The Unbreakable Fighting Spirit Of An Amazing Young Girl

To Elizabeth~

The SPIRIT of YOUR FEARLESSNESS is a power so integrated deep within YOU. YOU possess courage to be tender and inner fortitude to withstand all circumstances. You have the will to face challenges, the will to stand up, the will to be courageous, and the will to overcome! 

Don't allow anything or anyone to hold YOU back from what YOU want to do and what YOU want to become. YOU are a TRUE WARRIOR...a SURVIVOR, and an inspiration to so many people. YOU have the strength and the willpower to FINISH YOUR FIGHT! Never back down, keep fighting, stay fearless, and be amazing!

A Special Message To This Little Gold Warrior...
You are strong because you know weaknesses;
You are overcoming because you are a fighter;
You are understanding because you have experienced hard times;
You laugh because you have known deep pain and sadness;
YOU DON'T GIVE UP because YOU ARE WORTH SO MUCH!

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
Please take the time to read Elizabeth Yturralde-Cameron's story. A brave 13-year old girl and her battle with cancer. Please share her story with others (it's amazing how far our vibrations can go and spread).But most importantly, realize that every day offers us countless opportunities to love and help someone in need.

Be there for Elizabeth by helping her in her battle with cancer. Donate to her fight. Whatever amount you choose to donate big or small (it all adds up in the end), and it is going to help this brave, young girl and her battle with cancer. 

Acts of kindness makes wishes come true and miracles unfold. Please help this amazing 13-year old girl with such a fighting spirit overcome the most challenging obstacle she has had to face so far.

I have put a link for Elizabeth's support page at the bottom of this page, if you are interested in getting more information and/or making a donation.

This wonderful support site was created by a very selfless family friend, Holly Nystrom Warnol. She has done an amazing job and has filled Elizabeth's page with tons of detailed information, pictures, special messages to help Elizabeth stay strong, passes messages along from Elizabeth's family, encourages people to help and pray for this family...and don't let me forget all the countless updates she makes on this page. Awesome person with such a big heart. 



I have also included the link to Little Gold Warrior's facebook page to get her current updates and her story firsthand. She is an amazing young girl with a strong and fighting spirit! 
My thoughts and prayers continue strongly for Elizabeth, her family, and her friends. Keep fighting and WIN YOUR FIGHT ELIZABETH!

http://www.gofundme.com/teamelizabethc
http://fb.com/littlegoldwarrior

A Lesson In Heart

Overcoming obstacles- "Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve."
-Leonardo da Vinci

I remember my first year in college as if it were yesterday...the unexpected was probably the hardest for me, but I was excited for the challenge. Here I was...very far away from home...not knowing anyone...playing basketball with strangers...having no time to breath but to play and learn the life of a college athlete. I can tell you it was quite an experience, one that I would never trade for anything. I learned a lot about myself in the four years of my college experience...discovering that I could overcome challenges/obstacles, as long as I didn't give up...believing that those challenges would turn out okay.

I remember in my sophomore year of college, my mom sent me, "A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul." She wrote a wonderful message in the flap of the book...saying to never give up on my dream, that all of us deal with tough situations, that it is what you do about those tough situations that matter, to be strong and to embrace both the good and the bad in order to learn and discover what truly lives inside you. I would like to share a short story from the book that helped me overcome and embrace...a story that I keep close to my heart.

A short story by Stan Frager

A lesson in "heart" is my little 10-year-old daughter, Sarah, who was born with a muscle missing in her foot and wears a brace all the time. She came home one beautiful spring day to tell me she had competed in "field day"-that's where they have lots of races and other competitive events.

Because of her leg support, my mind raced as I tried to think of words of encouragement for my Sarah, things I could say to her about not letting this get her down-things I have heard many famous coaches tell the players when they were faced with defeat-but before I could get a word out, she looked up and said, "Daddy, I won two of the races!"

I couldn't believe it! And then Sarah said, "I had an advantage."

Ahh. I knew it. I thought she must have been given a head start...some kind of physical advantage. But again, before I could say anything, she said, "Daddy, I didn't get a head start...my advantage was I had to try harder!"

That's heart! That's my Sarah.

