Someone who made a difference

I was thinking about someone in my life that made a huge difference into the person who I have become and I could think of 1 person who stood out among everyone.

When I was young I was raised in a single parent family in an an area with concentrated poverty (the ghetto or whatever you call it) We called it the North End, I’m glad to be a northender but regardless it did have its tough moments. Most people that I went to school with also came from poor broken families as you can imagine this kind of enviroment is not quite motivational…

When I was in grade 3 I had this teacher who was from Chicago his name was MR M and he changed my life in ways that he could never know. At the beginning of grade 3 my reading comprehension was below a grade 1 level, I was said to have ADD, also had to spent lots of time in the resource room as I was considered a “slow learner” needless to say I was far from the sharpest tool in the shed. Mr M's teaching approach was more of our class becoming a big family rather than just students. He taught us about different cultures including his own bringing in dradles for the class to play with, sharing with us some of his experiences he has being involved in the Vietnam War, and we also experienced and excellent music program which was done by another teacher named Mr R which we sang fun songs from the 50s,60s, and 70s I know it may sound gay but we had a blast!!!

Most of all Mr M showed that he believed in my abilities to be a better person and my ability to learn which gave me the confidence I needed to become who I am today. He use to call me the “little philosopher” because I always would stand up with excitement to answer a question or give my opinion on a specific topic etc-made me feel sorta special lol This teacher went out of his way to be more than just a teacher and he became a motivator!!! He never treated his position as a job not even for one day that I can remember. I think most teachers stick to a very structured ciriculum and teaching style which does not stimulate growth and inspiration. The truth is this Teacher is one of the very few of his kind and I wish the world had more of people like him.

To keep my story short I tracked Mr M down today at the school he is currently working at and I knocked on the door of the class he was teaching. At first he did not recognize me but when I told him my name I could see he knew exactly who I was and everything came back to him as if it happened yday. The funny thing is nothing in his class seemed like it changed as every student seemed like they were having fun an were intrigued by his prescence. I was there talking to him for no longer than 30 minutes and they had to try so hard not to interrupt as they wanted to speak with him and ask him questions etc. I coould tell this guy hadn’t lost his touch as he still was an “amazing” teacher.

I told him the purpose of my visit was to tell him how much of an impact he made on my life and that I was so grateful for his efforts. He told me in his whole teaching career I was the 2nd person to tell him this…I thought to myself that was crazy!, but also made me realize something really important-I think somewhere in the midst of life we really forget to communicate to the people who have greatly impacted and changed our lives that we are sincerely grateful for their efforts. Just like his intial encouragement gave me the motivation I needed to become a better person, I believe my gratitude gives him the motivation to keep doing what he is doing as it does make a difference.

So please take a few minutes to think of someone who made a difference in your life whether it be today, yday, 10 years ago.. GO OUT of your way to tell them you are grateful for their efforts. This will make them feel good and you will amazed how good you feel after telling them your thoughts.

Peace out

Crohnsboy

A year of growing

This last year has definitely been a crazy one, but one thing I can tell you for sure is that it has helped me realize who I really am.

a year ago I thought that havnig a great job and making good money was priority #1 I know money is the 2nd most important thing next to oxygen..lol but it doesnt define a person.....god knows it only took me 25 years to realize this. But I once heard the only way to fail at something was to learn nothing.........

After being diagnosed with Crohn's disease I learned how much I really loved being able to enjoy life and all the awesome things in it. I was working at a great job with excellent pay, benefits, and the ability to advance quickly but I was still not happy every day... I knew sitting at a desk all day was not what I wanted for my whole life. Please do not take this offensive if you work at a desk it's just I know I was not built to work in this type of enviroment.

I took the plunge and left my comfy office and started my own landscaping business. It has been a great experience with ups and down but I have learned that I was meant to be self employed. There are days that get pretty stressful but ultimately I know Im the one who makes the "choices" so it doe not bother me at all. Although landscaping is a great industry and my business is doing good I have also realized that for an outgoing, hyper, energetic person who loves sales marketing etc I need to be in an industry where I am able to communicate with customers on a one to one basis. I guess what I am saying my search is still not over.

