Who Inspires You?

[Guest guest]

BFL'ers,

This is in response to a recent email question asked: Who inspired or

inspires you?

In order to better answer that question, I feel we may need to supplement

that question by also asking: WHAT inspires us? I can relate the root of

this question back to what I've recently called the " WHY " . Why are we doing

this? Why do we continue forward? I think Bill , in his program

last Monday also asked this very question to the listeners as he was

describing the crossing of the abyss, and it is a great question.

My " why " has migrated through a series of reasons over the last couple of

years. I suppose it started as a very personal reason; keeping a promise to

a loved one to " try " and do something about my ever growing body. As I had

experienced tremendous chest pains while starting my very first cardio

session after many years of sitting dormant, my reason quickly changed to

another very personal reason, to improve my health.

My health had improved dramatically. The chest pain quickly went away. I

had chronic pain in my knee joints that was brought on by excessive body

weight, knee injuries, and insufficient muscle mass which just about went

away completely. My blood pressure dropped down allowing a reduction in

medicines. I had pitting edema in my legs that went away. Blood work

showed improvement in reduced glucose and cholesterol. I gained tremendous

energy and found myself able to play with my younger children, once again.

I have eight children, four boys and four girls. It seems as though God gave

them to us in manageable groups of 4 at a time. They are each a couple

years apart except for the gap between our 4th and 5th child. There the

difference is 8 years. So, when I refer to my younger children, I'm

speaking of the younger 4, 3 boys and one girl.

The little guys are VERY active little boys and often like to play hard in

sports, wrestling over EVERTHING amongst themselves, and just about every

other activity. My little girl was a pampered princess that loved me

gaining strength and being able to carry her and swoosh her all around.

Since she was 8 years old, this swooshing was truly, an upper body workout

at any moment of the day or night.

Family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers that knew me by sight started

complimenting me on my weight loss and my " why " eventually migrated to

improving self appearance. I wanted to start bulking up the muscle and no

longer simply lose weight. These compliments were mentally banked in my

" scale stuck savings account " to be withdrawn when in need of continued

motivation. And, I will say, reflecting on some of these comments really

did help a lot through the earlier scale plateaus.

Shortly after getting in MUCH better physical condition, my 8 year old

daughter, Faustina, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

This was the 5th of July, 2004. She suffered an awful lot in a very short

period of time, then passed into heaven on July 27th, 2004. My better

conditioning allowed me to spend those last 6 to 8 months of her life with

her in a much happier and playful manner. I was doing things and carrying

to places that I would never have had the strength or stamina to do or

go without having first improved my personal condition: I'm talking the

local movie theater to Disneyworld. BFL helped enable that and, now, the

fun times with and my other children had become my new reason.

Knowing that my had loved my better condition will continue to inspire

me to remain, if not continue to improve my condition until the day I can no

longer do so. I had very recently become a grandfather and now have a

wonderful little granddaughter named Nora Marie. I will do what I can and

expect to remain in the relatively strong and healthy condition to

eventually play with her as well as continuing to entertain my 3 younger

boys now ages 6, 9, & 12. I have a whole lot in life to look forward to

enjoying, I don't ever want to be in the excessively fat, unexercised, and

dangerous condition I was, previously.

Finally, knowing that my Faustina's memory will forever drive me to

self improvement, I want to now help share the message of health with

others. There is a part of me that wants to wake up the world to good

health and fitness. Over the years, as I participate in these BFL email and

chat groups, and/or present topics of health and fitness to children &

adults, and/or lead and encourage virtual fitness teams of people, I receive

tremendous motivation from that experience too. It is truly what Bill

refers to as the " Universal Law of Reciprocation " at it's finest in

my life.

So... What is YOUR " why " ?

Inspiringly yours,

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Holowko, CPA, CCP

PO Box 444

Lafayette Hill, PA 19444-0444

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Telephone:

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E-mailto:gholowko@...

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Remember... Progress, NOT perfection!

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