Canfield, Jack. Hansen, M. Chicken Soup For The Soul. Pg.262.

"My Body Is Like An Army"

TRAIN LIKE A FOOTBALL LEGEND

"MY BODY IS LIKE AN ARMY"

Position: RB

Height: 6-1 Weight: 225 lbs.

Born: March 3, 1962 in Wrightsville, GA

College: Georgia

Herschel Walker was a highly celebrated and highly regarded college football player in the United States. He turned pro, having a career in the NFL playing for the Dallas Cowboys amongst a host of other teams before returning to the Dallas Cowboys where he retired. The most amazing thing about Herschel Walker from a fitness standpoint was the way he trained. Going against all conventional wisdom, the Herschel Walker workout is the most intense body weight workout I have ever heard of. Legend has it that Herschel Walker didn't touch weights at all until he arrived in the NFL - Instead he performed an intense body weight workout EVERY DAY since high school (as well as sprinting)! In College and the NFL, he was known by most players as being the best conditioned athlete. Apparently, Walker didn't always show signs of being genetically gifted. He mentions being a tubby kid who, more often than not, was picked last for teams. He even tells how his sister constantly beat him in races! And it was through his determination and hard work that he did everything to overcome these challenges.

"Herschel was 12 when he came to me wanting to know how to get big and strong," High School Coach Jordan says, "and I told him what I told the other kids who asked me. 'Do push-ups, sit-ups and run sprints,' I said. He just thanked me quietly and walked away. To be honest, I didn't give it much thought. Herschel was short for his age [about 5'3", 100 pounds], and he wasn't particularly fast, even though he had some older brothers and sisters who were excellent athletes.

"The next time I paid him any mind was that coming fall. I hadn't seen much of him during the summer and when I saw him in September I was amazed at how he'd muscled up. I asked him what he'd been doing and he smiled and said, 'Just running, Coach, and doing my push-ups.' He was getting faster, too, but back then I mainly remember how strong he was for a boy his age. Later that year, when he was 13, we had the tumbling mats out one day and he and I got to wrestling, and damned if he didn't flip me once, big as I was." But though young Herschel had grown larger, stronger and faster, he was still shorter than most of his classmates, weaker than his father and two older brothers and slower than not only a half dozen or so of the boys his age at school but also slower than one of his sisters, Veronica, 18 months his senior, who's now a sprinter for Georgia. Yet he was not discouraged, because he was gaining on them, and because he felt he knew how to gain still more. Coach Jordan had told him how, a year before. Push-ups, sit-ups and sprints. Push-ups, sit-ups and sprints.

But though young Herschel had grown larger, stronger and faster, he was still shorter than most of his classmates, weaker than his father and two older brothers and slower than not only a half dozen or so of the boys his age at school but also slower than one of his sisters, Veronica, 18 months his senior, who's now a sprinter for Georgia. Yet he was not discouraged, because he was gaining on them, and because he felt he knew how to gain still more. Coach Jordan had told him how, a year before. Push-ups, sit-ups and sprints. Push-ups, sit-ups and sprints.

During that first year Walker had done these exercises every day, unless rain kept him from sprinting along the road leading from his house down to the highway. Jordan had never said how much to do, just to do those three things, regularly. To Herschel, "regularly" meant every single day, and by the end of that critical first year he had done more than 100,000 push-ups, more than 100,000 sit-ups and had sprinted nearly half a million yards. He almost always did his push-ups and sit-ups in the evening, while he was either studying or watching television or, more usually, both. During every commercial break he would pump out a quick 25 push-ups and 25 sit-ups or would alternate the push-ups and sit-ups, doing 50 push-ups during one break, then 50 sit-ups during the next, until he had accumulated approximately 300 of each.

As for his running, throughout each summer and on almost every school day in clement weather he would run series after series of short sprints, most of them 30 yards or less, most of them up the hill to his house.Walker also trained with a tire that was a device rigged up by Jordan; it involved putting a 16-pound shot inside a truck tire and attaching the tire to a 15-foot steel cable, which was then tied to a leather belt around the runner's waist. Dragging the tire developed Herschel's leg and hip power, as did his run-without-ceasing assault on the slight grade leading 110 yards up to his house from the highway. "I wish I had a dollar for every time Herschel ran up that hill," his mother says. "Him and Veronica and the other children would race and race. Even me and my husband would get into it. Later on, some of the time when Herschel couldn't get nobody to race him, he'd go out back to the field and chase those horses around. Herschel wanted to be good mighty bad."

