December 09th, 2023

What’s Your Why?
 
As I recently got to experience another miracle of life, I got to spend quality time with my children and their spouses, and I acknowledged once again that my life is incomplete without my wife - it made me realize that I want to be the healthiest and fittest I can be as I get older.  I don’t want to be a burden but a blessing to hopefully multiply my love for Stephanie, love on my kids and newly adopted kids, and maybe even be around to see my grands and maybe great grands graduate or get married and to do the Lord’s work the whole time - my "why" became crystal clear again. I hope yours has or will.
 
As I get older and older, I realize that maybe I could have been healthier throughout my life. Cancer and open-heart surgery should have been enough on there own to lead me, but like all things, the disciplines we learn seem to only last a short time and then right back to business as usual.  We find ourselves living in a busy world that is all about speed and self-satisfaction. We all know that the earlier we invest in the disciplines of saving and investing, the better our financial life.  Our health is no different, the earlier we invest in the disciplines of healthy eating and exercising, the better our quality of life for today and for decades to come will be.
 
I have really tried to tow the line on healthy eating and exercise, but my most recent reflection on what I have learned left me feeling like I fell short on delivering on the knowledge. The Oklahoma Heart Hospital rehab center taught me some remarkable lessons that ought to be taught in grade school, in college, in the workplace, etc., but any effort that they try to make falls far short of the goal.  In my studies during cancer and heart surgery, the themes remain the same, garbage in will eventually be garbage out for most of us.  The benefits or the consequences are great.  As I have gotten older, and as I pay the piper for my undisciplined habits, I have noticed that stuff just doesn’t work as well as it used to.  I am just glad they are still working. LOL.
 
A couple key take aways and hopefully themes that will resonate with you as much as they have with me are:
 

1. We are getting older, and stuff just doesn’t work as well as they used to work.  Those of you who are younger, develop those disciplines early as it is harder and harder to do it when you get north of 50 or 55.
2. We are literally eating ourselves to death.  Our health is indicative of our lack of discipline and quite candidly logic.  We eat at will anything we want without considering the life-time side-effects and potential consequences.
3. Every person must make a massive decision and stick to it. Ask yourself, “Do I want to live longer and have the best quality of life possible to glorify the Lord with all the work he has imparted to me?” I think everybody should answer that question as a resounding “yes”.  I hope so anyway.  So, will you become the best steward of your body and extend your life so your life can impact even more people? Any decision you make will immediately begin to change the quality of your life and ultimately many others lives.

 
Sadly, we can’t go back and fix our past lifestyle, but we can change the future. Think about “why” you want to be around for another 12 months, 12 years, or more - then fixate yourself on your “why” and turn it into a vision and a purpose. That should be enough. If not, poor health does catch up with us all. I don’t know about you, but I want to spend the last laps of my life standing vertical so I can impart love to those I have been blessed to meet along the way.  Whatever your “why” is; keep it front and center. It will cause change if it truly matters to you!  If it doesn’t, then find a different “why” that will move your needle. God bless you!

How to be a good steward of your body:
Eating right and exercising is at the heart of being a good steward of your body. Paul writes that “... bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).
TGBTG!
 
Tom O’Keefe
405-409-4998
“The time is now!”
 
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Watch these videos and look for the common themes.  They are great and will help you preserve your why!
 
Stop prediabetes from going to diabetes:
https://youtu.be/Rds8TjqbcMs?si=j58b8xM2VH5sOYXd
 
Detox the kidney:
https://youtu.be/2dox4_7b64I
 
Detox the liver:
https://youtu.be/weZ_BoMptLI?si=gjM17S7U-uMkaCSD
 
Deeper causes of chronic pancreatitis:
https://youtu.be/kUNchi5L_ws?si=b9D8wcUdy-UdwkQ6
 
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