format where people come in and do their own thing.  We maintain a professional environment, free of judgment and intimidation.  Check us out at www.myTERRIO.com.  

The One belief that kills most attempts to get healthy

 

Several weeks ago we started our TERRIOFit Weight Loss, Health and Wellness Challenge.  Today during my weekly webinar with those in the program we covered something that I absolutely know needs to be shared.  There is so much talk about the need to improve people's Health.  On Saturday, my new nonprofit, 'Health Through Wholeness' hosted "Pathways to a Healthy Heart" and over 100 people were able to hear from the top cardiologists, internal medicine physicians, psychologists, a priest and a registered dietician about the need to get healthy through increased activity and improved nutrition.  I believe that true wellness requires not only physical but also mental, emotional and spiritual health and our panel of speakers reflected that.  After listening to all these experts speak and then doing the webinar today, it became clear that I need to share this portion with as many people as possible.  One of the missions of my new nonprofit is to shine light on misinformation, myths and fallacies.  I believe that this is the biggest single reason that kills most peoples attempts to become physically healthy. 

 

 

I know this saying "No Pain=No Gain" is etched in stone for the hard core fitness fanatics out there.  If you are a hard core exerciser and you have your routine, great, good for you, keep doing what you're doing until it doesn't work. BUT for the person who has been injured, ill or just sedentary for a long time then this is a recipe for disaster.  If you do not follow this simple first rule of conditioning the rest of them won't matter.  You will end up injured either physically or demotivated mentally.  Once you understand this first principle then you are ready to move on to the others.  Getting healthy is a journey, not a sprint.  As we say at TERRIO, the first step is to Get Informed. 

Finding the Right Weight Loss, Health and Exercise Program for you.

 

The endless parade of weight loss potions and programs can be confusing.  Promises of fast and easy weight loss without exercise or changing diets.  How do you make sense of all of it?  Start with an understanding of the principles of exercise and conditioning and the effect of exercise/activity on the human body. 

 

 

 

 

 

www.myTERRIO.com

With the failure rate of diets, it's time for something new!

Welcome to the TERRIOFit Weight Loss, Health and Wellness Challenge!  There are some key principles of the program that I'd like to get you acquainted with.  These are part of the introductory webinar.  We'll lay out the key principles and then each week we'll be expanding the information to help you on your journey! 

 

 

 

 

 

www.myTERRIO.com