Throughout junior high Herschel was to follow this remarkable regimen every day, every year. He grew taller, and by the ninth grade he stood about 5'10" and weighed 185 pounds, and the muscles of his chest and shoulders and thighs were thick and full. But a couple of boys in his grade still could outrun him. And he had yet to beat Veronica. The prescription? Push-ups, sit-ups and sprints; push-ups, sit-ups and sprints. And prayer.

"One of the things I used to pray for every night was for God to let me beat Veronica," Walker recalls. "I promised that I'd train hard and live a Christian life if only He'd let me get faster." Finally, after his sophomore year in high school, he (and maybe He as well) raced Veronica for perhaps the thousandth time, and this time Walker beat her. And then he beat her again.

And, of course, as everyone knows by now, in his junior and senior years Herschel out-or overran everybody else in Georgia. But even during the heaviest workouts of his track and football seasons, he never failed to do his push-ups and his sit-ups and, when he had the time and the light, his sprints. He never lacked the will. Later on, he even added a little distance work. Says Jordan now, "I remember telling him one day early in his senior year that we were concentrating so much on his sprinting, he'd have to get any distance work on his own. Then, a few months later, I called out to his house late one evening and his mother told me he was out for his after-supper run—about four miles. He'd been doing it for months, she said. And all I'd done was mention it."

When assessing the path to his present eminence, the one phrase with which Walker is most comfortable is Hard Work. "I keep hearing and reading about all this talent they say I've been blessed with," he says, "but I don't see it that way. For a long time I never understood I was blessed, except for having such a good family and all. But I do see I have been blessed, though not in the way people think." He pauses, then points to his head. "This is where I've been blessed. Not in my body. People can't believe how little and slow I was. But I was, and I remember. And I know Coach Jordan showed me the way and God gave me the strength to carry on through all those years.

"My mind's like a general and my body's like an army. I keep the body in shape and it does what I tell it to do. I sometimes even feel myself almost lifting up out of my body and looking down on myself while I run sprints. I'll be coaching myself from up above. 'Come on Herschel,' I'll say to myself out loud, 'pick up those knees. Pump your arms.' If an army stopped training it wouldn't take long for it to fall apart. An army needs discipline, just like a man does."

One of the ways Walker trains his almost frighteningly disciplined mind is through the practice of karate. "I got into it from watching those Bruce Lee films, just like everybody else," he says, "but once I began reading and thinking about it, I saw it as a way to discipline myself, my power. Sometimes I train with a local instructor in Athens, but I always do it for an hour or so every night in my room, by myself. I never miss. I think it helps me in sports as well as in my studying. At first I did it because I wanted to be tough, but I think I can say I'm beyond all that now."

If Walker has gone beyond the "get tough" stage—and both his subsequent behavior and his face, which in repose is so very still as to seem somehow Oriental, would tend to support his assertion—he is one of the few Westerners to have so quickly internalized the Zen foundations of karate and transcended the initial generative hostility of most American boys to whom the activity appeals.

He's amazingly disciplined. He always sits in the exact same chair in our team meetings and he sits up straight and doesn't fidget. He pays close attention to everything that's said and he never forgets a thing. Also, he's often the first one to the workouts, and he always does more than he's asked to do in practice or in a game.

"I think that what happened back in Wrightsville when he was a boy—being outrun by Veronica and being small and everything—might have been the best thing that could have happened to Herschel. That feeling he had of not being the best may have given him just enough of a complex to instill that powerful drive to succeed."

The idea gives pause. Physiologists and sprint coaches agree on one thing—the ability to run truly fast is a natural gift; training is said to only marginally enhance performance. A physically mature individual can expect training to provide little more than a 5% improvement in sprinting speed—from a 10 flat 100-yard dash to a 9.5, for example. So, unless the experts are all mistaken. Walker was born with a genetic predisposition for extraordinary speed. Other premier sprinters almost without exception remember having always been faster than their age-mates.

