I've Fallen...But I'm Getting Back Up!!!

If you're like me, there have probably been times in your life when you felt like giving up. Maybe there have been times when you tried and tried to accomplish something and were met with failure. And maybe it seems that no matter what you do to try to get ahead, something always drags you backwards. You may think the saying, "One step forward and two steps back" might always apply to your life. The truth is that all of use have probably felt like this at one time or another. I honestly believe that when times get rough, it is our perspective on any given situation that makes the difference on whether we let that situation get the best of us, or whether we rise above that situation and use that experience to learn and grow as a human being. In today's society, we have it constantly ingrained in our consciousness that failure is a terrible thing.We need to be honest with ourselves and accept the fact that failure is a part of life. But the thing is...without failure, we can never have success!! There are countless stories of successful people who failed many times. The difference that separates those successful people from those who don't experience success is the willingness to learn from their failures and rise above their failings. The ability to accept failure and learn from it requires a fair amount of humbleness, dedication and a never say die attitude. In order to rise up above failure to achieve success, you can't let your failings keep you down. You have to get up, dust yourself off and keep going! Success doesn't come easy...but then again life isn't easy. Take your failures and turn them around keep getting up!!!

When Is Enough Enough???

Have you ever reached a point in your life where you realized that you are sick and tired? Maybe you're fed up with the direction your life is going. Maybe you're sick and tired of being sick and tired. You know that there is more to your life than just the everyday routine things you do. You know that you have greatness built inside of you and yet maybe for whatever reason you haven't realized your true potential. While we all have the potential to be great, we all have to reach a point where we say...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!

SO...with that said...when do you reach the point where you tell yourself enough is enough? For me personally, my "enough is enough" moment came when I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. My blood sugar levels were WAY out of control and at the rate I was going, I was headed towards a big possibility that if I didn't change the things I was doing in my life, I was headed to an early death. That was my reality at that time. At the same time, I was recently married and we had a daughter. If there ever was a time when I had to make changes, that was the time! I had a wife and daughter who needed me to be around and take care of them. I had a responsibility to be there for them to provide for them and take care of them. I knew that I had to change my life or I would be letting them down in a big way. That is when I made some serious changes in my life. I started working out and I changed my eating habits. When I started exercising regularly and eating better, my blood sugar levels were back to normal and I was taken off all the medication I was on for the diabetes and high blood pressure.

Even though I was successful in making those changes in my life, there is always one thought in the back of mind that always makes me wonder. Why did it take being diagnosed with Type II diabetes for me to say enough is enough? Why does it take something as drastic as an illness to wake us up and realize, "HEY...I NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY I'M LIVING MY LIFE!" This sentiment doesn't always have to be health related either. It can reach into other aspects of your life as well. It can be relationships, financial matters (this holds true for me now, but that is another subject altogether), spiritual matters, or emotional matters. No matter what aspect of your life you feel you need to improve, you have to tell yourself that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! You have to be the one to wake up to the reality that you want better for your life. You have to be the one to say that making life changes is hard, BUT life is going to be even harder if you don't make those changes.

I know that making positive changes is difficult. If it wasn't difficult, then everyone would be making those changes and we would all be perfect specimens. Our world is not perfect. Our lives are not perfect. BUT...the decisions we make everyday is something that we can control.That decision to eat better, or that decision to take a walk is well within our control. It's all up to you. When are you going to reach the point where you tell yourself...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

The Best Investment You'll Ever Make!!

If you watch this video, you may find that the speaker is talking to you personally because I knew it felt that way for me! After watching this video, it became clear to me that a lot of what was said is in fact pointed towards me. There have been times in my life when I was more concerned about how others viewed me that I totally neglected how I viewed myself. I never took the time to fully realize that I needed to work on me. I never realized that I had to "invest in me"!

Now that I'm a little bit older, (and hopefully more wiser), I can look back over my life and see the missed opportunities I had to make that investment. I see some decisions in my life that were easy decisions to make, but yet I didn't make the best decision. I should have started getting fit and healthy a long time ago...but I never did! I should have made better financial decisions...but I never did! I should have done this and that...but I never did!