As I am in a cold part of the country my business does some snow removal for commercial clients in the winter time but I have decided to scale back the amount of customers I am taking on so that I can also experience more of life and work a little less.

I applied for a part time sales position at a large cellular network and found out that I got the job. The job pays very minimal compared to what I made at my previous job or the hourly rate which I charge my own clients BUT I took the job to have some fun and gain some more sales experience. It feels really good to do something because you want to NOT because you have to. I always use to say to myself " I wish I could have that attitude..." all it took was a degenerative disease to kick my ass into motion and I am thankful for that :)

I constatly hear motivational speakers speaking about the importance of "knowing your OUTCOME" I have finally realized how important this is in every aspect of your life and relationships with other people etc.

My desired outcome in life is to live by the ocean atleast half of the year-some place where life is slow and you take time to enjoy the atmosphere and people around you. Have a beautiful wife and a few rug rats who I love and spend time with as much as I can-family is KEY. I also want to be involved in something that makes a REAL difference ie running my website, youtube videos, podcasts, maybe IBD foundation helping spread the word on larger levels-I will do the craziest things imaginable to promote how myself and others regained our health and got a second chance. I also want to be involved in a business which I love and am challenged with on a daily basis as it feels great when you are a part of greatness especially is that product, service or good will etc changes the lives of others. I think the most important part of my life that I want is to make sure I am always growing and learning as this way things dont get boring and make you enjoy being HERE almost every day!!!! I think the ability to grow is one of the most signifigant human needs. I know I will get there as I really deserve to be happy and have the things I want and on top of that I have the balls to pursue the things which I want. I may fail 10 times in a row but you can bet your ass I will dust myself off and try again.

my two cents and nothing more lol

Thanks

 

Just wanted to say thanks to all the great people who have checked out my site and sent me stories of encouragements etc. I also encourage anyone that wants to talk to me to drop me a line and don’t be shy for whatever reason.

 

Salsa Lesson

So I started doing salsa lessons and to be quite honest they are lots of fun. At first I thought that salsa dancing was pretty gay, or maybe that was me just being a guy or an automated response for something which I was probably just a little scared to do (thats prob it). I think we are usually scared to try things that we think we are not going to be good at because it would leave us being vulnerable to embarassement etc.

For me I screw up a lot lol and the the girl I attend these classes with (a good friend) is an awesome dancer so trying to keep up with her is pretty insane lol she usually makes me look good regardless so I can't complain. But I have learned that it really is okay to try things, get embarassed, put yourself out there and be a little vulnerable as the truth is that the process is almost always a little stressful...or atleast if you allow yourself to percieve it in that sense. Now I do not care as I just keep telling myself go through the embarassement with laughts etc but ultimately I will become AWESOME at whatever I practice at. Keeping this thought in my head has allowed me to try lots of new things over the last few years or so.

I remember hearing this one speaker say the people who are most sucessful in life are usually the people who have failed the most. There is some truth to this, take Babe Ruth into consideration and the dude is on the all time home run list, yet he struck out more than anyone??? In baseball the guys that strike out 7/10 times are considered really good Go figure?? So I'm thinking if I try something 10 times I can atleast prob make good results 3 times..right?? Also instead of thinking why I shouldn't do something I started asking myself what am I going to miss out if I dont take this chance or try something new etc?

I know many people that know me may think that I have never been insecure or scared to take risks etc, but the truth is that I was at one point in my life. I read and interacted with people who were not scared to take risks and that were confident in themselves etc and eventually it wore off on me. Only then did I realize all the stuff that I had missed out because of my own self constructed insecurities. I just want people to know that you dont have to be born confident, you simply can create it :)

I tell you sign up to go skydiving just 1 time, I can tell you after you touch the ground you most likely wont be scared to do anything in your life again. I'm not shitting you :)

I dare ya to try it...let me know how it goes...what's the worst that can happen SPLAT?