To lift or not to lift, that's the question for Walker, free to choose his own training program. His answer is startling. "Nobody ever really asked me why I don't lift. They only ask me how I got so big without lifting. The truth is, I knew weights would help me. I've seen them help too many football players and too many track men. But up to now my body's gotten stronger and faster every year on my old program, and what I reckon I'll do is to try and see how long I can keep improving without the weights. 

One thing's sure. Soon as I don't make gains, I'm going on a good weight program. The way I figure it, all the other guys my age have lifted for years and they've already just about reached their physical potential. I figure that when I kick in with a weight program, it ought to add some solid weight and really give me a lot more power." He smiled as he finished this distinctly thought-provoking statement, made at least partly to himself. Scores of defensive players can testify to the percussive force Herschel already produces, especially when he has the time to take a step or two. When those opponents are either overcome by, or forced to gang up to contain, the shock of a head-on hit by Walker, they at least have the satisfaction of knowing they were bested by a man whose combined size and speed—whose power—is unmatched in history. And is growing, because of a continued genetic flowering and further refinements, zealously pursued, in his basic exercise program. To his regular push-ups Walker has added hand-stand press-ups and push-ups done with someone on his back to increase the resistance. During the past summer he also has included sprint swimming in his routine of upper-body work. The swimming was added when Walker, in the pool by himself one day, noticed that a modified form of the breaststroke, in which his body surges more upward than forward, gave his chest, shoulders and upper back a terrific workout. This past summer he swam every day he was able to get to a pool.

THE PHILOSOPHY

Walker’s philosophy on working out is simple: start every day very early in the morning before the distractions of the day come around, and do that work out without quitting every single day, 365 days a year, 366 on leap years, no matter what. What Walker’s freakishly difficult workout regimen shows is that dedication is the absolute most important part of any workout program. When Herschel Walker was an NFL player he never lifted weights, but still performed at a high level. How many tailbacks get strong enough in “old age” in their thirties to effectively play fullback? That’s exactly what Walker did in his last season with the Dallas Cowboys. Dedication and mental toughness are the hardest parts of Walker’s workout plan. He is adamant that these two factors will do more to insure your success than anything else, and he’s lived the life to prove it. For nearly thirty years he has done the same workout, and he’s never skipped a day.

Of course, it is true that body weight exercises, such as push-ups and sit-ups can do a lot for the human body but these are exercises that need to be respected by those who are going to do them intensely. Doing too many push-ups can easily lead to over training injuries and a lot of muscle soreness. If you do them smart, however, you can really grow your strength and even your size, without ever lifting any weights. That is the magic of the Herschel Walker workout routine, the fact that it allows you to gain the size and strength that you want without having to spend all of your time at the gym.

Just get on the floor every once in awhile and do sit-ups and push-ups until you are at failure. Some people even set their watch to go off every 30 or 60 minutes to remind them to do these exercises. It’s an excellent way for you to get in shape and to do so without ever stepping foot in the gym.

HERSCHEL WALKER’S WORKOUT

Push Ups	2000 reps
Sit Ups	3000 reps
Pull Ups	1500 reps
Dips	1000 reps

Herschel Walker: I didn’t grow up with a lot of money. My high school didn’t have a lot of money to afford a lot of the expensive weights. You know all this stuff. They used that as an excuse. I started doing push-ups and sit-ups during commercials as I was watching TV. And started doing about, sometimes 2,000 push-ups, 3,000 sit-ups, 1500 pull-ups, 1000 dips, or different things like that. I started creating different hand positions for all that, and I learned that could work you out.

Below is a more realistic workout to begin with and then increase as your body adapts to this intense daily training.

Herschel Walker Workout - Basic Training

Push Ups	1000 reps
Sit Ups	1000 reps
Pull Ups	1000 reps
Squats	1000 reps

Don't ever underestimate what you are capable of doing...challenge yourself always. Try Herschel Walker's Workout...for fun or to test your mental and physical strength. Just be and if you want to try something..then just GO FOR IT.