So now is the time! Now is the time to look at the past and learn from the past. Now is the time to get priorities in order and forge ahead with my future. Not only is it my time to get busy living...it can be yours too! Take the time to look deep within yourself and find that little spark that can get you to think how to invest in yourself. Take action now...don't put it off any longer! You have put it off long enough....just go after it and don't settle for anything less than what you have set out to do!!!

Learning To Fly!

One of the greatest gifts we possess is the ability to push ourselves into being something bigger and better than we ever imagined! There are many people in this world who have realized they have this gift and have used this gift to transform their lives into something extraordinary Some people don't even realize that they have this gift and so they wander through life wishing they could do something to change their life. They spend their days looking at others who have used this gift and and sometimes they become jealous or sometimes envious or angry that they can't be like those people.Well guess what??? You are one of those people who posses that very same gift!!! The only problem is that you don't realize it yet! Contrary to popular belief...you posses this gift too!! Sometimes you don't realize that it is there because of those little voices inside your head that tell you that you will never amount to anything. Sometimes it's those fears that are deep within you and you feed  those fears by thinking that there is no way you can live a life full of positivity and substance! Well I'm here to tell you that you have greatness inside of you. You have an inner strength that you need to tap into because once you do, you can transform your life into something beautiful and spectacular! All it takes is a willingness to change. Once this willingness is in place, then take that first step (even if it is an itty bitty step) and start your transformation to greatness! To quote a motivational poster that used to hang in some of my high school classes, "YOU ARE A WORTHWHILE PERSON!" Once you start believing in yourself, you will see you own worth and you will want to nurture that worth and take care of that worth! Once that happens, you will have found your wings and you will be ready to fly!!!

A Change of Direction...it can lead to BIG things!!

We, as human beings, are a strange lot sometimes. Somewhere in the depths of our brains we sometimes get stuck in the daily routines of our lives.

Tell me if this sounds somewhat familiar to you...

Get up in the morning....get ready for work...get in the car...go to work....take off for a lunch break...go back to work...work a few more hours...go home...have some dinner...watch some TV...go to bed and do it all over again in the morning...

Other than the occasional change in those plans, this routine probably holds true for most people and there are variations in those plans, like kid's sports practices, other obligations, etc. For many, this seems like bring stuck in a rut. Like being in a hole that they can't get out of. Well..I have news for you...things don't have to stay that way for you!

The fact of the matter is that at any time you can make a decision to make changes in your life! At any time you can make even the smallest decision that could have a positive impact on the rest of your life. If you want better health...make that change to do something about it. It could be as simple as taking a walk around the block. Maybe start with once around the block, then maybe two times the next day, and then slowly building up how many times you walk around the block. That is just one example of how you can make a positive change to your life that can change how you feel about yourself and your life.

That old saying that it's never to late to make changes in your life is true. Life is full of all kinds of twists and turns, BUT...you are the navigator of your journey. If you don't like the road you're on now...you CAN change your course of direction. FORGE AHEAD!!!!

A Different Kind of Birthday...

 (When I first got out of the hospital in Albuquerque, this song came on the radio and I honestly felt that this was God's way of telling me that everything was going to be ok. We had some pretty big giants to face, but His voice of truth was right...we would be ok!)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."- Jeremiah 29:11

(This particular scripture also helped us get through our journey. I offer it as a prayer for anyone who is currently struggling with their own adversities...may you be encouraged and lifted up like we were by this verse!)

I remember it like it was yesterday (even though it's already been a year ago).

 The conversation went a little like this:
  
DOCTOR: "Mr. Mecale...we got the results back from pathology and the biopsy shows that you have esophageal cancer." 

ME: "But what about the other biopsy that was done at the hospital in Gallup?"

DOCTOR: "We haven't got the results from that test, but chances are it's going to show the same thing...I'm sorry"

From that point on, the whole conversation was kind of a blur. I remember the doctor saying something about the various doctors that would come to talk to me about what would happen next as far as my treatment for the cancer.

