Secret Sauce

 

Man's Life Stages

Making the most of life is always important but never as important as when you near your Golden Years.  I refer to this post as Man's Life Stages only because it's being shared by me and obviously a man's perspective.  Having said that, all I share will also apply to a person of the opposite gender.  

Three Measures

For the purpose of this post, I will use three measures on every Stage of Life, and they are: Time, Money, and Energy.

• First Stage - Youth: Many young men during their high school years and some even into college have plenty of time and energy but minimal money.  

1. Without a doubt, most often by choice or circumstance.  Their values and priorities have yet to be developed.  I on the other hand had my very first successful business at the age of 10.  Some might say I was lucky, however, Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.  
2. I'm sure that multitasking has been around for a long time, I can't remember a time when I didn't have at least 3 or 4 things going on at the same time.  I would even go as far as to say that the common problem is lacking motivation, and thus lacking money.

• Second Stage - Adult: Young adults by now for the most part have completed college or entered the work force, started a business and/or are working their way up the corporate ladder. Some maybe even have gotten married and are raising a family.  All of a sudden they find themselves (hopefully) with plenty of money, and energy (still young) but no time. 

1. It doesn't have to be as describes but I'll guess that a sampling would show approximately 90% as described.
2. This stage of life is a time when many relationships get stressed to the breaking point.  If you don't have a strategy and great partner to help you through it, you may run into some tough challenges.  Managing your limited time is crucial.  My wife and I had 4 children, and I was fortunate that she wanted to be a stay at home mom until all the children were attending school full time. In the meantime she was involved in our family business which didn't impose a stringent work schedule on her. 

• Third Stage - Old: If you worked smart and diligently had some good luck, and kept all the chainsaws you were juggling up in the air, you should find yourself with lots of time, ample money, but low on energy.

1. Hopefully you made your money for retirement and made some wise investment choices before you ran low on energy.  I've always said that in life I took some risks based on knowing that if I failed I had enough time to recover the losses.
2. However, at some point in my age progressions I started playing it safe.

And now for the Secret Sauce:  There is one element that can make all the difference in the world at every one of the 3 stages especially the third one.  I'm sure we have all heard someone say, "if only I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself."  We don't all have the blessings of good genes, or healthy habits plus a great life partner who keeps us on the straight and narrow to better life choices.

If you already missed the train to good health in your golden years, then you must share this and other similar articles with your children so they don't end up finding out at a later time in life.  As always, I make the claim that I am healthy, happy and blessed.  I still have enough energy to be working, even if I really don't have to (because I am retired).  I still enjoy long road trips in which I do all the driving by choice.  I have many interests and I stay mobile and involved.  Remember: If you don't get of the couch while you can, you won't be able to get off when you have to.  The best is yet to come.....

Never Again

Never Again

God knows I've lived long enough to earn the right to say, "Now I've seen everything!"  Somewhere along the way, and until recently, I'm very sure there was nothing left out there to surprise me or better yet shock me.

Enter the pandemic.  I had experience in my life time (not affected or infected): Tuberculosis, Polio, Whooping Cough, Cholera, HIV, Cancer, etc., etc., etc. I never thought that I would see a time where the whole world human race would be affected at the same time.  I had never seen or expected to see a situation where all the schools in the country would be closed down.  Businesses would be shut down, the population would be asked to stay home, and/or wear masks.

Twin Towers Memorial

I remember right after 911 and the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers (New York), the whole country's air travel was shut down.  It was eerie to to look up at the night sky and not see any air traffic (navigational lights blinking).  One of my sons got caught up in the travel industry shut down. I was going to say that he got stuck, thought better of it because he got stranded (not) in Hawaii. Lucky dog, although I must admit at the time, it must having been scary not knowing when you could get back home, or if the homeland was at war and continued attack. The whole situation with 911 terrorist attack was one of those instances where even with all my life experience, I didn't see it coming.

One of those nights, right after the Twin Tower attack, I was in my home office getting some work done and to my shock, I heard a single engine plane approaching the vicinity of my residence and quickly fly very low overhead.  My first thought was the pilot was flying under the radar, my second thought was, if our Air Force is as good as I think it is, there should be some military jets close behind in hot pursuit. I don't think the thought cleared my mind, when I heard the high pitch whine of a couple of jet fighters in pursuit.

Homeland Protector

The pandemic has introduced me to many first time experiences.  I could never imagine over 900,000 Covid 19 Deaths in the United States to date (as of this writing).  After all this time in my wonderful life I hadn't lost very many of my friends and relatives.  Now, in the first 6 months of 2021, I have lost more friends and relatives than I have in my whole life. Education has been shut down to in person participation for about a year and a half.  I never thought that would ever happen.  Many friends and relatives have lost the ability to support their families because of the Vaccine Mandate. I won't make my choice known because I believe that individuals have the right to make up their own decisions and I wouldn't want to begin to influence anyone. I've always expressed that my opinions are exactly that, and no influence is intended.