The Moment My Life Changed Forever Part 2

The next day was a big reality check for me. I remember playing in high school...having concussions, pulling my back out, spraining my ankles and bouncing back. NOT THIS TIME...This was a totally different situation. Not only was it ten times the normal size due to the swelling but I could barely walk. My knee was upset!!! And it was showing me how upset!!!  I remember going to the training room and the trainers got right to work in trying to get the swelling down....from ice to the stem machine to light stretching. I was going to do whatever it took to get back out on the court...I wanted to be ready for my first SEC Tournament. Those two weeks prior to the tournament were such a blur...I remember the normal routine of icing and stem every single day. The trainers would then wrap up my whole leg and have me do cutting drills up and down the court (we still weren't sure the extent of my knee), to see if I would be ready to play in the tournament. I remember doing these drills up and down the court but the knee would just buckle on me. I would be able to run and cut a little then my knee would just give and buckle. I remember never losing hope and still believed that with some small miracle I would be ready to play in the SEC Tournament. It got closer to the Tournament and my knee just wasn't budging...I was so heartbroken. I did everything I was supposed to do and knew in my heart that my knee would be ready. MY KNEE WAS NEVER READY. I told myself I didn't have time to feel sorry for myself or to be upset...I would just have to deal with the card I was dealt and be there for my team. Cheer them on! I remember during the second half of the first game of the tournament, my coach paced up and down...looked over at me and said, "We could of used you today." I was speechless.

As soon as the SEC Tournament was over and my swelling was finally down, it was time for me to get an MRI and know the real damage done on my knee. I remember getting the MRI and feeling positive as I left the doctor's office. The coaches informed me that they would contact me in El Paso as soon as they knew the results (since I would be there for spring break). I was at home talking to my sister and my best friend when I received a phone call from my mother who was at her school working in her classroom. I remember her voice being a little shaky and she asked me if I could come by the school for a bit she had to talk to me about something very important.

I arrived at my mother's school and I remember her having such a heartbroken look on her face. I wasn't sure what this was all about but I was ready to hear what she had to say. She sat me down and she began to cry...she explained to me that the coaches had just called her and gave her the news that I had been waiting for...what seemed like a lifetime was now going to be my reality. Her voice got real low and she said that I had torn everything in my knee...the whole knee had exploded inside and the chances of me ever playing again were slim to none. She began to cry...she immediately grabbed me and hugged me tightly...I remember sitting there numb to the whole thing. I was in shock and could not comprehend the words that she had just told me. I remember her looking at me and asking me if I was okay, she reassured me that we would get through this. I looked at her and said, "I know, everything will be okay." I remember I was trying really hard to be strong for her...I didn't want her to feel worst than she did at that moment. I hated seeing my mom in so much pain because of me. I looked at my mom and said, "Mom...everything will be okay. You know me...it is hard to keep me down. They may say I will never play again but I really am the only one that knows if that is going to happen or not." My stubbornness began to shine bright...lol. My mom knew what that meant but her main concern was getting my knee better. I know she was hurt knowing that the love of my life (basketball) may be over for me...but just like any mother/parent, her main concern was my injury.

I remember driving back to my house and thinking that everything was just so surreal...I felt like I was in a nightmare and was going to wake up at anytime. I began to cry...and cry...and cry. It felt good to cry and really process everything that just happened. I remember telling myself..."It couldn't be that bad." All I could think about is my mom telling me that the coach was absolutely heartbroken and that the doctor specifically said..."It looked like a war zone in there." Wow...A WAR ZONE.  It was at this point I made a pact with myself that I was ready to take on this challenge. I was ready to do whatever it took to get back on that basketball court. WHATEVER IT TAKES! BRING ON THAT WAR ZONE!!!

Thank you so much for reading my story and I hope you stay tune for my Part 3...The Fight To Get Back On The Court. Thought for today is: Accept any challenge that is put in front of you. Turn any negative into a positive experience. Always see the GOOD out of something that is BAD. Never let ANYTHING stop you from doing what is in your HEART! Have an absolute wonderful day!
Lots of Love,
Dofitness

The Moment My Life Changed Forever Part 1

This is the story of a moment in my life that became both a learning and challenging experience. A time in my life that changed my outlook on everything in my life. A moment that is still a constant in my present life. A moment that if I could go back in time...I would never change. An experience that has shaped me into the person I am today.