After he left, while sitting with my wife, we both were reeling from the news that we just received. It was shocking, scary, but most of mind numbing. I mean honestly, who expects to go into the hospital one day to learn that they have a sickness that could potentially kill them? It was quite a shock. As a matter of fact, it was so shocking to both of us that I remember that we didn't even cry when we first found out. (Although the tears would come later.)

We sat in that hospital room and pondered what would happen next. We knew that we would have to discuss treatments and all that other medical stuff that comes from a diagnosis of having cancer. We also had to discuss what we would have to do as far as personal matters. How would we handle the doctor's visits? How about the time away from work that would be missed because of this? How are we going to provide for Kateri during this time? How do we explain to Kateri that daddy is very sick and that he is going to be going through treatments that are going to make daddy feel even more sick? How am I going to provide for my wife while I am sick? So while all these thoughts raced through my frenzied mind, there was also a moment of calmness and peacefulness that I felt within me. On one hand I was scared out of my mind, but on the other, I was ok with what I had been told. (Even though my wife was terrified beyond belief!) With all the questions that we were facing, my answer for all those questions were answered with, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there," or "We'll worry about that when we have to...there is no sense in getting worried about things before they occur."

So here we are, it is August 1, 2012, exactly one year from the day we received the news that I had cancer. It's hard to believe that it's already been a year. In retrospect, there were things that I learned while going through cancer. The kind of things that are life changing! I learned that the things that I used to think were important, no longer were that important. And the things that I took for granted, I no longer wanted to take for granted. It's like I had been given a new outlook on life. People say that going through something like cancer makes one a different person. Well that definitely holds true for me, It forced me to slow down and really take a look at my life. It forced me to take a look at the life I was leading and it made me realize that I had to make some changes. In order for me to live life to the fullest, I had to realize that I needed to be fit and healthy. No. I HAD to be fit and healthy! I faced something that could have taken my life. Only by the grace of God am I able to still be here! No more taking life for granted! I want to live each day to the fullest! I am grateful and thankful for my "new life" that I have been given. I have a loving wife and daughter who need me now more than ever. I have my health back (thanks be to God) and I have been blessed with my family and my friends who supported me (and still support me) to this day...and also by the kindness of many people who we didn't even know. I thank everyone who has been there for us!!

Now that I have looked back on this past year and I've had time to reflect on the things that happened in the past year, I am grateful that I am alive! I have my wife and daughter by my side. I have my health. I have faced the beast that is cancer and I came out clean on the other side. So in some ways, it's like I got a new life because of what we have gone through. Some might ask, "If you had to it to do all over again...would you go through it again?"  If this was a part of my journey, and it took this battle with cancer to get me to the point that I'm at now in my life, then of course I would go through it again, I wouldn't have traded this experience for anything!

     

Tackle Your Fear

We all have fear in our life! That's just the way it goes. Some people are afraid of heights and some people are afraid of insects. Some are afraid of dying, while others are afraid of the dark. Most of us (myself included) have fears in us.

It seems that since we were children we were taught to live in fear. We were afraid to mess up or do something wrong because we might into trouble with our parents or other authority figures. This fear continues all the way through adolescence and on through adulthood. However in adulthood, we sometimes learn that the things that used to frighten us as children are no longer valid reasons to be afraid. As adults, at some point, we should lose certain fears. But usually what happens is that we replace those old fears with new fears. These adult fears often can cripple us as these fears deal with more realistic things, like the fear of dying of the fear of not being able to provide for a family. In as much as these fears can hold us down, should they?

We often feed into the thought that our fears dictate how our lives are lived. When we give our fears that kind of power, we are not living our life to the fullest!! But imagine, if you will, that we took that power away from our fears. What if chose to think of those fears as opportunities? What if we conditioned ourselves to take that negative force in our life and turn it around into something that could be used as positive motivation? When we choose to really live instead of living in fear some amazing things can happen. So I challenge you to take a look at what you think is a negative situation and try to see the positive side of it. I challenge you to take that fear you hold inside and turn it into a tool that you can use to better yourself!!!!!