Are You Getting Enough To Eat

             

            Memorial Day just ushered in the unofficial start to the summer.  To those who fell off the New Year’s Resolution Weight Loss Bandwagon, now is the time many people saddle back up for a fast and furious ride to get in shape before summer hits in all of her fury.

            A lifestyle change is always the best choice for proper weight loss, according to most medical professionals.  Still, depending on the latest diet craze, at least one person in everyone’s inner circle is cutting calories, cutting carbs, cutting fat, or cutting nutrition.  I recently talked with a friend who’s on a diet (prescribed her doctor) where her calorie restriction is 500 per day!

            But imagine, if you didn’t eat ANYTHING for an entire week?  Perhaps, just perhaps you could survive on water, but you would become weak.  Now, imagine going an entire month without eating.  NOTHING.  Not crackers, not lettuce.  NOTHING.  Goose Egg.

            I am not a doctor; however, I do think many people who completely cut out food for a month would suffer severe damage to their internal organs.  And unfortunately, some would not survive at all.

            The recommended daily consumption of calories is 2000 to 2500 depending on how active the individual is.  So not eating for an entire month is like having a deficiency of 60,000 calories.

            It is so important to fuel the body with proper nutrition but even junk food will keep it running, even if not at optimal performance.

            On any given day, most people eat each day.  Some eat more meals than others, but unless the baby was sick and the project was due, we make time to eat.  We feed our bodies.

            Yet.

            On any given day, many of us do not feed our minds or our spirits.  Weeks and months can pass by and some of us rarely deposit anything of substance to help us grow. 

            Just like the body would become frail, damaged, and close to death without food for weeks or months, our minds and our spirits function the same way.  Social media does provide some informative discourse and at times, inspirational passages.  But, it’s not a substitute for ongoing deliberate regimen of learning, meditation, and self refection.

            Developing a daily ritual of reading, journaling, quiet time, and focusing within is a necessary part of a balanced emotional diet.  And ongoing educational investments in our careers and businesses are vital for our work livelihood too.

            Got soul food?

Everybody Plays the Fool

            

          It’s an old school song title with a message to those who have loved and lost.  I even wrote a poem with the same title a several years ago.  It has become a cliché term of sorts.  And yet, no one wants to be the fool.

            April Fool’s Day brings out the jovial and lighthearted side of friends and co-workers.  When I worked in corporate America, I remember quite a few gut busting pranks that my co-workers managed to pull off on a few supervisors. 

            I even recall going out with a guy on a second date.  He introduced to me his ex-wife.  Talk about odd!  It was actually his sister and yes, and an April Fool’s joke.  We all laughed about it.  It was funny, after I found out his sister was not his ex.

            But, playing the fool is no fun the other 364 days of the year and yet, some of us, do it on a regular basis.  It’s the big river called, Denial, pun intended.  When we are in denial about what our lives are really like, we drown ourselves in self inflicted pain.  Now, I’m not talking about setting a goal, having a vision for your life and focusing on manifesting that goal before you attain it.  That’s totally different. 

            I’m talking about lying.  Most of us have been told at some point in our lives that “Honesty is the best policy.”  And while lying to someone else is certainly not a good thing, lying to ourselves is just as tragic.  When you pretend that all is well but every day is a struggle to keep up the front, you’re really just fooling yourself.

            Everybody does play the fool, sometimes.  How long are you willing to stay in that role?

Run Tell That

I am constantly amazed at the power of the Internet.  Exhibit #1: Antoine Dodson.  For those who are not familiar with the name, Dodson is funny guy with a larger than life personality who became an internet sensation in 2010.  He spoke to the media in a news clip about someone attempting to rape his sister.  That clip was later remixed with music and the video went viral.  The rest is internet history.

Since that time, Dodson was able to move his family from the neighborhood they lived in at the time of the attack.  He developed a following online.  He created a T-Shirt line, Halloween costumes and has been busy performing in shows around the country.   I caught up with Dodson and his manager in Los Angeles a couple of months ago in Los Angeles.

In the news clip, one of the warnings Dodson issued to the person who attacked his sister was, “Run tell that homeboy.”  It eventually became a slogan for him.  In fact a couple of years ago, I saw someone wearing a T-shirt with that phrase stitched across the front at a cookout.  It’s interesting that what could have been his “fifteen minutes of fame” has spread over a few years.

So here’s my question for you:  What are you running to tell?  Are you spreading news about your mission?  Or are you spreading gossip?  If you’re not spreading your mission, what’s stopping you?  If a young man who was living at home with his family in a public housing neighborhood can take a small opportunity and grow it into a life changing moment, why can’t you?

By the way, I released a new book, Rays of Motivation™ on March 7, 2013.  It’s available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/Z41urY.

Run Tell That.  And make it a great week!