So on with the story, a story that I have never truly discussed in detail until now. I have been an athlete all of my life. I have suffered through the devastating losses, all the extra practices, and all the injuries that go along with it....BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS. I know what it takes to get to the next level...I knew that in order to be successful you must work hard, practice, and deal with the consequences that come along the way...all the challenges that all athletes have faced one time or another.

I received a full athletic scholarship to the University of Arkansas in 92-93. It was a very exciting moment for me...I was going to be able to do the one thing that I loved doing at the next level, especially in the SEC. The one thing that was always there for me from the third grade to my high school years...if I needed to express myself and/or take my mind off the things that were stressing me out basketball was there. It was always there...I could express my feelings through my ball handling drills or my one-on-one challenges with myself. I remember it being an exciting but scary moment to leave my hometown, El Paso, Texas and live in a new and unfamiliar place, Fayetteville, Arkansas. The beginning of my freshman year was interesting and a little overwhelming...I remember all the things that were expected of me as a student athlete. I didn't have time to think about anything but basketball and school....number of hours I needed to take, going to all my classes,  preseason workouts in the early morning and afternoon, study hall hours, meetings for new freshman, on and on and on. I remember in November of 1992...I was ready to go back home...I was sooooo homesick. I didn't realize how much my life was going to change so fast without my family and in a very unfamiliar place. I remember talking to my mom and she said, "Just stay strong, you will be home with family in December...everything will be ok." I got only three days off that December to be with my family and I remember having a heart-to-heart with my mom. I told her that I had no problem handling all the things being thrown at me...the hardest part was being so far from my family. She understood my words but assured me that things would get better just to continue to give it a chance, and if at the end of the year I was still homesick that I could just come home. That made me feel better but at the same time a part of me understood things in a different way...You have started something, you have committed yourself to something...you must finish this journey. And that was the end of that for me.

My freshman season was a very interesting and fulfilling one. I worked hard during and after practices on parts of my game that needed improvement at the college level. Each game and practice showed improvement which earned me a lot of playing time as back-up point guard to starting point guard, Shea Henderson. The last game of the season was finally here...and I remember it being such a huge deal not only because it was the last game of the season, but because it would also mark the last game played in Barnhill Arena (we would be playing in the new Bud Walton Arena the next year).

So here is the moment that would change my life forever...I was stretching before the game as usual along with my teammates...I do remember my legs being a little heavy at pre-game but didn't think anything of it...continued on with warm-up and was just astounded by the number of fans that came out to support us. The atmosphere was so amazing...the fans were AWESOME! That in itself was a very exciting moment for me. I remember Coach Sutherland putting me in the game right away (maybe 6 min had passed)...everything seemed fine as I went up and down the court a few times running the offense...playing hard on defense.

And then my moment came (the moment that was destined for me)...I remember stealing the ball and running up the middle of the court for a fast break. I remember a big girl jumping out in front of me to stop the fast break play. I did a crossover to avoid the charge and planted the foot to pass the ball off to Alyson Twiggs for the score...as I passed the ball I heard a snap and fell to the ground...right on top of the HOG'S NOSE...I remember keeping my eyes on Twiggs to make sure that we scored...THE CROWD ROARED...SCORE. And then I looked down to my knee. My kneecap had twisted to the side of my leg...I remember trying to stand up...pushing my heel down to get up..but I couldn't. I had nothing there. The knee seemed dislocated and not sure what was going to happen at this point. I was carried off the court and taken straight to the training room. As I stood there...my knee made it back to its regular position. Doctors and trainers were all tending to my knee...pushing on it, bending it, pressing it...it felt absolutely fine. I was like are you kidding me...I can't believe I was taken off the court because of a stupid knee twist/strain. They had me walk around on it and jog in place...I passed every test that was thrown at me. Doctors and trainers both agreed I was fine...that it seemed that I twisted it and could go back to the bench. I was so relieved...so I sat there trying to understand everything that had just happened. I was sitting there and Coach Sutherland looked at me and said, "Get in there." So here comes my next moment (the moment that was tied to the last moment and would be the END and the BEGINNING of this journey with two paths).