I sincerely hope that all my readers are surviving the pandemic, and even thriving if possible.  As usual I make the claim that I and my immediate family are happy, healthy and blessed.  I wish I could tell you that normal is just around the corner, but to be very honest with you, I'm not even sure that we will recognize normal when it arrives.

I'll gladly add a positive note to this post.  In my entire life (and I am presently retired) I have never made a job move that wasn't for the better.  So for any of you that are being manipulated out of your career, just know that better days are ahead of you. Take every precaution that you deem necessary to keep you and yours safe, don't pay any attention to the haters, you do you.  The best is yet to come....

The Silver Lining

The Silver Lining

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always found the Silver Lining on all situations no matter how dire they may be.  If we believe in the All mighty, then we must believe that he wouldn’t paint us into a corner.  No matter what he throws at us, we always have free agency (the ability to make choices).  We can choose between, good and bad or bad and worse, and even good and better.

Whenever I find myself in a less than positive situation (not often) I try to figure out what it is that I can do to improve it or even turn it into a total positive.

I won’t bother you with all the details because right now, even I don’t have all the information that is being generated on my behalf.

I won’t tell you my exact age, because if I did, I may have to do away with you (LOL) but suffice to know that even I am amazed at how great of a life I’ve had and how healthy I’ve been.  I was beginning to think that some day I could just drop dead and people would say but he was so healthy.

Four months ago, I went to the doctor’s office for something totally unrelated to what I’m presently dealing with right now.  My regular physician was not available because I came in with a last-minute appointment, so another physician saw me and during the course of regular examination discovered that I had a heart murmur.  She asked me how long I had the murmur.  I explained that I wasn’t aware of any murmurs.

Since then and in short order, I’ve talked to a cardiologist twice, and a couple of heart surgeons.  I’ve had 3 different tests that help determine that I am strong and healthy not yet showing symptoms but definitely need to take action, if I want to take control of my life, literally.

I’ve said it before and will repeat it again and again.  In life there are two people that you need to stay in contact with (communicate), your doctor, and the Internal revenue agent.  No particular order.

Before I cause any damage to my heart, I need to act, the sooner the better.  As I’ve mentioned before, we have free agency (we can make choices).  I can elect to ignore the problem and ruin my quality of life (maybe even be gone within 4 to five years); I can elect the least intrusive and painful way (shorter history to go by).  I have consulted with my wife and selected the more intrusive way, more painful and longest recovery period.  My selection also has a history dating back to the 1950’s with much better odds of success and longevity.

I’m sharing my situation on this blog for two main reasons: 1- I asked family and friends for prayers without an explanation.  I feel that those that offered prayers deserve a thank you and an explanation. 2- I want every person that follows my blog and FB Page to take care of themselves and listen to their body and medical professionals.  For those of you that are in my age range (whatever that might be), life is even more precious than ever.  I will keep you posted on my progress.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.  Stay positive always. I know that the best is yet to come….

Old Dog vs New Tricks

Old Dog vs New Tricks

“you can't teach an old dog new trick.”

Saying said to mean that it is very difficult to teach someone new skills or to change someone's habits or character. ~Cambridge Dictionary

I’ve often said that I tolerate change when necessary for improvement, but never for change sake.  I also embrace the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” adage.

Having explained my philosophy of life in a nutshell, I’m about to turn my firm habits upside down.  Please bear with me and understand that I am not trying to convince you of anything.  Two weeks into this new direction and already I can’t imagine not having tried this much earlier.

I’ve been retired from my career for a while now and my one on one interaction with people is limited to a handful of friends that have stuck together for around 30 years. As you might imagine we have more than a few similarities in our lives.  We are said to be set in our ways. We mostly don’t disagree because many of our differences have been settled early on.

My one lasting influence is and has (seems forever) been my wife.  She isn’t just my wife and friend, but more importantly my oldest most reliable and only partner in business and life.  I had the opportunity and made the decision to retire early, she on the other hand was a bit younger and decided to keep working at her career.

Best to start them young

Here is the rest of the story.  She is still getting out in the work world and learning and sharing information.  She recently came home with information that some people she knows had purchased medical marijuana medication for mundane ailments and were pleasantly surprised that it worked better than some expensive pain medication they had been using.

In an effort at full disclosure:  1) I’ve never used any kind of illegal or recreational drugs, I even avoid prescription and over the counter pain killers at any cost.  I never picked up the habit of smoking cigarettes; first because I felt the 25 cents a pack was ridiculous when as a teenager I was making 80 cents per hour, secondly because I loved participating in school sports, you could be dropped from the team if caught smoking or drinking. 2) we are fortunate that Washington State is a legal marijuana State.

My wife insisted that I try the medication for back pain (the price I pay for a lifetime of daredevil auto and motorcycle sports racing).  I promise you that I was not an easy sell.  I grew up with an image of shady dark alley transactions that people relied on to acquire their illicit supplies.  To be continued.  Look for part 2 to be titled: “Medical Alternatives.”  The best is yet to come……..