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"Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson
I absolutely love that quote, not because I am a huge boxing fan but because it is one of the most truthful statements that you can make about life!
How many times in life have you said..."Why Me?" If you have a heart beat and blood circulating throughout your amazing system then you have said those two words at least a dozen plus times!
By the end of this I would love if you developed the incredible capacity to change your vocabulary and from this point forward when you want to say, "Why Me?" lets replace it with "Why Not Me?"
Think of a few instances in your life where life seemed to be going well, life seemed to be going according to plan and moments when life seemed like you had conquered the unconquerable.
Now think how not one of those moments lasted!
If you are telling me that you never had an obstacle jump out of nowhere, uninterrupted and at the absolute wrong time then you are lying to me and I would appreciate your honesty moving forward.
You see, no one sets out in the world and says..."Man I sure would love to see how well I can fight cancer!"..."Wouldn't it be super awesome to have my wife leave me!"..."How spectacular would it be to develop Alzheimers!"..."This sport is going so well...let me tear my ACL just to have the option to experience adversity!"
No one goes into life wanting crappy things to happen to them...
Yet...crappy things continue to happen to all of us and at the end of the day its a E+R=O world...
E+R=O (Events + Response = Outcome)
You have an Event (Almost always outside of our control) and then its our Response (Positive or Negative...only two choices you have) and that defines our daily Outcome on how we approach any obstacle in LIFE!
Alzheimer's Disease or other neurodegenerative diseases are some of the shittiest (pardon my vocab) things that can happen to an individual. We plan a lifetime for retirement and living the golden years of relaxation and then for an asshole (pardon my vocab once again) of a disease process to rob us of that plan!
As I write this I am 46 years old and the more research that comes out, I am in the peak of what I can do to help prevent/fight neurodegenerative diseases from happening. Too much alcohol, lack of exercise and a severe lack in REM sleep have been known to increase Amyloid and Tau which are proteins responsible for diseases like Alzheimer's later in life.
You see...here is the incredible, uncanny characteristic of my step-father that, if we all implemented, we could all do better with in life.
He almost never severely over-reacts to any situation in life.
After college he played professional rugby and in a game, he literally got his front teeth knocked out. Instead of panicking, he just picked them up, kept playing, went out for celebratory drinks after the game and then and only then said, "maybe I should get my teeth fixed?"
Would you have had the ability to relax under pressure in that situation and keep going!
When I was a kid we had massive flooding in the midwest which definitely affected our house on the river, yet once that was solidified he drove hours down to the Mississippi River in order to pack sandbags for those in need.
Now he is fighting his biggest opponent in life with a diagnosis of Alzheimers!
A disease that has no road map, a disease that moves at its own pace, a disease that as of this writing we can't stop and a disease that all you want to do is smile at and say..."FUCK OFF!" (sorry one last time for my language).
We all start our days with a plan!
I have to do X, Y and Z this week...yet how often does everything go as you expected?
I treat highly, dedicated, competitive athletes whose year revolves around peak fitness in order to perform. Do you know how many run into trouble, every single year? ALL OF THEM!
My daughter, in the peak of her youth sports career, during a soccer game took a nasty foul and tore her ACL. She was punched in the mouth with both fists at the same time. Was the process back easy, not at all and not a process I wish upon anyone. However she learned each day to just do her best! Just focus on the R of the equation and eventually everything paid off with an offer to play college soccer which has been her dream forever!
The key to the most successful is once they are punched in the mouth...
They take a moment to absorb what happened and then they immediately jump back on the saddle with a response that often course corrects the obstacles.
They know that in order to succeed that we all need to be students of life and the top students never quit learning.
So the next time you are punched in the mouth...immediately think "I am glad that happened!" and fight back stronger than ever.
Thanks for everyone who has donated to my drive for Alzheimer's. While these funds will come no where close to finding a cure. The funds will at least help light a small fire under progress!
Make It Count!
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