Again, everything was fine...jogged a little during a play...SCORE...teammate scores on the play...THE FANS GO WILD! HOG WILD THAT IS...LOL. And the moment of truth is finally here. Full court press...trapped a girl right away, she passes the ball off...I sprint to my next spot and all of a sudden my whole basketball life flashes right before my eyes. I experienced the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. As I sprinted...My knee swooshed back and forth as if it was a rubber band that was vibrating back and forth...I collapsed to the floor and had nothing to support me to get up. I remember being so pissed off and realized this deep and intense pain...but was too focused on making sure we stopped the other team from breaking the press. I tried desperately to get up...but couldn't...EVERYTHING WAS OUT OF MY CONTROL. I could do NOTHING to fix this at this moment. They had to carry me off the court again and it was in the training room that they discovered something was seriously wrong. My knee had swelled ten times its regular size in a matter of 15 minutes. The swelling was out of control and nobody was able to make a diagnosis due to the severity of the swelling in my knee.

I am going to make this my first chapter...lol. I don't want to make this blog entry tooo long. I will be sure to write, The Moment My Life Changed Forever Part 2 soon. So be sure to tune in and check out the second part of my story. My message for today is...Be sure to experience each moment that is put in your life...GOOD AND BAD...Each has a contributing factor that will help you BECOME STRONGER and that will help you UNDERSTAND TRULY WHO YOU ARE.
Love Always,
Dofitness

ONE WORD

If you’re a college football trivia buff, you know that the annual Rose Bowl competition started over 100 years ago, in 1902, when the University of Michigan trounced Stanford, 49 – 0.  What is perhaps unknown to most people is the story behind that amazing win for Michigan .

In the year 1900, the University of Michigan had a football team that wasn't winning many games.  Consequently, they fired their coach and searched for a new one.  At about the same time, Stanford had to dismiss their coach because of a new rule that allowed only alumni to serve as coaches.  Long story short, Michigan  hired Stanford's former coach, a “quiet man of few words,” named Fielding Yost.


As soon as the new coach arrived on campus, he granted an interview to the local newspaper.  During the interview, he boldly claimed that his team would be undefeated the next season and the combined scores of the opposing teams for the entire season would be 49 points or fewer.  When they heard about his interview, the Michigan team protested loudly.  They complained to the coach that he was setting them up to be the laughing stock of football.  Yost immediately ordered every member of the team to take off his uniform and gear and stack it in the corner of the locker room. Then he marched to the blackboard and wrote one word.  He instructed the team that they could retrieve their uniforms and play football only when they understood the meaning of that word.


That year Michigan was undefeated at 11 - 0 and outscored their opponents 550 - 0, averaging 55 points per game.  Not only did this team allow fewer than 49 points in the first year, it took their opponents more than 5 years to score more than 49 points.  And yes, they later went on not only to the first Tournament of Roses football victory, but three more national championships in the next three years.


What was the word the coach wrote on the blackboard? Please explain the reasons you think he chose this word to motivate his players. Would to love to hear your responses.

***Please be creative and explain in detail why and how you chose YOUR WORD (Your Guess/Answer). How does it motivate YOU and how does it apply to your life.


Lots of Love!
Dofitness

The Untold Story...The Missing Ring And The Slurpee

Everyone has had a slurpee at one time in their life...especially on very hot dry days or after a long day at school.  Growing up, I remember the slurpee being very popular in our household..my sister absolutely loved her slurpees and she would do just about anything for these slushy drinks...Ohhhhh...the stories and ohhhhhh all those bribes...lol Those were the days. (Wink, Wink Dee). 

Anyway, back to my story, many of you are probably not familiar with the birth of the slurpee...it is quite interesting how the slurpee and the slurpee machine came about. Omar Knedlik a poor farm boy born in Barnes, Kansas in 1916 and who served in World War II bought his first ice cream shop after the war.  He then moved to Coffeyville, Kansas, where he became the owner of a Dairy Queen in the late-1950's. He did not have a great soda fountain and it would break down often, forcing him to put his sodas in a freezer to stay cool, which in turn would cause them to become slushy...he would freeze bottles of soda and just serve them instead. As it turns out, his customers preferred the frozen sodas to regular fountain drinks and kept coming back for more. 

