Greetings to all who have decided to take part in my motivational blog. My motivation level in recent years has been less than desirable. I feel that I can comfortably speak for many of my fellow man when I say that. Life is filled with road blocks, hurdles and disrespectful people, all of which can drag a person down on a daily basis. Unfortunately, many of us have had to learn life's lessons the hard way. Have you ever had to stop and ask yourself, why me? What have I done to cause my life to be a train wreck? Or maybe you have asked yourself, can anything else go wrong? We have all asked these questions. All these questions are answered in a similar way. The popular answer is I DON'T KNOW. I have learned over my 30 years of life that here in lies the problem. Most of us at some time throw in the towel and in a sense give up. I have fallen victim to that mind set quite a few times. But I made a self commitment on January 12, 2009 to change my views and take a different angle in living my life.
So you may ask, why January 12th? Well what started off as another attempt to talk myself into living a healthier life, quickly turned into a runaway freight train filled with sweat and tears, no blood yet. Tears? Yes! Do you know how hard it is to change your eating habits from 3000 to 4000 calories a day down to 1500 to 1800? It is a feat that most Americans can't achieve for more than a week or two at the most. I have been very close to falling off the wagon on more than a few occasions, but something inside me has kept me going. All too often I find myself asking the question, what is that inner something that has kept me going? And at first, my answer was just as it was to all my other life questions, I DON'T KNOW. But after a couple of months I am slowly uncovering clues to the correct answer.
I fully believe that the first clue has come by way of my spiritual life. Even though I have had a solid foundation in christian religion throughout my life, there was always something missing in the full equation. I finally realized that I was simply going through the motions within my spirituality and not taking the time to dig deeper within my heart. After my mother-in-law passed away in January of 2008, my wife and I decided to start our spiritual journey together. We knew that it was important for our children to have that same christian foundation that we had growing up. We in turn started attending weekend services at a local church. But simply attending church services again did not put myself on the path to spiritual righteousness. It wasn't until we started going through a nearly year long, in depth class on the teachings of Jesus Christ and his journey from conception through his presence in heaven that I really started to understand what my life means in the "big picture". Melissa and I have since completed our spiritual class, known as RCIA (Right of Christian Initiation) and joined our fellow christian family all around the world at the lords table for our first Holy Communion on Saturday, April 11th during the Easter Vigil at Immaculate Conception Church in Mattoon, IL. At the same time, we were officially welcomed into the Roman Catholic Church. This step in my life has been a very important one. Being able to look deep in your soul is very healthy and can answer many of the unanswered questions that you may be asking yourself.
The second clue in my life comes by way of my family. Now many will say, well that is an obvious choice. But for me it hasn't always been the obvious choice in my life. See, I have had my priorities mixed up for quite some time. Until recently I had always put my feelings and wants before my families. I have always seen my selfishness, but I was never willing to do anything about it. It is extremely difficult to change your life habits over night, especially after 30 years of being self centered. However, when I decided to make a lifestyle change in regards to my weight and health, I also made a commitment to put my family first. Now I must confess, I am nowhere close to being the father and husband that I want to be or should be. This is all part of my journey to become a better, more complete person. With all this being said, I have to give the most credit to my wife Melissa. She has to be one of the most patient people that I know. She has been by my side through every hair brained idea and every change of mind that I have had since we have been married. She is also a wonderful mother to our children. Melissa is just the opposite of me. She does not have one single selfish bone in her body. She spends every waking moment taking care of our children and doing a very good job of it. Our three boys, Liam, Jack and Owen keep her extremely busy. I often tell people that if I had to come up with a salary to pay Melissa, it would certainly rival that of the CEO of Exxon Mobile. I believe he makes somewhere in the neighborhood of four hundred million dollars each year. It does not come naturally to me to be a dedicated father and husband, but every time that one of my children looks me in the eyes and tells me that they love me, it is the most gratifying feeling a person can feel. Lately it takes every ounce of energy that I have in my body to not let a tear or two roll down my cheek at that point. If anyone reading this blog has any doubt about their family life, step back and take a good look at yourself and see if there is a change that you could make in your life to better it. Start by looking deep inside your heart and ask yourself the question, am I doing everything that I can to be that family oriented person that I should be? And I would encourage all of you that can honestly answer "yes" to that question to become a motivator to others. Teach others how to be that wonderful father, husband or wife. If we can all work together, society as a whole will benefit.
