SelfHelpCollective.com

The mind is a powerful thing let me tell you.

by Mars
(United States)

A fit and healthy body, and a positive mind, was enough for me to overcome setbacks that would have broken many others...

(STORY THEME: Positive Attitude)

...I have always been very athletic, although in school I was very small and of course the corresponding beatings etc followed. No problem, no crying; just fact. But it actually made me strong.

So, growing up I really got into the Bruce Lee thing along with some time in the Martial Arts before joining the Navy. Now here is where it gets so neat. During my second year of Navy time, I found a Wing Chun school in the Norfolk, Va area where I was stationed aboard The U.S.S. Independence CV-62, which was an Aircraft Carrier. I operated Radar and Communications while in the service, by the way. What is Wing Chun? It is the same basic Martial Art that Bruce Lee did. Really. Now, later he evolved it and all that, but the basis of everything he did was from the foundations of Wing Chun!! It does not stop there. The teacher at this school was boy hood friends with Bruce. Now go figure. Yep, he had pictures and, of course, stories of his time in Hong Kong with Bruce as they both went to the same school taught by a man named, Yip Man. Seriously.

So, fast forward again, I am now married and I feel faint back in 04 in December. I go to the doctor he thinks he hears a murmur, so sends me to a specialist where I find out that I have a heart valve that is faulty. Seems it was faulty from birth; who knew? So, yea, I have to get this thing repaired by way of open heart surgery. You read right. I had the same surgery that Arnold Schwarzenegger had done back in '97. Oh, by this time I am a natural bodybuilder, so I love Arnold, Frank Zane, Dave Draper, Jay Cutler and others.

Also, while still in Virginia Beach, and after I got out of the service, I had to ride a bicycle everywhere because of losing my license. I did this for almost ten years. You can imagine my cardio and my shape. All of this stuff saved my life. Without my hard life and pushing my body to utter outer limits the doctors said they would have never met me. Whew!

So, I had the operation and let me tell you the rehab was something. So hard. So scary. I was very scared because of really bad feelings when I would try to push hard. But I kept at it. There is so much that happens when you have this kind of major surgery that it would take another email to explain them here. There are a lot.

So, now I am bigger, stronger and better than ever. The only major problem I have now is my lower back hurts a bit. Actually a lot at times. But, I still keep up the pace.

I know and understand limitations when it comes to life and to exercise and being in shape. I also certainly know what it takes to commit to something and how to follow through. The mind is a powerful thing let me tell you. Our souls are so wanting to excel and to win but so many just don't know how or simply need help to implement what they need and want to do. I have had clients cry in front of me because they were so ashamed of how they looked etc. Usually women, but some men too. Women are very leery of going to a regular gym because of those reasons it seems. So, we have a gym here in our home that is downstairs. Believe me, it is a complete gym too. I train here one on one. My training is unconventional too. I use techniques I learned in the service, in Wing Chun, and, of course, what I have learned in both by experience and by study.

Oh, I also went back to school when I first hurt my back and got my Bachelor's degree. When I started I could not even turn on the computer!!! I could not find the on button.

Again... The mind is a powerful thing let me tell you.