It was this moment that gave him the idea of building his own slurpee (icee) machine.  Knedlik worked with a Dallas Company and it took him five years to build the first ICEE® (Slurpee) machine. Early prototypes for the machine were used from an automobile air conditioning unit. And by the mid-60s about 300 ICEE® (Slurpee) machines had been manufactured. In 1965, 7-Eleven began a licensing deal with the ICEE company to sell the product under certain conditions. The first condition was that they had to come up with a different name for the product, and second, were only allowed to sell the product in 7-Eleven locations in the U.S. And it was in 1967 that 7-Eleven sold the product known as "The Slurpee" (for the sound made when drinking them). So now that we have covered the history of the slurpee and the making of the slurpee machine...we can go on with the story! Onward We Go!

What you may not have heard is the tale of Edna Smiley, one of Omar Knedlik’s first customers, who was changed forever by her first ICEE experience. She was thirteen years old when she walked into the Dairy Queen that day. She had been there many times, but had never had the soon-to-be-famous ICEE. She ordered a burger, fries, and a small water, and sat down at a booth in the corner.

For two days, Edna had been plagued with worry and despair. She had borrowed her great-grandmother’s diamond ring from her mother’s jewelry box, and had taken it to try on. A couple hours after putting it on her finger, she looked down to find it missing! It had slipped off without her noticing while she played. She felt distress like never before in her young life. She had lost her great grandmother’s ring, her small town family’s most valuable possession. The ring, which had been handed down through four generations, which was worth a lot – in both sentiment and value.

Edna sat, slowly eating, and preparing a speech of how to tell her mother the ring was gone, when a restaurant clerk approached her. She looked up to find an ICEE in front of her on the table. The clerk said, “ON THE HOUSE,” winked and walked away. He was hoping to cheer the serious and troubled girl with this small and kind  gesture.

She took five or six big, fast gulps of the frozen, carbonated soda. Instantly, her whole head rushed with sensation. Uh Oh...THE FAMOUS BRAIN FREEZE! Her brain rang with the piercing cold; her back teeth felt ready to explode under the pressure of ice. She had a vision! The toothbrush cup! She had taken the ring off and dropped it into the toothbrush holder before she had washed her hands. The ICEE headache (BRAIN FREEZE) was a revelation, a message from above! She sucked down the rest of the ICEE and ran home as fast as she could. Sure enough that is exactly where that ring was. She hurried to put the ring back in her mother’s jewelry box, safe and sound, and back where she had found it.

Edna Smiley has had an ICEE everyday since that very special day. Legend has it that the “ring vision” was the first of many. To this day, people line up at Edna’s door to ask to here her famous story and her inspiring words as she sips her ICEE.  It is at this moment that people gather in hopes of sharing, understanding (or at least witnessing) the metaphysical POWER OF THE ICEE (SLURPEE).

The Jellies And My Sister

The jellies and my sister, 
oh, what a pair they were.
She’s walking around inside them, 
but she looks like she’s alright (I guess)! 

They looked like strange old jellies, 
they looked a little weird.
She had worn them day in and day out, 
and never wanted to let them go.

They were a funny color, 
a glowing, bluey green but maybe they were pink.
Come to think of it now, 
they were the oddest jellies I had ever seen! 

But my sister didn't care, 
it came as quite a shock.
I never expected to see what I saw,
as those jellies were worn with or without socks.

I tried to save her, 
to pull her out and away from those jellies.
But they say trying is just useless, 
so till this day she is still stuck with those jellies!
The only difference is that her nails are glowing, bluey green,
Oh My...how things never change but the color of those jellies. 

Two Nickels and Five Pennies

"Love conquers all." -Virgil

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded."
-Maya Angelou

"You must give time to everyone and anyone-even if it's a little thing, do something for others-something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it."
-Albert Schweitzer

Stories are Beings. You invite them to live with you. They'll teach you what they know in return for being a good host. When they're ready to move on, they'll let you know. Then you pass them on to someone else. -A Cree Storyteller

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?"

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired.

Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table, and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies-her tip.


Canfield, J. Hansen, M. Chicken Soup For The Soul. Pg. 19.

Carrots, Eggs, And Coffee

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. The she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, 'Tell me what you see?' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?' Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?'

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level. How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?