Pick a fight

"I've been told its a good idea to start a speech with a joke. Well, don't get your hopes up. I'm not hear to tell jokes. I'm here to pick a fight. I'm hear to pick a fight with second place. I have about as much patience for second place, as I do for flies in my soup. But maybe you like flies in your soup. Maybe you like second place. Maybe you like that 'you gave it your best, better luck next time' malarky they spoonfeed runner ups. Let me put it another way; if you think second place is ok, go ask Napoleon how he felt about coming in second at Waterloo. Not so good, not so good. And you can spare me the 'its not if you win or lose, its how you play the game' bullshit, becuase whoever said that, lost the game. The moral of the story - come in first. Still want to hear a joke? Fine. Here's one for you -


'Knock knock.'

'Who's there?'

'The guy who finished second.'

'The guy who finished second who? The guy who finished second who?....'

Exactly.

Versus Promo Clip for the NHL


Hello all,



So, let's get right into it tonight. Lots to cover. The above quote, one of my personal favorites, applies to all of us, in a way that far exceeds sport or fitness. Let me explain.



I absolutely, positively, can not stand losing. I actually hate losing more than I love winning. Its not that I hate losing simply in racing, I hate losing in any area of life. I hate the notion of giving up or giving in. I know that I will fail at times, but that is a part of the process to achieving victory in life. What I mean is, if you look at life as a long journey, a long war of highs and lows, then you understand that this process, living life day to day, you know that there are "victories" to be had everywhere.



I come from a long and storied line of people who hate to lose. Starting with my grandfather Guy. For those of you who don't know the stories, ask my Gram to share with you his distaste for losing. Or ask anyone he played cards with. Same with my Gram - you think she plays Words with Friends with her grandkids to just keep in touch? She likes to win. Trust me. That trait got passed down to her children, one being my father, who everyone in the family knows, absolutely hates losing. And for those of you in the family who didn't know this one, my mother, dearest Angela or Lina, is not a fan of losing either. Play a board game with her and find out.



My mom's brothers fall in that same category, with one of my uncle's, Tony, a retired GE employee, still wheeling and dealing, refurbishing and selling instruments, even when he was in the hospital having surgery for a broken femur. I personally saw that one. He wasn't about to let a good sale go, so he had the buyer meet him at Loyola, in his hospital room. His brother, Dominic, is just as competitive, reminding through my youth, that losing, truly sucks.



From my parents generation, the "gene" was passed to us, myself, and my 2 siblings being ultra competitive - yes even the wonderful, sweet Laura is a competitive beast. And then there's me. But what I have learned over the last 2 years is that fighting, and fighting to win in life, is how we not only survive, but thrive.



Which leads me to tonight's topic. I'm going to share an intimate and personal story with you, to illustrate my point. My uncle Dominic has Parkinson's. The actual length of time he has been fighting it is somewhat unknown, but he was diagnosed less than 6 months ago. Its been a battle, and one that I didn't truly know the depths of until a few weeks ago. On a chance phone call with my mom, I was told how advanced it was, and his current struggles. I refused to believe that he was simply supposed to allow the illness to progress, leaving him further incapacitated and in need of constant care. That he was supposed to simply wait for medications to make it manageable. Before I hung up with my mother, I promised her more answers in 24 hours. That was 7:30 pm on a Friday night.



I didn't sleep, instead, going to work in the Evil Lab, starting to research everything about how Parkinson's works, to the levels, to the medications, then, connecting the dots as to how to put everything together. I have a board full of the chemical breakdown as to what dopamine looks like, the amino acids that feed it, to filling a note pad with formulas, and clinical research. I called Brian, getting feedback from them on the movement side, double checking my understanding of the affects of Parkinsons on movement patterns and how to rebuild muscle tissue and memory. As promised, I contacted my Mom and my cousin Grace, my uncle's middle daughter, and let them know that there is hope, that there is a way to beat this thing back.



I spent the rest of the weekend researching, then called my Aunt Maryann, and told her to get ready, b/c that Tuesday night, I was coming over with lots of info. When I got there, I laid out my research, and how Parkinsons is not a death sentence; that although there is not a cure, there are more natural or homeopathic ways of addressing it, which actually help to reverse the affects of Parkinsons. As I spoke, I made it clear that this was a fight, but one that was winnable, and that faith combined with hard work, was going to make this possible. A Paleo diet, with exercises that work on rebuilding the feet, then the legs, - moving up the chain, with the use of compression to encourage better blood flow, and quicker recovery. To a man I have always admired my whole life, I was able to give him something that I never thought I could - hope.



With that one visit, things changed, and they will continue to as he improves his strength and health. This past week, we were given a wonderful surprise, when I shared my research with the guys at SKINS. They were so impressed and touched by his story, his fight, they wanted to help. They are sending him their high end compression gear to aid in his recovery. They knew that in times like this, a fighter needs allies, and it is just amazing to see the help that people are willing to give. To stand by his side to get him to win. This is a man that I have never known to take shit from anyone, so this is not the time for him to start. For someone that hates losing, he needed to know that he wasn't going to battle alone, that he can win. That he will win. I have complete faith in that. I haven't stopped researching, and I haven't stopped in my search to learn as much as possible about beating this thing.



The reason I'm sharing this is simple. We all have stuff that happens to us, health wise, fitness wise, what have you, where we are too quick to let that thing win. For some reason, our competitiveness simply leaves us, and we fall limp, content to just "ride it out". I've seen people who have been competitive beasts there whole life, suddenly succumb to an illness. And it doesn't have to be this way. We just celebrated breast cancer awareness month, pink strewn across the country to show support. But how many of you women, healthy women, have scheduled mammograms? How many of you stopped saying "there but for the grace of God go I" and took some time to be proactive to prevent breast cancer?



And for you guys - next month is Prostate cancer awareness month. Same question - different body part - you schedule your exam? Have you taken the time to do some homework to prevent the likelihood of getting what 1 in 3 men over the age of 45 are diagnosed with? Getting the picture?



I know most of you pretty well, and I know you guys are a competitive, bad ass bunch. So if you are currently suffering from something that you've been told "well, it comes with age", or "looks like you'll be on XYZ meds the rest of your life", issue, time to saddle up my snowflakes. You're thyroid not responding properly? There's a way to fight that. You stuck on antidepressants? Same deal. Do not accept defeat from anything. Your body is capable of more than you ever dreamed. Let me repeat that - your body is capable of more than you ever dreamed. We are a country that was founded on fighting. We fought to gain independence, and we haven't stopped since. Now on a personal level, what is your fight? And why aren't you winning?



I write these newsletters to remind all of you, that you aren't alone. That in your battle, all around you are people who will stand with you, right next to you, to carry you if necessary, in your battle. Arm yourself. Be your own advocate. Grab whatever it is that ails you by its rotten throat and rip it open. Be angry. In the words of Zach De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine "Anger is a gift". Embrace your anger. Let it guide you to take responsibility to for what you've got going on. And always remember who is always there - me. Yes, miserable, angry, yet quite engaging, me. Now, you still feel like its ok to just sit back and take it? You think second ain't so bad? Then let me refer you to the above quote. Yeah, second place sucks. Now go get your fight on, my delicate snowflakes.



I'm OUT   Guy