You may have noticed that I do not post as often in the winter. Snow is my thing. Skiing, snow making and playing in snow. If it is not the natural stuff then I will make my own. Here is one of the ways I spend my Winter time.
I started training for competitive body building about 3 years ago. Perhaps it was a midlife crisis or something. I had just turned 51 and body building competition had been on my list of ‘Things To Do Someday’ dream list for about 30 years. When my network marketing company sent me on a free vacation to Hawaii I picked up a muscle magazine. For some reason whenever I go on vacation I start thinking about things on my fun ‘to-do’ list. While looking at the magazine, I realized that it was time. I thought “I have been holding onto this dream for almost 30 years. If I don’t do it soon, this it will pass me by.” I am not one to give up on a dream so I wasted no more time before starting my body building career. I realized that there was nothing stopping me from doing it, so I did.
I began to focus on body building as my passion outside of my business. I studied and read body building books, subscribed to body building journals, went to body building competitions and hung out with body builders. I got a personal trainer, joined the gym, bought body building apparel and basically learned every aspect of body building. It took focus. I focused on scheduling time to get to the gym each week. I focused on eating foods that build muscle. I focused on visualizing winning competitions; I focused on the enjoyment of the sport. I focused on my health. I focused on what other body builders did. I focused my studies on my new sport.
I was determined to be a winning body builder. There were times it was not easy. I kept my determination and now, after two seasons of competition, I can say that I have enjoyed several successes as a body builder. The body building trophies and medals remind me of the determination and commitment that it takes to be an entrepreneur. When I first quit the corporate world I did exactly the same thing. I focused on network marketing, I studied and read books on network marketing, I subscribed to networking magazines. I scheduled time for my business. I joined a team of successful reps and hired a coach or mentor. I visualized myself quitting my full time job. I visualized myself on a free vacation in Hawaii. I focused all my studies on my new career.
It hasn’t always been easy, yet I have kept my determination. The only difference between success and failure is the ability to stay committed. In both body building and network marketing I have been told by friends and relatives that I am crazy for sticking with it. In both a hobby and a career I have occasionally had thoughts that maybe they were right. I have even thought that it was not worth all the work. I did not fail because I did not quit. The number one reason anyone fails in anything is because they stop!
You deserve to enjoy life. Both your career and hobbies and dreams should be enjoyed. Know that they are attainable. Body building is the same as being self-employed. It is all about your commitment to yourself. You deserve to receive all the good in life, so give yourself the opportunity to live your dreams. Stay committed to achieving your dreams, both in your personal world and in your work world.
This 2 minute clip is the result of 30 years of dreaming and 3 years of commitment and focus. Natural body builders are judged in two segments. In the morning on symmetry and muscularity and in the evening on posing. I earned a 4th place in my age group and 5th in overall women’s physique. This is the evening performance in Middletown, PA on October 6, 2007.
Deb’s posing routine at the NABBA American Championships
Most of you know that my speaking services have dual interest. I speak as much on health as I do on home business cash flow. Today I presented the hilariously funny school assembly Debbie Banana And The Mad Scientist 4 times! The Coudersport Elementary School in Coudersport, PA invited me to present two assemblies to the students and two to the parents coming this evening to the parent-teacher night. Debbie Banana teaches the kids that they will grow up to be healthy when they eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. The Mad Scientist teaches them what is really in that box of macaroni and cheese. The evening events were a short adult version of the same assembly, so that the parents are also experiencing what the kids learned.
Even though the day was really long, this was a unique experience that I really appreciated. Most of the time when I present in schools, I do the assembly, talk briefly to the kids and leave. Today I have had the privilege of spending the entire day here. During the afternoon at the school I really became aware of how much impact the program has on the kids. I had many students come up me and high-five me. (The program teaches five fruits and veggies and that there are 5 ingredients in wholesome homemade macaroni and cheese.) A small shy girl from the kindergarten level who came back in the evening with her Dad hesitantly told me that she ate carrots for a snack. I had several kids actually say that they would never eat macaroni in a box again for the rest of their lives. In the evening parents were coming to the workshop early because their kids had been talking so much about the assembly. I really enjoyed being involved in the whole day at Couldersport Elementary School and receiving all of the positive feed back.
The drive home was long and the moon hung over the highway like a wedge of orange hanging in the sky. I had a lot of time to think. When presenting to adults, I know that participation creates more learning. Debbie Banana And The Mad Scientist is not your typical boring school assembly. Kids have fun, laugh and get involved. Everyone shops or buys with their emotions. I realize now how effective this program is due to the emotional involvement that the children have when participating in the event. Everyone learns and invests in life based on their emotions. Like a home party, when an assembly engages the kids, they have fun in school and become emotionally involved. This creates an immediate impact in their lives now and for the future. My mission is to change the way kids eat now and into the future. I made good progress toward that goal today.
I am impressed with some of the schools and school principals like Mrs. Sherry Cowburn at Coudersport Elementary School that prioritize the healthy education of the children. Unfortunately, many Americans, as well as schools, only give lip service to a desire for health. Money, prestige, and education are useless when you give away your gift of health. When more schools begin to really prioritize wellness education, maybe we will begin to overcome some of the obesity issues in the US.
Did You Ever Sleep In An Airport? Aka: Life is Like an Airport!
This is the conclusion of the post of July 22, 2007.
It is now 3 days later, my laptop died after that last sentence. I knew it was coming. They gave out cots, blankets, and pillows. They were only allowed to hand out 500 cots. That really pissed people off, because there were more in the closet and we all could see them. I made it my mission to find a cot for the pregnant lady, the 76-year-old and the women with disabilities. I went from one cot issue area to the other and was continually sent to the next location, I walked back and forth in the airport, end-to-end repeatedly and the best I could do was get everyone pillows and extra blankets
If you have never slept on an airport floor with a blanket, you have never lived life fully. I was shocked at how painful it was. I am reasonably healthy and I never expected to experience such discomfort. Yes, I know it is a cement floor, but I didn’t think it would be that bad. I kept waking up with sharp pains in my back, neck, knees, you name it. I can not imagine how the other women managed with their various infirmities. The lights were so bright and periodically, an ignorant group of people would storm by being loud and obnoxious regarding the situation and their lack of a cot.
The 1000 people in the airport that night represented all walks of life, every personality and ethnic group. There were old, young, infants, kids, male, female, the executive, the hippie and the mountain man were all represented. The Air Force, Army and National Guard were at the airport as well. I saw a family of kids, plus Mom and Dad, sleeping in the play area. People were happy, angry, drunk, acting insane, had Alzheimer’s, yelling, crying, arguing, complaining and being ignorant.
I personally, took the evening as a reprieve from life. Or even a bit of adventure. I do not understand why some people were so upset. My small groups of new friends in G-9 were all content to be in the airport, safe and secure. I mean think about it. Would you rather be sleeping on a hard airport floor, or would you rather be flying in an airplane with gale force winds, lightning, and thunder pummeling your plane?
What is so bad about being comfortable on a safe and secure cement floor? I am grateful that the officials in charge of those decisions decided to ground the flights. Really, what’s the problem? Life is like an airport, whether you are in or out of the airport and ……
Life goes on!