The second clue in my life comes by way of my family. Now many will say, well that is an obvious choice. But for me it hasn't always been the obvious choice in my life. See, I have had my priorities mixed up for quite some time. Until recently I had always put my feelings and wants before my families. I have always seen my selfishness, but I was never willing to do anything about it. It is extremely difficult to change your life habits over night, especially after 30 years of being self centered. However, when I decided to make a lifestyle change in regards to my weight and health, I also made a commitment to put my family first. Now I must confess, I am nowhere close to being the father and husband that I want to be or should be. This is all part of my journey to become a better, more complete person. With all this being said, I have to give the most credit to my wife Melissa. She has to be one of the most patient people that I know. She has been by my side through every hair brained idea and every change of mind that I have had since we have been married. She is also a wonderful mother to our children. Melissa is just the opposite of me. She does not have one single selfish bone in her body. She spends every waking moment taking care of our children and doing a very good job of it. Our three boys, Liam, Jack and Owen keep her extremely busy. I often tell people that if I had to come up with a salary to pay Melissa, it would certainly rival that of the CEO of Exxon Mobile. I believe he makes somewhere in the neighborhood of four hundred million dollars each year. It does not come naturally to me to be a dedicated father and husband, but every time that one of my children looks me in the eyes and tells me that they love me, it is the most gratifying feeling a person can feel. Lately it takes every ounce of energy that I have in my body to not let a tear or two roll down my cheek at that point. If anyone reading this blog has any doubt about their family life, step back and take a good look at yourself and see if there is a change that you could make in your life to better it. Start by looking deep inside your heart and ask yourself the question, am I doing everything that I can to be that family oriented person that I should be? And I would encourage all of you that can honestly answer "yes" to that question to become a motivator to others. Teach others how to be that wonderful father, husband or wife. If we can all work together, society as a whole will benefit.
The third and final component that I would like to talk about in this first of many sessions is networking and friendship. All, who are reading this have obviously taken part in the networking portion. Don't just network and leave it at that. Most of us are active members of social networking arenas such as, facebook, twitter, myspace, digg, etc. I enjoy very much seeing my friends on facebook outside of cyber space. I do feel a connection with each and every one of you. It is a great feeling to see one of my facebook buds out and about and say to them "hey I saw your status and how true is that". Little things such as status updates can really be motivating. I remember just a short time ago placing a status update about me losing 40 pounds. I never thought that it would spark the enormous response that it did. I had a ton of comments and encouraging words in regards to that little update. I also know that it has motivated a few of my friends to make changes in their lives and become serious about getting healthy. Friends are great to have and are necessary in keeping your sanity. I am in no way discounting family. Family is the most important, however fostering good friendships is therapeutic. I found a quote that I really found to be relevant within this message. It is quoted by a young lady named Kristina Kentigian. It is very simple and goes like this ""Friendship is the golden ribbon that ties the world together." This quote has a very powerful feeling behind it. Without each other we have no world in which to live in. So take a moment to reflect upon the friendships that you currently have and also take a look at the ones that with a little effort, could grow into fresh and blossoming friendships.
In closing I would like to thank all of you for reading this blog. It has become very important to me to be able to share my life stories and foster new friendships along the way. If I can motivate even one person through my life then I have done my job. I consider all of you to be my friends and I hope to stay in touch with all of you through my journey and yours as well. Feel free to share any thoughts or stories that you may have. I welcome all of them. Check back often, as I will be sharing videos, articles and my own publications to help motivate you. And together we will all stay on the right track.
