A healthier life?

                                                                   Dan & Cindi Brasher





I have taken a new path during recent months.  I have decided to walk the less traveled road to a healthier life.  I haven't always been dedicated to this way. I am 58 years old and I've spent most of my life living like a Normal American.  I've chased dollars, fun, achievement, position and, oh yes, significance. I was always going somewhere; a bigger house, a better car, a higher position with the company, and a larger income.  There's a series of commercials on the air right now for AT&T.  They have one message at their core, and that is that bigger is better.  Thus, since they claim to have the largest cell phone network, they must be better.  But is bigger always better?  I don't think so.

You can spend your life pursuing success in business, while ignoring your wife and kids and you may end up with plenty of money but lots of regret. One of the reasons that I so enjoy this current generation of young people is that they don't want to spend their lives enslaved by the tedium of a job they hate and a life of insignificance.  The good news is that with the advent of modern technology and the ability to communicate brought to us by the internet, almost anyone can gain significance.  Nothing is more powerful than a good idea at the right time.  If you have doubts just think about Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs.  All they had was a good idea at the right time.  Their ideas have changed the world we live in and at the same time they have opened the door for the birth and growth of other new ideas.

Throughout the past 40 or so years I never thought about a healthier life.  I slowly gained a few pounds every year and grew from 180 to over 260 pounds.  I grew from a 30 inch waist up to 42 inches at my apex.  I was busy learning to multitask and losing the ability to focus or relax.  I ate anything that I wanted, because I could afford it, never realizing that my health could not afford the food choices I was making.  You can choose fun food, or sweet food, or comfort food, but you can't continue to make those choices all or even most of the time if you want a healthier life.

9 weeks ago I ran into a brick wall that we know as a heart attack, and I had quadruple bypass heart surgery.  I have come to the startling revelation that you can't enjoy life without your health.  Today I spent nearly 2 hours at the gym on the treadmill, the recumbant bicycle, and lifting weights.  I haven't eaten meat for nearly four months, and I've given up foods that are sweet, pre-made or processed.  I actually eat food that is healthy.

I have started doing all of this for one reason, alone.  I want to live a healthier life.  If that is what you want then I hope that you will join me on this  journey, and I welcome your comments.