The Problem with Taxes

So - I got my pay stub today. And as per usual, roughly 28% of my income was deducted - with a fair portion of it being income tax.

Now, my problem with taxes isn't so much that it happens in the first place - I mean, consider what it's used for. Healthcare, the road systems, the judicial system... no, on principle, not only does it make sense - I actually prefer it to the alternative.

However, my issues with paying out some of my hard-earned money for these things is that the money is so completely mishandled. When I see things like the base salary for our current members of parliament ($141,000 per member, not inclusive of party leaders or our esteemed Prime Minister), well - then I start getting annoyed. Seems to me that the money should be going to the services needed first, before we start paying ourselves such large amounts. Then, when these same people who are making such a large amount turn around and start pushing for an election, less than a year after the last one happened (that's you, Mr. $208,000 per year Ignatieff) at a cost of around $300,000,000, and I figure that's where my tax dollars are going... BEFORE health care, transport, judicial, etecetera.... well, that's when I get steamed. Because frankly, that's not a good use of our money.

So the next time you get a paycheque, take a moment to see how much the government is taking from you, and ask yourself if you feel your money is being spent in a way you consider worthwhile.

I'm willing to bet you won't. And then you're going to start seeing more and more useless wastes of money - your money.

That seething you'll begin to feel deep down in your gut? That's the price of knowledge.

Welcome to the club.

~Guy

the big C..

Some informative information I came across that needs to be shared.
Please read and update yourselves on the big C word. Cancer.

Johns Hopkins Research

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show
up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When
doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their
bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's
lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional
deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental,
food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and
including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also
destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal
tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs
etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor
size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in
more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation
the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can
succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can
cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not
feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important
food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,
Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural
substitute would be Man

uka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better
alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and
substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an
acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish,
and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock
antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful,
especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts
and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About
20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juicesprovide
live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels
within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain
live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice
(most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3
times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40
degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is
a better
alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink
purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and
leads to more toxic build-up. (Look up alkaline diet on the internet)

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or
eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer
cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac,
anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own
killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are
known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method
of disposing of
damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and
positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger,
un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic
environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and
enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising
daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular
level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This
information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.
Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly
poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in
them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto,
Wellness Program Manager at
Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He
talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not
be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This
especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination
of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately
into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as
Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same
results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant
ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in
something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper.
It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us
that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam
containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous
when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked,
the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic
wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Pass it on.

Who's Ready and Why?

Innovative Team – After having the privilege of writing for How to Succeed at Life blog for a year and half, I would like to take the opportunity and pay it forward to anyone that is interested in writing about their thoughts, feelings, and/or current events. This blog site is for the Innovative Fitness Leadership Forum to be able to share and document thoughts, ideas and concepts in an open forum. This is an opportunity for you to share lessons that you have learned over the years and how this has affected you to where you are today through life and Innovative Fitness. This is a chance to educate the team, update customers and pay it forward to friends and family.

It is an amazing opportunity and personally, I have learned a great deal by putting my thoughts down on paper. My awareness of current events, my recognition of why certain things happen in our daily lives and how I connected them to my career, and lastly a chance for me to say what I really feeling deep down inside. You can write on anything that you feel is important to share and will help us here at Innovative Fitness.

It is a chance for all of us to grow, learn and succeed. The blog itself can be your thoughts on a current event that affects us in the work place, a situation, an adversity, a victory, or a challenge that you feel is relevant for you to share.

I am passing the sword and would like to pay it forward to who ever would like to take this on. This is an award to write for 'How to Succeed and Life' and an opportunity to grow and help others do the same.

So who is ready to step up? Who is ready to educate us?

Personal Responsibility

"You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame." Erica Jong

Today's subject is responsibility. Not social responsibility, which is a separate issue, but personal responsibility. When we take responsibility, we admit we are the ones responsible for the choices we make. We, not other people or events, are responsible for the way we think and feel. It is our life, and we are in charge of it. We are free to enjoy it or disdain it. No, we are not responsible for all that happens to us, but we are responsible for how we think, feel, and act when they happen.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IS NOTHING OTHER THAN THE FREEDOM TO CREATE OUR OWN LIVES. Yes, responsibility is equated with freedom and power. Once we realize this, we become liberated and empowered. Once we become aware of this truth, we shed our victim mentality and gain the power to transform ourselves.

Are you perfectly happy with the way things are at this time, or do you wish things were better? Chances are you are neither perfectly happy nor completely unhappy, for most of us lie somewhere between both extremes. However, if you're not totally satisfied, what are you doing about it? If you continue to do the same things, everything will remain the same. Nothing will change until you do.

If a change in your life is warranted, why not begin by recognizing that your present situation is not the result of your genes, parents, education, job, luck, timing, health, or environment. Rather, it is the choices you have made and the actions you have taken that have brought you where you are today. Change your choices and actions and you will change the results that follow.

