I am tired of the far-right and the far-left and of all the political correctness and I think a lot of people are. We are losing sight of what is real and what is good and what this country was founded on by nit-picking on any little thing.~ Kid Rock
Amen, Kid Rock! I'm with you: I am beyond-tired of political correctness and people bickering about meaningless issues and luxury problems. There's so much more each one of us can do to improve our own lives--and the lives of others--and pushing political correctness isn't it. Over sensitivity and attention-whoring are also useless activities. The desperate need to be right--and thus for others to be wrong--is pathetic behavior in children...and reprehensible for adults. People need to get over themselves, their petty problems, and their desperate needs to feel important. Life is short and not one minute should be wasted on such behavior. The correct use of the ego is to drive us to greatness through our actions--not stoke our illusions of greatness by seeking out approval and praise.
The happiest people out there are too busy making a positive difference in the lives of those less fortunate to dwell on self-absorptive and petty activities. Whether they realize it or not, happy people are benefiting from their opportunities for gratification, proven to increase genuine happiness. They don't need accolades to feel important, nor pats on the back to feel useful. The generosity and compassion they show to the world is the reward in itself--and it's far more rewarding than the satisfaction of imagined offenses or chronic complaining.
I'm always amazed to see adults behaving like children, and it happens far too often. Fortunately, it gets balanced out when I see amazing children modeling admirable character traits. One example that comes to mind is the daughter of one of my online clients, her name is Maia and she is perhaps all of ten years old. Maia loves animals and in particular, elephants. When Maia’s father discovered a non-profit organization called The Elephant Sanctuary, he bought Maia a gift membership. While other kids might nag their parents for toys and video games, Maia was thrilled with the gift and when her birthday came around she used it as a fund raising event for The Elephant Sanctuary. Instead of asking for toys, she asked all her friends to make donations to The Elephant Sanctuary.
Immature, petty adults may clutch their politically correct agendas and their illusions of enforcing change in the world, while incredible young girls like Maia are out there making a genuine, positive difference.
Lately, I've been thinking about what I can do to make a greater positive impact on the lives of others. Sure, I make a positive impact with my business everyday by helping people attain health goals, physical and physical--as well as mental--strength. It's rewarding work and additionally, I've generated a good income from it. You can't beat that. Well, actually you can--and that's what I plan to do. While I've raised money for non-profits in the past (and currently donate money each year to a select list of organizations) why stop there? Why not use my business in a more direct way to benefit those in need? An important part of strength is compassion--in fact, you can't have real strength without it.
Recently, I got a great idea and I'm very excited about it. In the past few days I've begun organizing another incredible two-day strength and health event. Last year, my company promoted The Boys are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop and this year’s event is The Collision Course Workshop: Kettlebell Training and Beyond, and it's going to blow people away! There will be four main presenters, and two guest presenters, for a total of six strength and health experts at a single, two-day event. While kettlebells are a key part of the workshop, we're going far beyond that. Once again, it's taking place in Las Vegas, and here's the line up: John Brookfield, Jon Hinds, Mark Philippi and myself are main presenters. The guest presenters are a secret for now but, believe me, they're incredible. The promotional material will be on my website in a few weeks, but for now, mark the weekend of October 25-26 on your calendar and plan on being in Las Vegas.
Now, what does this have to do with helping people? Glad you asked. The people coming to the workshop will be blown away by the material and leave with the information they need for making dramatic improvements in both training and health--have no doubt about that! But it doesn't stop there: everyone registering for the workshop also helps some much-deserving kids in need. I'm donating 10% of the total workshop revenue (not profit, there's a big difference) to a worthy organization. Right now I am thinking about the Children’s Wish Foundation. The Children’s Wish Foundation helps kids under the age of eighteen diagnosed with life threatening diseases in obtaining a final wish. This is a wonderful organization and no matter whether you're a right-wing political nut, a left-wing political lunatic, or even if you have a heart as small and hard as a walnut, you should be moved by the idea of helping terminally ill kids. Because unless you're terminally ill yourself, these kids are facing bigger problems then anything you're going through, so let's forget our own luxury problems and help out some kids who are struggling with some real problems.
Of course, you do not have to attend the October workshop to help a great organization. You can do that today. You can send some money or send some of your time to help others. Let's send a message to the petty-and-luxury-problem crowd out there that a revolution is at hand. We're not only taking charge of our lives but destroying self-indulgent behavior and redirecting that formerly wasted energy to helping ourselves and helping others.
Normally, I only use one quote per Aggressive Living article, but today, I'm ending with another great quote from Kid Rock:
Just live life--it's not that long--live it embrace it. I just want to shake people sometimes and ask them why they're walking around like they're brain dead! ~ Kid Rock
For more info on the Children’s Wish Foundation, go to: www.childrenswish.org
And why not make a donation while you are there?
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