Light in Darkness

It's so funny that before we were diagnosed with our diseases that we really did take our lives for granted...did we not? I think many of us thought that we would be immune and would not be touched by such a thing, but we were wrong. I think this whole crohn's thing has been my best learning lesson yet, as I have began to see the world in a whole different way.

I have really realized that life is too short to hold off on the things that mean most. I remember before I was diagnosed I thought I had all the time in the world and I always thought I would do the things I wanted to "someday" BUT someday really is the path to nowhere.

This disease has shown me that I have to go after the things I want. When I say this I do not mean just financial goals I mean the great things in life I want to experience; moving to a foreign country for a few months, buying an ocean shack, becoming fluent in spannish, learning to be a kick ass salsa dancer, helping people on massive levels, and just making the best of the cards dealt to me.

I think sometimes our western culture forces us to be caught up so that we miss the things that really matter in our lives. Do you think at the end of our lives it matters how much assets we have attained or the nice car we drove?? NAH I think it comes down to the relationships we have developed, people who we have touched, and the experiences we were part of that really define who we are.

I really have taken this disease as a blessing from you know who. I am pushing forward to do the things that I want as who knows what can happen? right. At least when I am on my death bed I 'll know that I pursued the things that I wanted.

I also believe in the end we do not regret the thing we did, but it's the things we did not do that go through our mind.

With all that said my simple message is GET your ASS of the computer and do something you really want to do in life.

Pessimists

Since I have regained my health from crohn's disease I have been trying to help as many people out as I can via my website, youtube videos and emailing people on forums etc.

I have noticed that when I email people on the forums or message boards I seem to get some pretty negative responses pretty much telling me to shove my natural methods up my ass. I find it so odd that these private message boards always have people telling their stories of all the pain they were or are going through, how bad of a life they have lived etc, RARELY do I see posts of triumph, encouragement, of someone who has beat or managed this life for the majority of their life. Why is this?? If I was a newbie joining one of these groups I must admit I would probably think my life was pretty much over.

When these people respond to me they are very negative saying there is no cure as it is a degenerative disease, or that they have tried everything etc. I do not know everyones situation and perhaps some peoples diseases are very severe BUT I still stand behind my belief that the body is an amazing thing which can do miraculous things. I think that anyone suffering from an IBD will be able to iprove his/her quality of life using some natural methods etc.

I have changed my focus on only contacting the newbies on these sites as they seem to be more open minded in regards to alternative methods. The truth of the matter is that I am not here to convince anyone another method will work, I am simply here to INFORM people about another option which may lead someone to a better life. I provide them with the information and where they take it from there is in their hands.

The majority of people I have been speaking with are people who are seeking another way. These people are the best to deal with because they really want to learn about other ways. They see that I am just trying to help people not go through some of the days I had to endure. For all the people who have contacted me I give you the uttmost respect for searching for another way you deserve a huge pat on the back.

I think this will be a long journey, but I am up for the challenge. Even if I become sick again and I am so depressed, on the can most of the day, my ass will still be on this computer every day trying to help others out as I believe it has become my purpose. I read this quote that said "Life rewards those who contribute on massive levels" Even if it was not true I think it would only be beneficial for anyone to live by similar principles.

Starting my Blog

I am very new at the whole blog game but thought I would give it a try. I think this way it will give me an opportunity to tell other people in rough situations that there is always hope! If even a schmuck like me can regain his health and learn to appreciate my life in ways I never did before, anyone can do the same.

I am far from perfect and many people do not like my positivety almost like it's abnormal to happy and grateful instead of depressed and upset these days. But to tell you the truth I do not give two shits about what the pessimists think. I have had to put up with these types of people my whole life and I have yet to listen to them this far so I will not start anytime soon.

Hopefully I can get some people who will actually follow this thing lol