Yes, it's easy to shift the responsibility and blame others or events. But what good is that? All it does is keep us in a rut. We cannot make any real progress until we admit to ourselves, "Only I can hold myself back. Only I can stand in my own way. Only I can help myself. Only I can take personal responsibility. Only I can transform myself from a victim of circumstances to reasoning, choice-making, action oriented person. Only I can make the decision to stop acting like a victim and start taking charge of my life."

This understanding is the first step in personal transformation. The second step is the action that follows, for as Dietrich Bonhoffer (1906 ~ 1945) wrote, "Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility." Happiness is a choice, just like misery is; we all have the responsibility to make the right choices. We owe it to ourselves to do so.

Where Do You Go?

A Tears For Fears song came on the radio as I sat in traffic on my daily commute the other day- as a matter of fact it was the song entitled "Mad World". I sat back, sipped my coffee, and was transported back to highschool. Now, before we get too far, I did NOT go to highschool in the eighties, nor was I a Tears for Fears fan but the song, similiar to a fragrance, photograph, pair of old jeans can allow one to wade through a sea of memories and be transported back to a happy and idyllic time without the interruptions of homework, boyfriend problems, clothing trends, weekend plans or lack thereof.

It is a natural thing to do while driving, running, researching online or even watching t.v. We think about winning the lottery, our next vacation, past happy encounters, times in our lives that were joyful and it is becoming clear that there are instances where it is generationally increasing and we are aware of it, the media is aware of it. That is why beer commercials look the way they do, (beaches, bikini's and bars) and vacation/airlines/travel shows are so widespread and on the public radar. Not to mention facebook and twitter replacing mail, e-mail and phonecalls. These don't at first appear to be ways to escape but they are quick, widespread links to celebrities and the lives of others.

So my question is not what are we escaping from- Nothing really, life is hopefully good, but could always be better. It isn't where are we escaping to- It changes with our mood, backwards, forwards in time. My question is are our lives busier now, meaning we have more time/need for escaping and less time in a 24 hour period for real-time happiness? If so, how do we/I/you address this and address it for those you come into contact with??

Loyalty

Anyone who reads my contributions with any degree of regularity knows that I don't particularly enjoy simply reciting back an article I found - at best, I'll quote a passage or segment (with the exception of the Aaron Sorkin speech from "An American President").

That being said, and similar to the aforementioned speech, there are times when you come across an entry, or a piece of writing, that asks to be shared. Recently, I was looking up some information and, as internet searches sometimes go, came across a passage that was dated from 129 years ago to the day. I was looking for some inspiration on the subject of "loyalty", and through a rather circuitous path came across this entry - and I found that it really resonated. Maybe because I'm a huge dog fan, and maybe because it's so well written - but either way, in honor of it's anniversary, I reprint it here to ensure it continues to be passed on.

A quarrel between two neighbors had culminated in a particularly vicious act on the part of one of them, when they killed the other's dog - a foxhound by the name of "Old Drum". Old Drum's owner sued the neighbor - something that was seen as somewhat frivolous... after all, it was just a dog. However, the lawyer representing Old Drum posthumously was George Graham Vest - a gentleman that went on to become a US senator later in life. What follows is his summation:

"A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.


If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."


If that's not a lesson in loyalty - I don't know what is.

~Guy

pay attention..

It’s not about you it’s about our customers. Not saying we shouldn’t talk about ourselves, but we must remember that our customers are coming to us for our service and are walking into the gym with that on their mind…
We are here to listen, educate, instruct and evaluate. Not party it up and dance around checking ourselves out in the mirror.
This past month we have had many coaches away which means that teammates have been covering those hours. We have been impressed with the attitude of the coaches coming in early to cover and the new dynamic energy that has been created. It seems that when we mix it up, the team works together and is stronger than ever…a bundle of sticks is stronger than one…
The common theme has been positive and the end result has been a higher level of service provided to our customer base…
Attention – is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things…
So, next time you think it’s wise to talk to someone other than your customer during their session, think again. They are essentially paying for our attention and are expecting 100% during their time or their hour.
There are many forms of paying attention in our day to day…how many times have you been working with a customer during a balance exercise to have another coach walk by ‘not paying attention’ and unknowingly distract the customer or even bump into that customer…wow, this is my personal pet peeve…when you are bombing around the gym, keep in mind what you are doing because there are others around who are paying for our attention and are not looking to have you in their line of sight or for you to bump into them during a single leg dead-lift!
Quite simply, it all comes down to knowing your surroundings and knowing how to act in public. Guess what? When you are at work, it’s time to be 100% on work and perform the way we are paid to act…
This by no means is a call out – this is a simple reminder because we all have been guilty of not paying 100% attention at one time or another…

Remember, paying attention is a choice and we would prefer for you to choose to pay attention and have the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things…